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irev210

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Posts posted by irev210

  1. Verizon’s good unlimited data plan is now three bad unlimited plans

     

    Cheapest plan limits video to 480p, and there’s no way to watch 1080p on a phone anymore

     

    https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/22/16181362/verizon-new-unlimited-data-plan-video-throttling-net-neutrality

     

    Looks like Verizon could be running out of capacity... Unlimited has hit them pretty hard. It's now also clear why they were doing that "Netflix Test" not too long ago.

     

    Sprint's Unlimited Freedom Plan with 1080P HD Streaming included is becoming a much better value... and you also have the option of Ultra HD Streaming for an additional $10/Month per line.

     

    Don't get any ideas Sprint...

     

    Yeah no kidding.  While Verizon had it, I jumped and added 10 lines of unlimited with 15% off.

     

    Ends up being about 31.25/line after all taxes/fees for unlimited everything.  Now, prices are much much higher and with less features.

    • Like 1
  2.  

     

    Remember how so many people on this forum were saying that T-Mobile and Sprint had to merge to be profitable and invest in their network to take on AT&T and Verizon, typically with no actual financial assumptions or models to back up whatever BS they were saying?

     

    Well, here ya go...

     

    FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME - SPRINT AND T-MOBILE DO NOT NEED TO MERGE TO BE PROFITABLE.

     

    Whew, with that said, let's actually talk stuff:

     

    Free year of unlimited data was 1% of new customers

    115k new subs in July

    Postpaid net phone adds of 88k (total postpaid net adds of -39K, losses on tablets)

    Prepaid net adds 35k

    Wholesale net adds 65k

    Postpaid churn of 1.65% (OUCH, this is not good); postpaid phone churn of 1.5%

    Prepaid churn of 4.57% (not bad)

    $1.6 billion in capex (yay)

    • Like 4
  3. So I cobbled together 10 lines with a military discount.  No idea how it is going to play out when the bill hits but it should be the cheapest plan around.  Either way, it will be between 25.50 and 28.50 or so plus taxes and fees of about 2.80/line.

     

    It's nice being able to legit swap sims between phone/tablet/mifi without verizon getting upset about it.

     

    As for coverage, I will say that T-Mobile is without question better most places I actually visit.  T-Mobile's network is WAY denser than Verizon's.  On state roads in up state New York, Verizon's coverage is marginally better but not by much.  Those towers must have no downtilt on them.  You drive for miles and miles with 1 bar or no bars.

     

    Sprint lags a distant third to both T-mobile and Verizon in urban, suburban, and rural.  I have no idea what Sprint is doing.  Is Sprint fine? YES, it's fine.  Perfectly usable.  It's just slower and has marginally the worst coverage.  All networks have come so far, it really doesn't matter but frankly their promo pricing is a scam and once that is over I don't see much value.

     

    It's very clear when you look at the gains T-Mobile has made and why Verizon brought back UDP.  I can't get over the density of T-Mobile's network.  People think Verizon is magical, but on interstates around upstate New York where you would think Verizon would have the advantage, T-Mobile actually seems to do better.  It's only when you get on back roads/state roads where the advantage flips back to VZN.

     

     

    Anyway, I think T-Mobile is well priced just below Verizon.  If I had 4 lines, I'd probably go T-Mobile.  T-Mobile's free gogo internet, T-Mobile Tuesday's and other perks are pretty neat (I have and will keep a T-Mobile unlimited plan).

     

    Sorry for the rambles, a lot of thoughts and it is early...

    • Like 4
  4. I think that, if anything, it only increases the urgency for Masa to get something done. We're going to see real quick if the smooching up to Trump is worth it or not. 

     

    If I was Masa, yes.

     

    Just goes against what a lot of people on this forum say.

     

    Underdog can't compete with big wireless company

    Underdog can't be profitable

     

    Time and time again, this has proven to be incorrect.  I still believe that four national carriers are the best for consumers - hence why we are getting all this competition and even the little guys can be profitable if they so choose.

  5. WOW, hope Marcelo's latest Tweet isn't what he thinks will work for a response. If so I feel they are going to loose a lot of customers.

     

    https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/831507181040177152

     

     

    Join today, $90 for 5 lines 

     

     

     

    *Until 3/31/18, then we'll jack your rate to 190/month.

     

     

    It just comes off as sleazy.  I dont know what the heck sprint is thinking pulling this junk to acquire customers.  You spend ALL this money/energy to acquire them and then risk them churning out in a year????

     

    I hope Sprint continues to improve its network and restarts its marketing efforts AGAIN.  Just sad to see.

    • Like 8
  6. But their current promo is better then T-mobiles and Verizon.. if Marcelo came out and said 5 lines 90 bucks unlimited HD steaming 20GB hotspot and up prioritization to 32 GB. A plan like that would make noise... if he wants to get funky

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

     

    Sadly, it's just a promo.  After a year, they jack up your rates.  This is great for comcast where you typically have no other choice for broadband but for Sprint it just seems like a silly idea considering nobody else is pulling that crap.

     

    This is competition in effect.  Sprint needs to up its game.  I am wondering if Comcast or Dish is going to buy Sprint.

