irev210

I was wondering how it would work a while ago and AJ clarified that when Sprint fires up LTE on 800MHz ESMR spectrum - Sprint will be able to aggregate 800MHz + 1900MHz since they are both FD LTE-Advanced However, since Clearwire is deploying TD LTE-Advanced, that would be a different network and would essentially have to reconnect (like 4G WiMAX does now). I was hoping for a seamless switch between all three, but that doesn't seem to be the case

I am just curious how often that happens. I am also curious if a base station hooked directly into sprint's network performs better than one that is not.

not 5MHz upx5MHz down (that's FDD), just 10MHz for up and down (TDD) If I remember correctly, there was no WiMAX FDD option until WiMAX 2. You need paired spectrum to do FDD, which clearwire doesn't have. They could do FDD but it would waste a ton of spectrum that they have. TDD-LTE is good for data and is the most efficient way to deploy LTE on Clearwire's spectrum. The 20MHz+20MHz is actually two 20MHz channels aggregated together. Both the uplink and downlink share the same spectrum. Think of a giant 40MHz block that does both upload and download.

Sadly, I don't think the spectrum they allocated is actually full. I think it has more to do with backhaul and routing. Since it is TDD, it's just 10MHz for uplink and downlink, not 10x10. When they launch LTE-Advanced clearwire said they will do "fat pipes" using TD-LTE 20MHz + 20MHz (aggregating). They might even go 20MHz+20MHz+20MHz or something crazy. I've read that LTE-Advanced can aggregate up to 5 20MHz channels.

The sad part is, the ping time on Sprint 3G is between ~65ms and ~95ms and the consistency of speed between speedtest servers is MUCH better. Speeds are typically between 1.5mbit and 2.2mbit depending on the server. WiMAX latency is 95ms at best. Speeds can be as low as 500kbps depending on server and time of test. Sometimes even in the middle of the night, WiMAX speedtest to certain servers is extremely slow. This is why I am nervous about LTE-Advanced and getting kicked onto Clearwire's TD-LTE network. Performance is just so variable. I am not sure how they built out their network, but it doesn't seem very robust.

4ringsnbr and WiWavelength - thanks for the help understanding - this is not my area of expertise. The reason why I am so curious is because apple tries very hard to limit the number of devices they have on the market. I am curious how many different models of the next iPhone they are going to have to make to meet the needs of wireless carriers in the US and across the globe. How many bands/antennas do you think they will be able to cram into the next iPhone?

WiMAX Speeds have always been extremely variable for me. The routing doesn't seem all that great - the speed tests between various servers has VERY large swings. That said, the right server at the right time = this: That said, most of the time WiMAX in Boston is no better than Sprint 3G and the coverage is beyond horrible.

I'll throw in my two cents. I think it's absolutely amazing what this site has turned into (really the only place you can actually get good info). It is easy to forget how hard it is writing articles, posting info, etc. I can only read and ask questions, try to learn, help others, etc. I think any format that you want to share information is positive. If it is two bullets, that's awesome. Frankly, we are here to learn about what Sprint is up to - and I'll take it in any way I can get it. My only issue is the sponsor section. I understand the costs associated with the website are large but it just seems like it really goes against what S4GRU is about by sharing "better" information with those that can pay for it and "the rest" of information for those that can't. I really wish there was a way to change that. Otherwise, I very much enjoy reading what you guys have to say.

I posted about the Nokia Lumina 900 and it seems to prove that you can stuff a TON of bands inside a phone. It seems like the number of bands isn't that big of an issue. Not sure how they do it, or how many antennas it has (looks like two... but not sure). Any insight? GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/900/1900 and LTE 700/1700/2100.

Not sure - Duffman's article and the WSJ both say that Sprint paid on a per meg basis. This was probably in addition to a fixed fee per device. The dispute revolves around the wholesale agreement under which Sprint customers ride on Clearwire's network when using 4G smartphones. Sprint pays for that access by the megabyte of data transferred. http://online.wsj.co...0568311044.html I don't have the time to dig into it more - not a huge deal either way they did it before.

The backhaul component is very interesting. Do you have any other examples, like you provided with the Chicago rollout (like boston ) I've always been curious how the backhaul vendor effects the end-user's experience and how local backhaul actually ties into the sprint network. I would love to hear any insight on how they choose backhaul, the performance difference between vendors (say AT&T vs. Level 3, Comcast, etc). Lastly, how often does sprint actually have their own fiber reach a base station?

Yeah, Sprint used to pay clearwire 6 bucks a handset per month. It was a big battle between clearwire and sprint on the 6 dollar fee. The relationship between Sprint and Clearwire has been pretty interesting, to say the least. From many angles the fixed-payment system makes a lot more sense while they switch to LTE.

