richy

I am a Tidal subscriber.  Tidal already is streaming MQA from its desktop app, not its mobile app.  And, no, MQA, will not reduce bandwidth.  Rather, it will increase bandwidth.  The standard FLAC container for MQA is 24 bit 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz.

 

 

 

AJ

Superb taste there sir!

Sprint offer customers a free Dual band Asus router. It is a free 1 year "lease" and after the year it's yours to keep. The router works extremely well IMO.

 

Try calling Sprint up.

https://www.sprint.com/landings/airave/?ECID=vanity:inhomecoverage

I have the tmo (yes boo hiss etc) version which I believe is essentially the same rebranded asus router. It's performed excellently for me. It has a decent feature set (vpn in and out, dish sharing, media server etc). However, at work we have about 100+ Ubiquiti access points and they have fantastic radios in them. while they aren't targetted at home use they are probably about the best radios you can get with regards to reliability and coverage. We are also testing some of their p2p wireless links and they seem very impressive also. 

Agreed. Besides, if you really didnt want to pay for cell service, you would just get on a RingPlus plan.  Anyone that is exempt can afford a basic cellphone plan, even if they have to pay.  I am pretty sure t-mobile still gives 200/month for free away.  That would allow people to conduct work email at no cost.

 

Again, these are exempt positions with fairly decent pay and in theory, should have some job mobility.

The minimum salary for exempt is something like 23k although it may rise at the end of the year. Not sure if that classes as fairy decent, depends on the cost of living in the area I guess. 

What I'd like to know is how a workplace can get away with having these sort of insane policies? I'm surprised enough when I ear reports of workplaces trying to force employees to give their social media accounts to them, and even worse, passcodes into them. I think I read somewhere awhile ago there were lawsuits about it. For a company to force people to use their personal device and data for work-related stuff, that is quite bad too, I think.

Honestly it's pretty trivial compared to some of the stuff they get up to. Using your device that you already own and would have owned anyway isn't the big issue, nor is leaving you to pay the monthly. The kicker is that you are basically on call 24 365. No overtime or on call pay for us 'exempt' workers. I still work way less than when I was self employed or ran a company myself. At the end of the day if I wasn't happy I would walk. There's plenty more jobs out there and if you don't like those you can work for yourself. 

I work for a good company, they actually do treat me well in general but they do ask some stuff like the cell phones, personal vehicle use and basically being on call all the time. The flip side is when the company does well we get a real cut of the profits. Plus if they gave us company phones they would likely be selected by the bean counters so we would have flip phones on net 10 wireless.

Work has nothing on our old HOA for insane policies though

The Ex Mgt. does get a stipend that covers about about 1/4 of the typical smartphone bill.

 

Directors and Project Managers get a stipend that covers about 1/5 of the typical smartphone bill.

 

Personally I am 'grandfathered' into the stipend I have, that covers about 1/6 of my bill, and certainly does not cover my work related data and phone usage. If I was on a Tiered Data plan, of similar cost to my current ED 1500 plan, then I would most likely have to avoid using my smartphone for any personal use, to avoid paying for data overages, caused by my work related activities.

 

Additionally, newer, non managerial employees, hired a few year ago, and new employees hired recently, don't get any stipend at all.

 

There have been a few employees, in important positions, who refused to connect to their phone to Corporate Email and refused to be available by their cell phone. They were eventually let-go. Typically the termination was for reasons, other than specifically refusal to use their mobile phone for work, but in each case, it was a major contributing factor.

 

As I have mentioned before, my whole point to all of what I have said, is that WiFi is not always available to workers in an office, and there are situations where a person is forced to use Mobile Data to do their job.

I have to use my cell for work, sadly I get nothing by way of a stipend. I love to go take long weekends at east maui away from any tmo signals. Everytime the boss comments about me not responding to email while away I tel him to get me a Verizon phone or hotspot. Not likely same as he complains about me not being able to pickup supplies on my bike, just waiting on that company car

Companies do this all the time, you have to use your cell but we won't pay for it and our wifi is basically useless. Can't wait for band 12 here.

One good thing I'll say about that ad is that T-Mobile finally got rid of that strange sudden motion image freezing and other bizarre video editing techniques they seem to do in most ads that have an annoying feel to them. Not at all present in this ad, at least not in the same gesture I'm comparing it to with the other ads. Its much more mellowed out and realistic.

