https://about.att.com/blogs/2023/network-ready.html

interesting discussion of At&T's standalone 5g deployment.  They are doing it by application and area, so to see if your area has it you will want to keep tabs on AT&T Internet Air (currently in alpha or beta).   My guess is your local site needs to have c-band/DOD service as a prerequisite.

3 hours ago, schmidtj said:

T-Mobile Makes Bold Move After Layoffs

The stock price is almost the same as a month ago.  Paying dividends and doing stock buybacks was announce at previous quarterly reports, so none of this is new.  However timing wise from a PR and morale standpoint, a rookie move.

42 minutes ago, Paynefanbro said:

Will T-Mobile buy UScellular? 'Maybe,' says CEO

https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/will-t-mobile-buy-uscellular-maybe-says-ceo/d/d-id/786408?

— — — — —

Chart released recently showing average spectrum holdings in the top 100 markets.

Nice chart at the bottom. Wonder if 800Mhz is included for T-Mobile. Doubtful on US Cellular spectrum in major markets. If so, which ones?

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-ready-start-anew-after-exiting-chapter-11

Reminds me of DSLnet many years ago. Their initial value was a revolutionary way to get around expensive T1 links with SDSL which was rare, but they could not grow fast enough. Went through a bankruptcy process, but by then their product was no longer unique, thus stuck with sideways growth.

15 hours ago, Trip said:

They're running B26 on a handful of protection sites, essentially.  I'm not sure that they don't need extra equipment to pull that off.  I've only confirmed four T-Mobile sites running B26 total.

- Trip

I was thinking the same about protection sites.  I had one at the fully upgraded T-Mobile site at the Fire Station on Reed Road in Upper Arlington that served a wide area including Columbus and Hilliard.  Then some converted T-Mobile sites finally got generators installed (almost two years after building permits).  Soon after that the band 26 disappeared.

1 hour ago, Paynefanbro said:

Dish isn’t the only one interested in T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/dish-isnt-only-one-interested-t-mobiles-800-mhz-spectrum

 

 

So sad.  Dish went with incremental financing as needed while T-Mobile lined up financing in advance at favorable rates. Ransomware cost Dish a billion plus time and momentum. 

Dish really still has their new 5g only network in beta phase, ie not generating any return on investment.  They should come to a group like us and SCP and Cellmapper users and cut a special deal to kick their testing into high gear, thus more quickly get it into full use, thus improving their ROI, reputation, etc.  Else Dish could be last in having a fully in-use 5G SA nationwide network.

T-Mobile reportedly pulling out of Best Buy next month:

The strategy of buying 2.5Ghz licenses at a higher price to lease back to T-Mobile appears to be dying:

https://www.lightreading.com/5g-and-beyond/the-t-mobile-wco-fight-gets-muddy/d/d-id/786157?

Dish is buying at least some of the Sprint 800MHz spectrum. I did see Maine covered, so they are buying some in border regions.

15 hours ago, Paynefanbro said:

After they’re granted their Auction 108 winnings T-Mobile will have ~180MHz of n41 on average nationwide. They also have a further 60MHz of n77 that covers nearly 200 million people that they plan to start deploying later this year through next year. I think they’ll be fine. 
 

Not to mention the massive coverage gap between them and the other two and neither Verizon nor AT&T have forecasted when they’re gonna hit 300 million POPs with midband. 

Auction 108 will primarily benefit rural to small city areas, thus will help with statewide rankings such as root metrics, along with improved rural internet access.

In addition to C-Band/DOD, T-Mobile will soon need to buildout its mmWave due to licensing requirements. At one point we saw sites that serve areas such as freeway intersections getting mmWave. This might be a very cost effective method of serving many people versus small cells in neighborhoods. Any reports as to how this is working? 

6 hours ago, cooltech6597 said:

Ultra Ultra Capacity?!??!?!?!?

https://galtronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GP5124-07276-Datasheet_R3.pdf 

Downtown Cincy was pathetic for Sprint with T-Mobile just a bit better.  This is a must if they want to get out of third place with Rootmetrics for 2023 2nd half.  Hard to get new customers when the only notable score is texting ability in a three way tie and second place in network availability and data performance.

https://www.rootmetrics.com/en-US/rootscore/map/metro/cincinnati-oh/2023/1H

Okra Nuggets

1 hour ago, tybo31316 said:

That sucks. For some reason I thought they had 10x10 and had half on LTE and half on 1x advanced. 

Rumor is that it was supposed to be that way, but the 9/11 commission identified first responder communication issues and Sprint's 800MHz was the solution.  "Compensation" (unofficially) was the 1900MHz G block.

