Paynefanbro

On 12/23/2023 at 4:48 PM, Paynefanbro said:

T-Mobile has removed the sheaths on this in preparation for upgrading it. Now the old Sprint antennas are exposed.

I might be wrong but I think this is actually a new antenna and it's live. I drove by the site this evening and it seems like I'm actually picking up n41 from it. I think gNB ID 1345521 and eNB 219025 both map to this site. Is this a passive 8-port antenna? I'm gonna swing by again tomorrow to see if I can figure out what's up with this site.

More conversions:

Sprint eNB 74668 -> T-Mobile eNB 895023
Located at: 40.8350975054593, -73.91533021361947

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Sprint eNB 6856 located at 421 Smith St got converted but isn't live yet. 

On 12/16/2023 at 6:41 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Early Christmas present! North sector points directly across to Long Island City. The site isn't live yet but I'm so glad this finally got converted.

This site is live and it is a gig+ site. Massive boost in coverage as anticipated. T-Mobile really struck gold by getting access to this site. I tried mapping every sector of it on n41.

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On 12/18/2023 at 4:03 PM, Paynefanbro said:

59 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY 11206 (Permit expires 04/23/2024)

This site is converted and live. gNB 1371634

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On 12/18/2023 at 4:03 PM, Paynefanbro said:

360 Furman St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (Permit expires 02/09/2024)

1.  

T-Mobile has removed the sheaths on this in preparation for upgrading it. Now the old Sprint antennas are exposed.

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Sprint eNB 6714 located at 102 North End Ave, New York, NY 10282 is currently being converted (finally).

1 hour ago, dkyeager said:

You could say T-Mobile is hoarding mmWave and C-band/DOD.

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.

13 hours ago, RedSpark said:

Dish cites T-Mobile’s low-band spectrum stash in bid for new FCC policies

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/dish-cites-t-mobiles-low-band-spectrum-stash-bid-new-fcc-policies

Quote

T-Mobile has amassed significant holdings in the 600 MHz band, which would be even further enlarged by its acquisition of 600 MHz licenses from Columbia Capital and Comcast. According to Dish, T-Mobile’s 600 MHz spectrum holdings sit in the center of the band, leaving other carriers with sub-optimal, non-contiguous 600 MHz licenses that are more difficult to aggregate.

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. 

Press Release: Bills Signed: H.R. 1734, S. 788, S. 2747, S. 2787

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2023/12/19/press-release-bills-signed-h-r-1734-s-788-s-2747-s-2787/

Quote

S. 2787, the “5G Spectrum Authority Licensing Enforcement Act” or the “5G SALE Act,” which authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to temporarily process applications for licenses for the use of spectrum between 2496 megahertz and 2690 megahertz from applicants who were selected through a system of competitive bidding on or before March 9, 2023;

4xCA live in NYC finally

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Decommission permits for the sites at the following addresses came through. These are all sites that were broadcasting the keep PLMN and are on the keep site map. Almost all of them have 12/31/2023 expiration dates with a few having expiration dates in early 2024. Sad to see them go but they probably couldn't get favorable lease rates. Hopefully T-Mobile is considering putting sites on nearby buildings to fill in coverage in some of these areas.

1. 231 Norman Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

2. 185 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

3. 418 Madison St, Brooklyn, NY 11221

4. 961 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11213

5. 88 Wyckoff St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

6. 7119 Shore Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11209 

7. 223 78th St, Brooklyn, NY 11209

8. 2427 E 29th St, Brooklyn, NY 11235

9. 1123 Avenue K, Brooklyn, NY 11230

10. 4701 Snyder Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11203

11. 140 Delancey St, New York, NY 10002

12. 1900 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10035

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Found two more conversion permits for sites on the map:

1. 59 Lorimer St, Brooklyn, NY 11206 (Permit expires 04/23/2024)

   1. This site is in southern Williamsburg.

2. 360 Furman St, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (Permit expires 02/09/2024)

   1. This is the stealth site that is just off of the BQE that should fill in a lot of coverage along Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Promenade, and the southwestern section Brooklyn Heights.

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I'm in midtown a lot lately and it's super annoying that there still isn't a way to break up 5G gNBs to notate small cells vs macros. It's frustrating that there are so many red dots on the map in that area because there are a dozen or so small cells that I can't pin.

