greenbastard

Read through the entire Reddit thread for more insight.

What they did in Wyoming alone should be good news for network enthusiasts. They didn't wait around for fiber or microwave backhaul. They went in and used Satellite backhaul throughout the entire state. They were determined to get a native network deployed at all costs. Of course ping times are terrible, but it definitely beats roaming. Satellite backhaul will do for now until they can hire crews to install proper backhaul.

The first time they tried this, they gave up because they got bad vibes from the government. Seeing how they're experienced at flirting with each other, something tells me you're right.

You're way out of touch with what "Nextel" was.

Ghetto? Nextel targeted businesses. You don't know what you're talking about. You're thinking of Boost Mobile. Nextel was a business oriented brand that heavily advertised business solutions like Nationwide PTT, GPS tracking, email, etc (which for the time was very innovative) T-Mobile still has an image problem. There's a reason why they continue to be #3 despite their aggressive pricing and advertising push in the past few years. Their growth has just about slowed down. This merger has a lot to do with spectrum, but it also has to do with growing the subscriber base. Hardcore Verizon and At&t users still hold a negative view of T-Mobile.

I hate to bring up the old roundtable ad that got Sprint in trouble, but....the best word to describe the T-Mobile brand is somewhere between "ghetto" and "Millennial/Liberal". Their network is great, but their brand is very unappealing to many (especially when you consider who the people elected president). Having said that, credit to them for trying to find a middle ground with their new "Military Plan". Simple solution to the merger would be to just bring back the Nextel brand and gather up the old marketing team behind their genius ads.

If build out costs were factored in, then they went in favor of Sprint. 2.5 Ghz is considered ocean front property for 5G deployment since it's mostly paired already by one entity. It definitely offers better propagation than the next slice of paired spectrum that will become available to wireless companies (3.5 Ghz) And let's not forget about the advancements in Massive MIMO...

I'm split. I'd like to keep Sprint for competitive reasons. But then again, having a 3rd strong carrier is also very tempting for the progress and rollout of 5G internet. If the deal does go through, I really hope the FCC and DOJ do it on several conditions that benefit the people. Forcing T-Mobile/Sprint to commit to a rural build out and asking them to work with manufacturers to make their phones fully compatible with At&t and Verizon.

Well, Sprint publicly states that they valued their entire spectrum holdings at $16B just a year and a half ago (that's before they started a second spectrum leaseback in order to raise cash). And we all know spectrum is the reason T-Mobile wanted this deal. We also have to consider that Sprint sold the rights to their leased handsets and also made a deal to sell and then lease back some of their network assets. Sprint's debt is the reason why T-Mobile is offering to absorb them at such a cheap rate.

Counting chickens before they hatch.

If your phone is rooted, you could turn off the Sprint bands and force your phone to roam on Open Mobile for data with the Network Signal Guru app. You'd miss out on calls since you would have to turn off CDMA 1900 (phone won't roam if it detects Sprint 1x). But at least you could see how well B13 performs for you and test drive it for educational purposes.

We should avoid abbreviating Massive MIMO as MM. It doesn't make sense and it can easily be confused for Mini Macro.

Didn't Sprint use a small part of their spectrum licenses for a leaseback deal? I believe the last reports had 14% of their spectrum being leased back to them, but that number could have grown since then due to Sprint's desire to raise money. I'm don't know if this impacted Softbank's negotiating leverage, but I'm sure it was brought up.

Apple embracing an open ecosystem??? ? Does Sprint charge international SMS rates for messages sent through RCS?

I hope their security and login process is strict. T-Mobile users have seen some security breaches through the Digits portals. This has lead to email and banking accounts being taken over by hackers.

Since we haven't seen any massive MIMO equipment in the wild, I'm assuming that investment has been put on hold. We were promised April for Dallas, Los Angeles, and Chicago and we are about to hit May. This tells me Sprint is either serious about merging or they are having serious issues with suppliers (highly doubtful it is the latter).

Has anyone spotted any massive mimo equipment in Los Angeles, Chicago, or Dallas yet?

Thank you so much for bringing light to this! I would have never known about it had you not posted it! You've saved me a lot of money and lowered my bill moving forward! It wasn't an easy process, but well worth it. Unlocking the phones was surprisingly easy. But the small hiccup came with my final bill. When I received it, I thought I was screwed when I saw that the ETF was included. I almost paid for it too, but the frugal in me decided to call Sprint (couldn't hurt, right?). After an hour on the phone with a US supervisor, my account was credited for the full amount of the ETFs. I walked away Scot-free!! Thanks a bunch OP! I'm trying Verizon's throttled unlimited data plan. Excellent reliability in the city, but there are certain key spots where I need my phone that aren't great. I don't know if it's the throttling or the network.

I believe Google Voice now supports MMS. You should kook into it, but I'm pretty sure I've been able to send and receive MMS from the Google Voice app.

The problem with this thought is that you're assuming the FCC won't open 3.7-4.2 Ghz for 5G. Everyone is overthinking this. T-Mobile and Sprint both want a merger. Less competition and reducing 5G costs are the goals here.

Something to think about; I noticed that Walmart's wifi network throttles Amazon.com to a slow crawl. Makes sense if you think about it. It discourages customers from scanning a bar code and finding it cheaper from one of Amazon's many sellers. I definitely do not see Walmart as a a store that would be willing to host Magic Boxes based on that fact.

I'm guessing that both parties weren't too far off in ownership negotiations. If they were, then I doubt SoftBank and DT would be back to the table this soon. Most of the work to determine the new company structure and how both networks would be integrated has been done. All they have to do is figure out the ownership ratio.

Lend people a hand, and they take the entire arm. I never got an Airave because of that. I know my neighbors don't have home internet and they use their Sprint phones as their internet. The moment I hookup an Airave is the moment those cheap bastards will run through my ISPs data allowance. Let them suffer through congested B26 as they attempt to stream Netflix.

Especially in a cut throat market, where every wireless provider is carrying debt. This seems like it has been a long time coming. When SoftBank took over Sprint, everyone knew Son's ultimate goal was to make the US a three carrier market. Is that good for the consumer? No. But the numbers for four carriers aren't there. Something has got to give. I think SoftBank and DT had all the hard details such as network integration, management, and strategy ironed out. The only thing they disagreed on was ownership ratio. If they are back to the table this soon, then that means that they weren't very far off on their numbers. I think the merger goes through. Sprint can't deploy 5G and simultaneously expand their network on their own AND T-Mobile doesn't have 5G spectrum. They both need each other.

We don't know that they actually signed with Zayo. This is a rumor turned fact by adding 1+1. I wouldn't be surprised (if indeed this was Sprint who signed with Zayo) if there is an out clause due to a marger or change in ownership.