 

Otherwise, I'm really not sure what T-Mobile can do improving its network beyond this extended-range LTE measure. They have limited spectrum issues in many areas, compounded by the damage being done by Binge-On. If T-Mobile would get rid of Binge-On, the problem would be greatly reduced, as T-Mobile was pretty good around here in the Chicago area after they increased the 10x10 AWS LTE to 15x15 AWS LTE.

 

However, I'm not sure if T-Mobile can do so without angering so much of its customer base now. Personally, I'd like to see T-Mobile do a pricing makeover similar to what I mentioned here about Sprint earlier, only with less data at a cheaper rate. I think it ought to be a standard, across-the-board (no loyalty discounts) of $35 monthly per line for 5gb of high-speed data, then have 3mbps capped speed for everything after at a low per gb rate of perhaps 10 cent per gb. I know that is really cheap, but its capped speed data, and better to charge something rather than having it completely unlimited.

 

T-Mobile is in a much worse network position than Sprint is in, which is why my plan suggestion while similar, still differs a bit. T-Mobile just can't offer unlimited video to everyone, which if there is a good thing to say about Binge-On, is that it proves how such can so negatively impact a network, particularly T-Mobile's network. Beyond that though, I'm not so sure what much else would help them at this point, other than my hopes for a merger.

Tmobiles network is an interesting question. I see areas where they need either more spectrum or to density and areas where they are just holding back on upgrading backhaul. Their service is terrible in places, I'm certainly not disputing that. I'm more intrigued by the reason. It would seem they are holding back in spending. To a degree it would make sense short term, more fcf for the auction but not if it starts costing them subs. 

Sprint has a huge spectrum advantage if they can leverage that. It certainly seems like they are in a position to accelerate now, most of the hard work was done with the NV rebuild already so for the most part it's just turning up additional carriers and backhaul and their small cell project. It's nice to have real options now !

Never suggested mine was. Just gave a counter example to his experience. Totally agree with you as well. Growth and improvement are everything.

Sorry, I must have misinterpreted your meaning. I'm just hoping in 3 to 5 years we have 4 strong carriers with truly nation wide networks with sufficient capacity. We would then see equalization of subscribers over time. Right now we are headed in the right direction. Sprint and tmo both have their own unique challenges but sprint has done more in the past couple of years to catch up then most people credit them for but there is a lag between performance and it reflecting in their subs numbers. Tmo has done well in overlaying lte and getting it's subs numbers up. They may have adopted a non traditional personal but they have managed to shake things up and sell what they have, now they are facing their own infrastructure issues. Hopefully they will continue to refarm, buy more spectrum, build new towers and upgrade backhaul on existing ones. 

And I'm talking about Washington State. T-Mobile's home turf. Although they probably have a disproportionately high share here. But there are too many bogged down sites. And they are in the highest demand places. Like around malls and events.

 

Using Tapatalk on Note 8.0

Just curious but do you happen to know how much they had refarmed on those cells? It's frustrating to see some of tmos congested cells only having 10x10 or when they finally bump to 15x15 the performance remains the same as they don't upgrade the backhaul. I find it odd,  I hope they are just keeping opex down until after the auction to increase fcf. They are in danger of losing subs over their performance in some locations. 

My family was here from India last week so I picked up a prepaid tmo SIM and they were complaining about the speeds a lot up here in Seattle. Keep in mind they come from India and they had never even heard of LTE (they have Vodafone back in India and they've only got WCDMA if I remember correctly). Not to mention tmo phones usually sit on edge at my house if not no service. Your experience is not an accurate reflection of full network performance.

Neither is yours? The network varies in performance from amazing to abysmal. I can get 30mbps or drive a little way and get a congested sub 1mbps or drive a little farther and get no signal. Which experience is an accurate description of full network performance? 

I think the best way to approach it is to compare growth in coverage and capacity year on year and remember that experiences will vary wildly based on location and usage cases. Sprint and tmo have both come on massively over the past few years in performance but there will be area where they will be sub part and areas where they beat the big two.

Sprint's new ads have Verizon's "Can You Hear Me Now" guy. Genius!

 

Write-Up: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/baig/2016/06/05/verizons-can-you-hear-me-now-guy-now-sprint/85458446/

 

Video:

 

Video: https://youtu.be/zMYmqltQj1w

 

Video: https://youtu.be/mBk-mdAjAF8

I like it, the direct to you one is pretty meh (i like the concept of the program, the commercial is just flat) but the 1% message is great in the others. This is exactly what they need to be doing. Saying they are close but for half the price. Frankly thats why I am with tmo and was with sprint, they were \ are damn close for way less money. Plus they are both finding unique ways to position their products and innovating rather than stagnating like the big two.