Southern Link in GA also cut it back to 3x3 iirc. 

Border area with Canada goes for 100km from land border, thus it reaches into Columbus OH.  Exactly how much spectrum was negotiated in 1940 iirc.  It varies along the border depending on the relative sizes of cities.  Thus Toronto affects Rochester NY, Erie, PA etc.

Biggest issue for Sprint was providing new radio systems for first responders and getting all paperwork signed off.  That is all done at excessive cost and time, which likely reduced FCC's take on other unclean spectrum.  Dish would not have to worry about this.

14 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

While US Cellular has great coverage in some needed areas (e.g., the rural areas near Mt. St. Helens in WA), the overall value of that kind coverage isn't great for any single player. The most plausible scenario I have heard is that a buyer would keep the spectrum licenses (selling off or trading those they don't need/want or are required to) and selling the towers off to a company like American Tower who would then do what they see fit with the towers. My guess is the tower company will mostly keep the towers online but it will be based on who they can lease to rather than a single contiguous entity.

 

As for who would be the buyer, ATT makes the most sense (by far) based on USC's spectrum holdings. That being said, there is enough value to be split up that a "corporate raider" type of company could try their hand as well. Any suggestions beyond that are rapidly going into sub-optimal fits.

 

Here's my quick(ish)  analysis of USC's spectrum holdings. Looking at them, I see a lot of value for AT&T and less value for TMO/VZW:

• The 600MHz Block
  • USC doesn't own a lot of this block but where they do, it mostly benefits TMO.
• The 700MHz Block is a bit more complex:
  • A-Block: With the exception of only a couple of places, US Cellular owns the license to this band where TMO does not. Were TMO to acquire these licenses, it could make the B71 to n71 conversion a lot less painful. 
  • B-Block: Much like TMO in the A-Block, US Cellular owns the vast majority of the licenses which ATT lacks. 
  • Lower C-Block: They don't own a lot in this block but where they do it could give ATT an easy 12-18MHz of contiguous low-band (when combined with the A and B  Block holdings). In the era of NR and FWA, this is HIGHLY valuable. 
  • Overall, ATT would benefit the most followed by T-Mobile. 
• 800MHz
  • USC owns assorted licenses, mostly in the 800MHz A-Block. ATT could find value in these holdings by expanding their A-Block geographic coverage. On the other hand, most are contiguous with Verizon's holdings in the B-Block which could allow VZW to expand their 800MHz bands.
• AWS and PCS Bands. 
  • Outside a couple of limited metros, USC really doesn't have a lot of valuable licenses that I can see in these bands. Mostly rural areas with no commonality in overlap with a single provider in the big 3. Not that these licenses aren't devoid of value but that they are likely more valuable split up and sold off to the various carriers than they are as a single holding. 
• EBS/BRS Band:
  • The BRS licenses which USC owns/leases in the WI area which T-Mobile would likely want to acquire (if the price was reasonable). Not a lot of value but clearly would be something T-Mobile would like to acquire. 
• 3.4GHz Band
  • USC owns a contiguous 40MHz block of 3.4GHz spectrum covering decent contiguous rural/semi-rural swaths of the US. ATT owns essentially all of the remaining blocks above these (and often where less than 40MHz, AT&T owns the other blocks) making them HIGHLY valuable for AT&T. This would allow AT&T to deploy up to 80MHz of contiguous 3.4GHz in the majority of these areas. 
• CBRS
  • USC doesn't own much valuable in this range. 
• 3.7GHz Band
  • USC's has substantial holdings in the C2-C4 Blocks. AT&T owns the C1 Block across essentially the entire US and REALLY significant holdings in the C2-C4 throughout the US. AT&T acquiring this spectrum would really benefit AT&T. There would also be a bit of benefit for TMO, as TMO owns the C3 and/or C4 blocks in some areas where USC doesn't. 
• mmWave
  • USC has a bunch of scattered holdings but in general they are in more rural areas making them really low value. As recent history has shown, the forte of mmWave at this time is in high density environments (the opposite of what USC holds). 

As you can see, a USC acquisition would put ATT on a much better/more equal footing to Verizon and TMO when it comes to mid-band. A USC acquisition would give them huge swaths of 80+MHz contiguous mid-band coverage, the kind of coverage that is needed for 5G and beyond.