Converted Sites:

1. Sprint eNB 6888 -> T-Mobile gNB 1344050
   Location: 40.708900517652125, -73.9406671394352
    
2. Sprint eNB 6147 -> T-Mobile gNB 1371630
   Location: 40.80216075318654, -73.96408008092577

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New Conversion Permits: 

1. Sprint eNB Unknown
   Located at 40.8523016210477, -73.93748813021824
2. Sprint eNB 6156
   Located at: 40.78975335578959, -73.94790522609013

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On 10/17/2023 at 8:29 AM, Paynefanbro said:

Sprint eNB 6256

1. Address: 1155 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
2. Coordinate: 40.73839858377396, -73.95614025871389
3. Notes: This is the infamous Greenpoint Sprint site that should make a world of difference for T-Mobile customers in both Greenpoint and LIC. A permit was initially submitted sometime last year but it got denied. It was recently resubmitted and approved with an expiration date in December 2023 so expect this to finally be converted before year-end.

 

Early Christmas present! North sector points directly across to Long Island City. The site isn't live yet but I'm so glad this finally got converted.

On 12/2/2023 at 11:09 PM, Paynefanbro said:

Only reason I can think of as to why T-Mobile is doing this is mitigating interference from NextWave sites.

Turns out I was right about this.

NextWave touts NYC progress, but other markets delayed

https://www.lightreading.com/private-networks/nextwave-touts-nyc-progress-but-other-markets-delayed

Quote

An official familiar with the company's plans blamed several issues for the delay. First, the company's 2.5GHz network is running into unexpected interference with T-Mobile's 2.5GHz 5G network in some cities. Additionally, the company is suffering from some equipment supply chain troubles.

I came across something weird this morning where some sectors on some sites in midtown are no longer showing 2600.55 as the frequency but showing 2640 instead. Check out gNB ID 1332294 and gNB ID 1332288. 

Edit: I think it's just something wonky about how the site or maybe my phone is reporting the frequency to Cellmapper. For a while Cellmapper has been reading the 100MHz carrier as 2600.55 but that is not the correct center frequency because T-Mobile controls 2590-2690MHz. At 2600.55 the carrier would only be 20MHz wide. Now that it's reporting 2640, it is showing the correct center frequency of a 100MHz carrier in that range.

T-Mobile Revs Up Millimeter Wave with 5G Standalone

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/press/t-mobile-revs-up-millimeter-wave-with-5g-standalone

Quote

T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) announced today it achieved another 5G U.S. first in a test that leveraged 5G standalone millimeter wave (mmWave) on its production network. Working with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., the Un-carrier aggregated eight channels of mmWave spectrum to reach download speeds topping 4.3 Gbps without relying on low-band or mid-band spectrum to anchor the connection. T-Mobile also aggregated four channels of mmWave spectrum on the uplink, reaching speeds above 420 Mbps.

5G mmWave can deliver incredibly fast speeds because it offers massive capacity. But the signal doesn’t travel very well through obstacles, making it less ideal for mobile phone users who aren’t sitting still. That’s why T-Mobile has implemented a multi-band spectrum strategy using low-band to blanket the country and mid-band and high-band (Ultra Capacity) to deliver insanely fast speeds to nearly everyone. Now the Un-carrier is testing 5G mmWave on 5G SA for crowded areas like stadiums and, potentially, for fixed wireless service.

The n41 situation is getting frustrating. It seems like 40+40 is making it's way up to Central Brooklyn now. The sites by Brooklyn College switched to 40+40. I've also found Canarsie to be an unusual area. Most sites are still at 100+40 but at Bay View Houses all of the sites are 40+40 and sites on the west side of the neighborhood bordering Old Mill Basin are at 40+40 as well. Only reason I can think of as to why T-Mobile is doing this is mitigating interference from NextWave sites. T-Mobile was likely being extremely liberal with regard to where they deployed 140 MHz in Brooklyn and Manhattan and until NextWave started their own deployments, they got away with it.

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n71 is now at 20MHz in Crown Heights.

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T-Mobile eNB 40960, 44643, and 41400 are gig+ sites.

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Went to Broad Channel over the weekend to see what the NR situation is like. Despite the macro there being pretty new, it wasn't deployed with any n41 antennas and I can't even confirm if n25 is live. However n41 is everywhere and they seem to be coming from the 7 small cells deployed there in the past year. Speeds and range on them are actually pretty impressive. The entire (populated) portion of the island is covered really well by them and speeds are consistently in the 300-400Mbps range with peak speeds over 700Mbps. Kinda amazing considering as recently as last summer they had virtually no coverage on the island save for some coverage reaching over from macros in Howard Beach and the Rockaways. 