Am I the only one here who thinks CYBIH has run its course? Sprint has to be able to sell on merit and network performance.

 

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Yes and no I totally agree that sprint should be selling on the strength of its network, but if they have significant capacity spare there's something to be said for undercutting the competition to get some momentum. It's basically what TMO did, the whole hay cheap unlimited plus shiny crap. They had a spectrum per sub advantage and they used it to give people 10 to 20gb a month for less money than 2gb from the big two. If you can sell cheap and sell on merit and gradually increase your cost over time that's a decent stance to take.

That's why I said SMB specifically. The local guy who tows cars maybe, but not a 5000 line CL account with MPLS and integrated devices using Skype on their exchange platform. 

Sorry wasn't trying to pick an argument. What I was trying to say (badly) was I agree for now, but I can see them testing the waters now with their smb offering then pushing that harder when they have learnt their lessons with the pioneer clients. Once they start to see b2c net adds slow and IF they manage to continue to grow their network like they have over the past 5 years I could see them making a small play for the b2b corporate market. I understand they arent and will never be vzw and lots of vzw's corp accounts are never going to move but I could see tmo taking 5-10% of that market if they get it right. Start with a few princess deals for a couple of companies looking to cut costs and lure in some low hanging fruit. They dont have to win the market, it would be enough to add more lines and hurt vzw along the way. They could also completely screw it up  

The difference is that SMB customers may look at T-Mobile, but no major company will ever switch because they look for more than just mobility. 

To a degree, but theres probably some wins to be had where companies need to cut their costs. Assuming tmobile does eventually get itself to the point where its network is legitimately on a level with att then it can slowly begin to win some big b2b clients. Tmo can probably score some wins and gain some b2b market share both at a corporate and smb level but I dont think they need it, its a side project for them. 

Personally I would consider setting up a mvno for businesses or a different brand for business. This teenage rebellion image tmo has is a hard sell to large clients.

That Reddit thread indicated from the spectrum holding company press release that the purchase price is $420 million -- double what Leap Wireless paid in its acquisition of the Chicago BEA Lower 700 MHz A block a few years ago.

 

Good.  Pay through the nose, T-Mobile, pay through the nose.  You want low band spectrum?  You have to pony up the cash.

 

And you deserve all of the financial pain that you can bear -- because you want people actually to believe that you can be a little man's VZW or even the equal of AT&T in the span of just a year or two.  Not to mention, some of your executive team conduct themselves like such frat boy asshats.

 

AJ

Ouch, some unresolved anger issues there But I don't disagree over their exec team. Sadly it seems to be working.

Your comment re them being the equal, it's funny how they seem to think its ok to say one thing and then flip later. When the sprint merger was a thing I remember JL saying that t would take decades for tmo to grow organically to match verizon / att. Now for marketing purposes that is totally forgotten. On one level its smart that they are trumping their real network gains, but its sad they are trying to position themselves as an equal on network terms to verizon. I like tmos service but honestly they are just not in the same league. Even att isnt in the same league here. On one level it annoys me because its mostly lies but I try and balance that against the fact that its marketing which is basically all lies. I try and focus on the fact that both sprint and tmo are making huge strides in their networks. I know there is a big fuss about their capex spend but even the reduced capex is 3x higher than it was 10 years ago. capex will always fluctuate and quality of spend is just as important as quantity. Sprint has a plan, it seems to make sense, lets see how the results pan out.

Countries are largely the same, but roaming speeds differ as follows:

Fi = 256 kbit

TM = 128 kbit

Sprint = 64 kbit

Great thanks! Fi might work well for me on my next trip. 256kb is a bit more usable. I wonder who they roam on in the UK?

Why not Google Fi - $10 per gig regardless of which country you are in.

 

I just had a friend do a Euro tour who is a google fi subscriber, loved it - said data connectivity was if he never left the US, regardless of where he was.

is there any benefit to fi over sprint as both plans are limited to 2/3g speeds right? Sorry, just not familiar with sprints plan. The upside is at least we have options these days!

 I just never expected such a backlash when I published it.

It's the internet, we even hate kittens

I can't fault the stats, my only thoughts are that what you actually proved was Sprint sucks in one location but given its for a high school project and you are really just showcasing the ability to analyse some data that's largely irrelevant. However, putting it on youtube was brave  

How much money is Sprint saving per year by not sponsoring NASCAR next year?

