dkyeager

3 hours ago, jonathanm1978 said:

Is that an esim thing now, or can you do physical sim + esim with that? I have firstnet and I'd love to be able to something like that.

 

Physical sim + esim with North American phones two have two active carriers (both phone numbers plus default data with fallback). Using Google voice can give you a 3rd phone number.

The nice thing about getting a Samsung s series factory unlocked phone is you can get a cheap second carrier for places without T-Mobile signal or for the few times a year the network goes down.

49 minutes ago, Trip said:

I imagine the required metrics were set based on the spectrum holdings at the time of the merger, and not what was then a speculative future auction.

- Trip

Agree

I expect the Dish filing will be quite different, utilizing every possible excuse or slight-of-hand if needed. Hopefully they make the next deadlines.

16 hours ago, RedSpark said:

https://www.fiercewireless.com/5g/t-mobile-chronicles-5g-achievements-sprint-merger

Lots to read in the report, even with the redactions: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/10102068428950/1

The biggest benefit of the merger is in the rural areas. The Duo would previously allow the other to dominate certain sparsely populated areas, which has changed with T-Mobile completion. Wireless home internet is also a huge game changer. T-Mobile was quite gracious to the FCC by not mentioning the delay in getting its additional 2.5GHz licenses from Auction 108, which will really allow them to dramatically exceed many of these metrics (no additional licenses granted since Dec 13 bill signing yet).

4 hours ago, jreuschl said:

Security only shouldn't need scrutiny from the carriers.

Disagree. Carriers have unique network and bloatware features. More importantly patches are not perfect. 90% fix rate is considered very good.

2 hours ago, chamb said:

IF there is a good side to this update issue, MAYBE TM does actually really heavily test the updates to prove that we do not download something that would negatively mess with our service. TM could have some feeature that might get killed or wrongly modified and this might not give the other providers an issue.  

For instance -- We at TM can aggregate n25, n71, n41 in almost any combination. Would we not scream if an update somehow broke or severly limited that agregation?  I think we all would be screaming.  While the other providers may not have an issue with those 3 bands aggregating.

I would sooner wait for a trouble free update than have a quickie update that messes up my service.

A lot of software releases today are what would have been beta in years gone by, and beta is often what would have been called alpha.

6 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

While they purchased C-band a while back they only got access to their blocks of the spectrum a few months ago. And they've always made the claim that they would only begin deploying it once they got the combined C-band DoD antennas. They acknowledged as recently as a few weeks ago that they've finally started getting stock of these antennas and so far at least one site with it deployed has been found in Texas, replacing a C-band antenna they previously had installed.

I wouldn't even go as far as saying they're hoarding mmWave either. They have it deployed in quite a few cities even though it isn't nearly as widespread as Verizon or AT&T and they are (very slowly) deploying it in new places though they are mostly just high traffic venues. And while they've been alluding to it in interviews for about a year now, they finally made a public statement that they're likely going to us it for TMHI in that standalone mmWave press release they made recently.

We both agree on C-band/DOD. From a PR standpoint they appear to be slacking-off compared to the duo.

Some of their mmWave licenses have build-out requirements in the next 6 months.  Many in Ohio, here are two:

https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=4019733

https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=4019734

19 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

It's as if Dish has never heard about spectrum swaps before.

T-Mobile is fighting a war on two fronts with AT&T going after their midband spectrum and Dish going after their 600MHz. The end goal of both of those companies looks like they want stop T-Mobile from getting any more spectrum without some sort of divestiture. I get why they're doing this but I can't help but feel like both of them really are just sore losers that lacked foresight. 

What's even worse for Dish and AT&T is that T-Mobile has an extremely successful home internet product that justifies their need for so much capacity in the first place so they can't even say that T-Mobile doesn't need all of the spectrum they have. T-Mobile also doesn't have a history of hoarding spectrum without deploying it so they can't even point to past behavior to justify divestiture by saying they aren't going to use it. 

You could say T-Mobile is hoarding mmWave and C-band/DOD. Waiting for dual band C-Band/DOD is a reasonable defense.  mmWave's best current business case is home internet for high rise apartment buildings. It will be interesting to see how much mmWave license area is abandoned in the future.  MmWave use at busy intersections may prevent this loss.