Timing of this photo is crazy with the billboard in the background but I finally found an actual T-Mobile 5G oDAS node. It's an upgrade of a pre-existing T-Mobile small cell on the same pole.

The small cell pictured is gNB 1360771-304. 

A couple more 5G nodes:

1. eNB 1370776-302
2. eNB 1352184-302
    

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Also spotted a single-sector AT&T site. It's eNB 110641. This is the second one I've seen from them in the city.

1. Sprint eNB 74174 -> T-Mobile eNB 344184
   Located at 40.75686680299905, -73.97798076463842
    
2. Sprint eNB 7159/7160 -> T-Mobile gNB 1358196
   Located at 40.827328779042936, -73.94314592306812
    
3. Sprint eNB 80362 -> T-Mobile eNB 219106
   Located at 40.8513934685157, -73.94196120231052
    
4. Sprint eNB Unknown -> T-Mobile eNB 331083
   Located at 40.821883380701166, -73.9247178008471
    
5. Sprint eNB 6269 -> T-Mobile gNB 1369590
   Located at 40.76195828718452, -73.92401561055308

There was a Sprint site in The Bronx that did something similar. They had two sectors one building and the third sector and cabinetry on a shorter building next door. When it was first converted T-Mobile kept the setup but a couple of months later they moved everything over to the taller building.

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T-Mobile eNB 40003 was one of those sites that used the mini-antennas but it looks like T-Mobile removed those antennas and put regular macro antennas on the roof when they upgraded it. Coverage is way better as a result. I wish they did that more often.

Before: 

After:

On 11/2/2023 at 9:23 PM, T-MoblieUser207 said:

In n41 news, the border between 100+40 and 40+40 in Manhattan shifted lower. Before it was up in the 150-160 Streets, now towers near 145 are doing 40+40 as well instead of the 100+40 they were doing for months.

Same thing happened in Red Hook. Looks like some of the gNBs in southern Red Hook like the site closest to Ikea and the billboard Sprint conversion next to the BQE went from 100+40 to 40+40. gNB 1325606 which is the site on top of the building that Verizon and AT&T are on in northern Red Hook is still 100+40 though.

NextWave count your days!

U.S. mobile operators are revving their engines for the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Quote

T-Mobile takes the pole position for 5G Availability with a score of 66.8%, which reflects the percentage of time our 5G users with a 5G subscription have an active 5G connection. The carrier commands a colossal lead over both of its competitors, as our T-Mobile 5G users spend nearly triple the proportion of time connected to 5G services than on Verizon’s network and almost six times more than on AT&T’s network. 

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Compared to the same data collection period 12 months earlier, all U.S. national carriers observe notable relative increases in their average 5G download speed scores around the Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street. AT&T’s 5G Download Speed has nearly doubled, while Verizon sees an increase of 68.8%.

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While AT&T and Verizon have been closing the gap for 5G Download Speed between them and T-Mobile around the Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street — T-Mobile has increased its lead for 5G Availability. Our 5G users on this network observe an increase of 14.3 percentage points of their time spent with an active 5G connection — which is a more substantial growth in 5G Availability in the area than in the case of Verizon (6.6 percentage points) or AT&T (1.7 percentage points).

https://www.opensignal.com/2023/11/09/us-mobile-operators-are-revving-their-engines-for-the-f1-las-vegas-grand-prix

16 minutes ago, AirlineFlyer said:

Weird. Isn't T-Mobile already on another monopole like two blocks away?

I believe that site got decommissioned earlier this year but I may be wrong.

Edit: Nope I was right.

Job number: Q08043463-I1

Job Description: 

T-Mobile: Decommission of existing site. Removal of antennas sectors from existing monopole on grade. Removal of equipment cabinets and related equipment platform on grade. All work in compliance with TPPN 5/98. No change in use, egress or occupancy.

Looks like T-Mobile is doing a new build. They're collocating on a monopole in Far Rockaway at 75-02 Amstel Blvd, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

Also permit finally came through to convert the Sprint site at 421 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11231. Permit expires December 31st so it'll likely be converted before year end.