 

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The original deal (made by nextel) was $750m over 10 years i.e. $75m a year but Sprint talked them down to $50m a year in 2011.

I look at those numbers and it reminds me of why I'd love for Sprint and T-Mobile to merge. Although, I know many Sprint enthusiasts here really don't want that to happen.

What are your thoughts on how they should structure their rate plans after such a merger?

Depending on how you want to do it and if you are ok with either slow or expensive data,

1- tmobile usa sim plus roaming. the upside is its cheap and easy, the downside is 2g speeds unless you buy their higher speed packs which usually means 3g speeds for about $10 per 100mb.

2- EE \ Vodaphone sim in the first country you get to. I lived in europe for 30 years and travelled a fair amount including using cell phones. I used orange and vodafone. I hate vodafones lack of ethics but their service is reasonable. roaming outside your own country in europe used to be insane price wise and often restricted on pay as you go plans. So the best bet used to be a different sim every time you stepped off a plane \ train. In bigger cities you can usually grab one from a stall in the train station \ airport. Takign that sim into a different country, even if that carrier has a network with the same name there can be troublesome and if nothing else more expensive than just picking up another sim. Doesnt sprint have a roaming plan like tmos? most hotels have decent wifi as well so you can save any heavy lifting for that?

edit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_roaming_regulations

according to this, depending on the date you go, you might just get away with one sim as they are changing it so that you can use your home data allowance in any country. 

Refarming, or as I call it, robbing Peter to pay Paul, can only go so far. Unless a carrier is ready to invest millions in new macro sites, small cells and other related network builds will pave the way for the future. At a certain point T-Mobile will have to go back and fill their B12 and B2 gaps by adding new sites or small cells. 

Not quite. It is not robbing Peter to pay Paul as that implies no increase in benefit. When Refarming to a more advanced technology you are increasing the effective capacity of the same amount of spectrum. LTE is more spectral efficient,  going to 4x4mimo will increase this again. Yes adding spectrum and density ingredients are other ways to achieve greater capacity and I am sure they are something all carriers consider. You have to factor in feasibility and cost. Refarming is the low hanging fruit so is being picket first.

Didn't Sprint get ahold of another 5Mhz of PCS in Maui/Ohau? That'll be interesting to see when maui gets 3xCA B41 and 10x10Mhz of B25

That will be interesting, assuming they can get the backhaul in place (plenty of sites are still using t3's) and TMO manage to keep up both should fly. Sprint can always roll out a second set of 3xca if they really needed. Oahu probably needs it most.

I don't understand T-Mobile at this point why even refarm if backhaul isn't available Q_Q

 

The cell site by Maui Market place behind the Savers building that cell site is doing piss poor on certain sectors And that thing looks like it's maxed out on sectors already.

It's likely partially so they can boast about another wide band market or whatever term they are abusing and partially due to how slowly backhaul gets done. They probably aren't sending enough campaign donations to our esteemed mayor. Could be worse, we could have big islands mayor.

The good news is we have plenty to refarm still and 700mhz on the way plus a 10x10 of aws3 at some point. They just need backhaul. It will be interesting to see how they compare against sprint now we have finally gotten some sprint love.

So Central Maui got 15Mhz like 3 weeks ago.. Just re-checked my slow speed issues 

 

Still present

 

http://imgur.com/a/5C61i

West maui got it as well but no bump in backhaul lol. Speeds are alright on west maui, central was poor today, the WiFi in queen k was faster than tmo. Another reason to dislike going to 'the city'.

I definitely agree! I'm curious how much Sprint has to pay for licensing of the Virgin name, unless of course they bought the rights to the name completely when they took over operations of it years ago. It would really help with easing marketing difficulties to merge them though. Or if they really feel they'd be better having a youthful-sounding branding name for the prepaid division, they could always call it by the name they choose, followed with "by Sprint".

Virgin branding doesn't work that way (buying the brand). There are a set of quality criteria to sustain, a % stake in the company, an upfront payment and a yearly fee (theres some variation but generally its this formula). I worked for a virgin branded company and went through the acquisition of the brand. This makes a pile of money, an ongoing income and the ability to terminate the agreement should a company act in a manner which tarnishes the brand. 

Going forward do they need as many brands, I'm sure sprint reviews the costs and benefits of each owned brand and considers folding them in.