That being said, it would also somewhat overload them on the low-band (especially in the 700MHz range), giving them too much of an advantage. I could see the Justice department requiring ATT to off-load some of their lower band holdings (namely the 600/700 MHz holdings) to TMO and/or Dish as a requirement of the acquisition. For TMO, who lacks low-band compared to VZW/ATT, this would put them on a much better low-band footing than before. 

As for Dish, they would benefit significantly from the improved raw spectrum holdings but I doubt they could easily utilize anytime soon. 

Article material along with Trip's comments.

12 minutes ago, Yuhfhrh said:

I just don't think Dish has money to buy more customers to spend more money on roaming, and then eventually build out additional coverage or cancel those customers afterwards years down the line for not being in native Dish coverage.

Depends on the price. No need for the national carriers to offer anything. Time will tell

16 minutes ago, Yuhfhrh said:

Dish may not want the customers if a lot of them are outside of the areas they plan to provide native coverage. Or they'd have to plan to overlay USCC coverage with their own, but they would also need additional spectrum to do so as they are missing 600 etc licenses in many USCC areas.

Dish Current has excellent roaming deals with AT&T and T-Mobile.  Rumor is they may require minimum volume.

It will be interesting how US Cellular structures the sale.  Could be to one bidder of course, but it may fetch more broken up. For example, Dish could buy the customers and each band for each area could be sold separately. Cell towes could go to American Towers etc.  Even one bidder could end up doing basically the same.

11 hours ago, Trip said:

Mike,

Got myself a Moto Edge 2022 which I am in love with for logging.  Supports every feature as far as I can tell, including band locking without any external apps!  More on that on Reddit ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Dish5G/comments/15h46le/comment/juyssk6/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 ) and I'm about to cross-post in the Motorola forum here.

One question, though, is whether or not it's possible to get a System Shortcut (and thus the lightning icon) to the *#*#4636*#*# menu, which is labeled "Testing," or the sub-menu that actually does the band locking.  I briefly tried to find a shortcut to it with a shortcut app and didn't immediately find it.  If there's something specific that might help in tracking it down, let me know.  (And I know it may not be possible to get a shortcut, but the Radio Info one does work, just that it's not the screen I want to be on...)

- Trip

It would be totally awesome if we could input what we wanted the system shortcut to be which SCP would then do.

US Cellular is for sale!!

4 hours ago, swintec said:

yea but which devices support this now?

@ingenium has reported "live on Pixel 7 series (and maybe 6) with android 14 beta.

3 hours ago, IrwinshereAgain said:

Don't know if this is the place to ask this or not.

Is there someplace on my account where T-Mobile will show that they have given me a free line as opposed to a billed line?

Customer support via the chat feature added a 'free line' to my account during that 48 hour free line window. It should have been the 2023byodp1 free line.

This new line has shown up on my account and they sent me a sim card but my account shows it as a 50 dollar bill able line.

Nowhere can I see that this new line is a free line.  Should I call customer support or is there a way to see it online?

"48 hour free line window". Sounds like Verizon offers for their grandfathered plans that they really want to eliminate.

Often has required a leap of faith iirc.

6 hours ago, PedroDaGr8 said:

How so? On my locked TMO S22U, SCP still shows the limited amount of info that it always has for NSA.

This phone has factory unlocked firmware with T-Mobile and Verizon network, S22U1.

On 6/26/2023 at 6:16 PM, PythonFanPA said:

S22+  Unlocked update was finally released today:

 

Galaxy S22+ (SM-S906U1)

---

Build Number : S906U1UEU2CWE8

Android version : T(Android 13)

Release Date : 2023-06-26

Security patch level : 2023-06-01

• Software and Terms & Conditions Update
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This update includes revised Terms & Conditions for your device, including the Dispute Resolution Agreement with arbitration terms. For more information, review https://www.samsung.com/us/support/legal/mobile/.
By clicking “Install now,” by scheduling your install, or by continuing to use your device after installation, you agree to these revised Terms & Conditions.
• Stability and reliability
Device behavior has been improved.
• Security
The device is protected with improved security.

This update broke proper reporting of non-standalone 5g in SCP.

8 hours ago, mdob07 said:

Thanks, I'll try to clean it later. I've tried different charger and different cables and still have the issue. I can tell a difference plugging in the same cable on my AT&T S22 Ultra vs my T-Mobile S22 Ultra. AT&T feels much looser. 

Loose connections for me have often meant lint.  While you would think compressed air or a paper clip would work, my best results have come from using the sharp end of a safety pin. Rarely have I needed to replace the charging port.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/starry-names-new-ceo-it-prepares-exit-chapter-11  going private in July or Aug. No more residential. Only apartments with 10 or more units.