That's from last April. The new deal that they entered into in December 2011 turned WiMAX into a fixed payment for 2012 and 2013, then back to usage in 2014. From: http://corporate.clearwire.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=629282 The agreements modify prior wholesale pricing agreements and provide Sprint with unlimited access to Clearwire's WiMAX network to meet its growing 4G data demands. Under the terms of the agreements, Sprint will pay Clearwire a total of $926 million, approximately two-thirds of which will be paid in 2012, for unlimited 4G WiMAX retail services during 2012 and 2013, subject to certain conditions. The agreements also establish long-term usage-based pricing for WiMAX services in 2014 and beyond. Sprint will have access to Clearwire's WiMAX network through at least 2015. Sprint plans to continue selling WiMAX devices with two-year contracts through at least 2012 and support those devices through the life of the contract.

yup, 7 million on the entire family is correct. That's why the 24 million apple devices over four years doesn't seem ALL that bad. The EVO line of phones, while iconic, does not have the pull that four years of new apple products will have. 8 million i-devices a year * 4 years = 32 million People get too caught up in the base number of subscribers that sprint has (28.7 million). Figure that they can throw in another 14.8 million of direct prepaid to sell the old iPhone 4, and convert another 3 million in postpaid iDEN into postpaid CDMA and you are at 45.5 million potential iPhone customers. Doing the math, you essentially need about 25% of Sprint's subscriber base to be on i-devices.

Duffman is correct - with the current deal, usage payments are gone. Clearwire will receive $926 million for unlimited WiMAX service from Sprint for 2012 and 2013. $600 of that $926 million will be paid in 2012. This is one of the reasons why Sprint is probably eager to discount wimax devices - they want as many people on wimax as possible right now - it offloads traffic at no additional cost. The agreement goes back to the usage-based model in 2014 and Sprint has access to WiMAX through 2015 under the deal. If you take a step back and look at the way the deal was made, it makes a lot of sense. They needed a fixed-payment stream to cover costs while Sprint switches to LTE and that's exactly what the agreement does. By the end of 2013 and Sprint switches to LTE advanced and there are handsets out there that support Sprint's FD-LTE and Clearwire's TD-LTE, we go back to the usage-based model we saw before.

At the end of 2011, Sprint had about 28.7 million postpaid subs, 4.3 million postpaid iDEN, and 14.8 million direct prepaid subs. So it would be off 28.7 million. Still, 7 million total HTC EVO devices on a base of 28.7 is mighty impressive.

Yes, with websites like this: http://www.antennafreeunion.org That's beyond psycoville.

The worst is San Francisco. People complain all the time about slow data speeds in San Fran but try to build a tower and you get people wearing tin hats protesting. Remember, San Fran wanted to make cellphone manufacturers post SAR readings when you bought a phone - strange.

That's somewhat misleading. The "EVO Family" has sold 7 million. EVO Family includes: EVO 4G EVO Shift 4G EVO 3D EVO View 4G Tablet EVO Design 4G

It's just sad because since you can't prove a negative people just fight against it. The new mentality is "well I have cell coverage now, therefore there is no benefit but added risk". So they just shoot it down.

Work has been suspended on a cellphone tower at Copper Ridge School while the Scottsdale Unified School District addresses health concerns raised by parents. The governing board approved a contract with Sprint Nextel last June to allow cell towers at Copper Ridge School and Desert Mountain High School. Sprint will pay the district $1,200 a month. Marv Wessel, CEO of Global RF Solutions, a firm that Sprint pays to conduct site studies, told parents that people are subjected to more energy from a hand-held cellphone than a cell tower. But several parents pointed out that their young children do not carry cellphones. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2012/04/09/20120409scottsdale-parents-upset-about-cellphone-tower-school-brk.html Too bad - seems like Arizona needs a lot of help in terms of increased capacity.

This was happening today - not sure what they were doing:

Pretty sure that's verizon stuff. They installed the same things on my local verizon tower. I thought the mesh was filtering. Below, attached to the building is clearwire. This is as close as I can get - you can see they are the exact same thing.

over at anandtech they have confirmed the codec that is being used: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5726/sprint-hd-voice-on-htc-evo-4g-lte-is-evrcnw-1x-advanced For the HTC EVO 4G LTE, HD Voice consists of one part common mode noise rejection using two microphones (something we've seen ship on high-end smartphones for a while now), and one part 1x-Advanced. I reached out to Qualcomm and asked what voice codec was being used in conjunction with Sprint's HD Voice branding on the HTC EVO 4G LTE, and learned that EVRC-NW (Service Option 73) is being used. EVRC-NW (Narrowband-Wideband), as the name suggests, includes both the EVRC-B rates with narrowband 8 KHz sampling, and EVRC-WB rates with 16 KHz sampling all under one umbrella.

rootmetrics app is really good - very consistent results.