I can't speak to the quality of Dish's network because I haven't tested it for myself but here in NYC they have a relatively mature buildout. I've seen their sites in every borough and it seems like they didn't cheap out and only collocate on sites that other carriers are already on, they are increasingly doing new builds in areas where even the Big 3 have weaker service. At this point they have hundreds of sites online here and some have posted speed tests online of up to 700Mbps in the city. That said, even if you're not on their own network, their MVNO is running on arguably the two best networks in the country, one being the fastest and the other having the most coverage.

That leads me to my next point which is, Dish could be gaining customers if they made a conscious effort to advertise their service as opposed to passively announcing deals via press release and then expecting word of mouth to do the heavy lifting. Boost as a brand was already suffering from negative mindshare due to it being connected to Sprint. A rebrand should've been step one but they doubled down on the Boost brand by launching a sub-brand called Boost Infinite specifically for postpaid service. At the very least they should've just launched it under the normal Boost Mobile brand for consistency's sake. And now they're relying on Amazon to sell Boost Infinite instead of using the existing retail network of Boost stores to sell it. It's a really confusing decision to me.

An easy win for Dish from the marketing perspective could've been on iPhone launch day just having their name listed in the buyflow alongside Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and "Unlocked". At least then people could've known that Boost is a serious brand in competition with them and that they had a competitive deal. On Samsung's website Boost should be where U.S. Cellular's name is listed but they aren't.

It just seems like Dish isn't actually trying to succeed or that they have trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. Maybe their end goal is to get bought out by someone like Google and have Project Fi run on their network but they know the FCC, FTC, and DOJ are not going to ok something like that unless they're in dire financial circumstance.

T-Mobile surpasses Verizon as biggest prepaid carrier

Quote

T-Mobile is now the carrier with the largest number of prepaid customers, surpassing Verizon.

Based on their Q3 2023 earnings reports, T-Mobile had 21,595,000 customers and Verizon had 21,420,000. Wave7 Research flagged the change in a prepaid report distributed to subscribers this week. (AT&T reported 19,391,000 prepaid customers as of the end of Q3.)

Before the third quarter, Verizon was the biggest U.S. prepaid carrier, but that title was relatively new. The operator bought TracFone Wireless from América Móvil in 2021, instantly giving it more than 20 million prepaid customers. But it’s been steadily losing customers ever since.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-surpasses-verizon-biggest-prepaid-carrier

Yikes.

Dish's struggles continue in Q3

Dish's third quarter results came in far below expectations, and the company's CEO made an early exit. 'We're failing fast and we're learning,' said Dish founder Charlie Ergen. Next up for Dish: a merger with EchoStar.

https://www.lightreading.com/5g/dish-s-struggles-continue-in-q3

On 11/2/2023 at 9:23 PM, T-MoblieUser207 said:

Some towers got the upgrade to 20 MHz n71. Others (most) are still at 15 MHz, but no B71 live. The changes started happening Oct 31st-Nov 1st.

Spotted some 20MHz n71 in SoHo earlier today but the sites in my neck of the woods in Crown Heights are still at 15MHz, though they have moved up the block. 

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eNB 41170 is a gig+ site.

I don't know if it was an iPhone issue or an issue with T-Mobile's network but I've noticed my standalone 5G pings have dropped considerably in the past couple of weeks. I used to be able to tell when I was on standalone 5G by looking at the ping on a speed test since it would consistently read 38-40ms. Now it's in the low to mid teens and I can only tell by going into Field Test Mode. 

Edit: Seems like it's not marketwide but instead on some sites vs others. Still encountering sites with the 38ms ping.

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Also (maybe old news?) the 15MHz n71 carrier moved up to center on the beginning of the B-block so now we have 15MHz n71 and 5MHz Band 71. 

T-Mobile takes its fiber effort to new markets in Florida, Minnesota

https://www.fiercetelecom.com/broadband/t-mobile-takes-its-fiber-effort-new-markets-florida-minnesota

Quote

Wave7 Research’s Jeff Moore told Fierce Telecom that over the past month the operator made its service available in two new areas in Florida and Minnesota.

Newly covered markets include Pinellas County in the former and the St. Cloud metro region in the latter.

- - - - -

T-Mobile now offers fiber service in seven markets: New York, NY; Pueblo and Northglenn, CO; Kenosha, WI; Bloomington and St. Cloud, MN; and Pinellas County, FL.