8 minutes ago, Trip said:

I would be very surprised if Biden doesn't sign it.  He's not the one who allowed the auction authority to lapse in the first place.

It may not be.  But I'd guess they were working on it before the authority lapsed, so they're probably at least part of the way there.

- Trip

My guess is FCC auction authority will be restored as part of an overall budget in late Winter/Spring along with some likely spectrum to bring in revenue.

On 12/13/2023 at 5:10 AM, Trip said:

Given that the objection from AT&T is still hanging out there so far as I know, and that there may be other problems with other applicants, I'm not sure they'd want to put "shall" which could result in legal problems if various i's are not dotted and t's not crossed.

I would be very surprised if the licenses are not moved along as promptly as is feasible.

- Trip

90 days may not be enough time.

The President could also veto it rather than sign it. With no executive action it should become law in 10 days from when it is presented to the President.  I don't believe a pocket veto will be possible.

2 minutes ago, dkyeager said:

In the case of any applicant for a license or permit for the use of spectrum in the band of frequencies between 2496 megahertz and 2690 megahertz, inclusive, that the Federal Communications Commission selected through a system of competitive bidding conducted under section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) on or before March 9, 2023, and to whom the Commission has not granted the license or permit as of the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission may process the application of the applicant during the 90-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.

Ideally it would say shall rather than may, but the FCC would no longer have an excuse not to process these licenses.

16 hours ago, Trip said:

https://www.wtaj.com/news/national-news/5g-sale-act-bill-on-its-way-to-president-bidens-desk/

I assume Biden will sign it.  So hopefully licenses can be issued sooner than later.

- Trip

In the case of any applicant for a license or permit for the use of spectrum in the band of frequencies between 2496 megahertz and 2690 megahertz, inclusive, that the Federal Communications Commission selected through a system of competitive bidding conducted under section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)) on or before March 9, 2023, and to whom the Commission has not granted the license or permit as of the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission may process the application of the applicant during the 90-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.

The S24s have cleared the FCC for what is expected to be a mid January launch.  https://www.sammobile.com/news/galaxy-s24-pass-fcc-certification-usa/

6 hours ago, RAvirani said:

The SignalCheck map should calculate Dish gNBs correctly—are you seeing issues there or just in-app?

4 hours ago, Trip said:

It's correct on the map. 

- Trip

It should be correct in SCP on a standalone basis, ideally in a way that the SignalCheck map can handle either way with some adjustments.

Same with any other SignalCheck map fixes, which should also be fixed at the source in SCP.

Hell's Angels

Sound barrier

14 hours ago, mikejeep said:

I saw someone in the Reddit thread mentioned that disabling 2G under network settings made an improvement. My 2G setting is disabled, FWIW.

Not an option on my current phone. May buy a new one in January.

3 hours ago, though said:

Ok good to know. I have the P8 Pro w/ eSIM.

I have been seeing T-Mobile phones occassionally freezing on n41 and occasionally kicked back to edge 2g. Airplane mode fixes both but annoying. Reported once.

Art Gallery

Blues Brothers

Time traveler

insurance mascot

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/11/08/dish-network-the-trump-era-fix-for-the-sprint-t-mobile-merger-looks-increasingly-doomed/

Easy to be critical.  What would save Dish?

Here are some of my initial thoughts:

1) Execution of a cohesive plan is key. Communicate chosen plan.  Dish may actually be working on the items below, but on a haphazard basis.

2) Focus on improving cash flow. Hopefully Dish is not to the point of where bad short term decisions have to be made that will proven expensive to fix in the intermediate term.  Long term may no longer be a viable business choice.

3) Finish 5g on a market by market basis.

4) There should be solid coverage inside a market, since once a phone roams it can be hard to for it to get back to the home carrier.

5) Dish needs a marketing plan for its new network.  The current stealth approach does not inspire confidence among consumers or investors.  This should be backed up by local advertising and support among its dealers.

6) Purge bad dealers. One gets the feeling that a lot of their dealer contracts were written on napkins or are really payment locations. Training.

Bad management decisions? Blame the employees: https://www.lightreading.com/wireless/open-ran

DISH was $25.02 on April 1, 2020. $3.515 today. To cover their merger costs, T-Mobile locked in low interest rates while DISH delayed.