    • Like 1
  7. Earnings just came out for T-Mobile.  Despite the many years of doom and gloom by some people here, T-Mobile continues to improve.

     

    Profit rose to 45 cents a share, beating the estimates of 30 cents/share.

     

    Sales climbed to 10.2 billion, looks like profit margins improved.

     

     

    At the end of the day, this is still good for sprint as well, forces them to better themselves and be better competitors.

    • Like 2
  8. Looking at the LG V20. Sprint has a good BF deal, but I don't really need a TV. Would rather price match Verizon and throw a $200 discount on top.

     

    Anyone know of good V20 BF deals?

     

    No idea what T-Mobile is doing, they are offering some good V20 deals.  I dunno why sprint isn't being a bit more aggressive with the promotions.

     

    https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/tmobile-goes-holicray-cray.htm

  9. How is giving away service for free for life a good thing??

    I'm no business major but $0 in service revenue with compounding cost to the network is not a good decision.

     

     

    You need to start with customer lifetime value.

     

    1) Cost to acquire the customer (say $300/customer)

    2) Then take churn as a percentage to come up with the number of years you will have a customer (say 1.5% churn/month means that if you had 100 customers you would lose 1.5 of them each month which means to stay even you need to add 1.5 customers each month @ $300/customer to keep your same customer base

    3) Come up with a weighted average life of your customer base and the expected cashflows you will get from those customers and take the present value of those future cashflows until the customer is expected to churn out (on an average basis)

    4) So then you take the customer acquisition cost + the PV of the value of all the payments you will get based on your churn metrics and that's how you come up with customer lifetime value.

     

    So if by offering two free lines to reduce churn, you are potentially making a lot of money by offering this promotion without a big spend on customer acquisition (aka marketing) costs.

     

    It's a great promotion, very innovative - even with a $20/sim card cost. In reality, what T-Mobile is doing is giving people free devices with subsidies on the credit side to make sure again they don't churn out.  You could walk into the store and T-Mobile will give you two free lines on nice android tablets just to make sure you don't leave for two years.

    • Like 1
  10. How is a no contract offer "forever"?  Neither side has any contractual obligations to fulfill.  The offer could be rescinded without penalty at any time.

     

    AJ

     

     

    How long will promotional pricing last?

    You can keep the promotional pricing as long as you maintain qualifying service and stay on your current plan. If you cancel service on any of your lines or change plans, you will lose the monthly bill credits. 

     

    Or until T-Mobile changes its mind, goes out of business, merges with Sprint, takes over the world, etc.

    • Like 1
  11. That's an insane deal. Good thing there is no T-Mobile store in Pahrump, I might have been tempted to look into it. Does one of the lines have to be a phone line, or can both be tablets?

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

     

     

    Both lines can be tablets. It seems the max amount of data they can get on a tablet is 18gb though, not unlimited like the phone lines.  I think binge on applies to tablets as well, so tough to say how you would go over 18gb.

     

    It really is an insane deal.  Props to t-mobile for being very aggressive with pricing this holiday season.

    • Like 1
  12. Anyone see that t-mobile deal?  two free lines for current and new customers... I know someone that was an existing t-mobile subscriber, went to the T-Mobile store and got an 18gb tablet plan and an unlimited phone plan for zero dollars.

     

    Pretty crazy.  T-Mobile is being very aggressive with promotions.  Going to be a good Q4 for them.

  13. So this is weird.  I am latching onto Verizon 3G with Google Fi on my Pixel.

     

    It's not the most consistent experience but it actually works.  I did a speedtest, got standard EVDO speeds.  What's weird is that there are places where Verizon has coverage and it just turns to no signal and other places where it just runs on Verizon.  I dont really get it.

     

    I've been driving around parts of upstate new york where Sprint/T-Mobile/USC have zero coverage.

  14. And T-Mobile and Sprint might have been able to afford the network upgrades.

     

    Again, big question - why are you saying that they couldn't afford the upgrade?

     

    Sprint spent 12 billion on network upgrades in the past two years while T-Mobile is around 10 billion.

     

    Can you be more specific on how you define "afford?"  Both can afford spending on their  network just fine.  Or are you just defining afford against the backdrop of Verizon and AT&T?

     

    Both TMUS and Sprint have Adjusted EBITDA margins of around 25% now.

     

    I'd prefer a lower number as a consumer but if you think they should have Verizon level adjusted EBITDA margins of 35+% that's fine too but it would be good if you were a bit more specific vs. just throwing out random statements.

    • Like 3
  15. iPhone 6s from lease paid off remaining payments and purchase option. Requested unlock, they told me 48 hours. 48 hours later I call back since it isn't unlocked still and they tell me 48 hours again.

     

    Isn't there some policy by the FCC where if Sprint hasn't unlocked your phone within 2 days of paying it off you can submit a complaint?

     

     

    I know, they really are jerks about unlocking.

     

    I unlocked a samsung shortly after I bought it.  They were nice enough to unlock it for me after enough of me bugging them.  They were also nice enough to remove the MEID from their whitelist, too.

     

    I just wanted to try it out on T-Mobile, then had to fight to get them to add back the MEID to the whitelist.

     

    Bottom line, finance your iphone through apple so it's unlocked.  For the iphone 7, buy a Verizon model in store and finance from apple.

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