red_dog007

On 11/24/2019 at 4:28 PM, RAvirani said:

It doesn't have to fit completely into a guard band. Even if CDMA overlaps with the LTE carrier, the LTE carrier an be configured to not assign resource blocks that overlap with the CDMA carrier. 

This is cool.  I didn't know this was a thing.  Wonder if this is what VZW is doing. Do you happen to know what 3GPP Release this became a feature and if it has a specific name?

On 11/24/2019 at 4:42 PM, RAvirani said:

I was under the impression they planned to run 5x5 UMTS/HSPA and 5x5 NR. Whether that meant refarming LTE or refarming UMTS/HSPA depends on what's currently live in each market. 

Ah. The article I read, and to which others mentioned as well, https://www.mobileworldlive.com/devices/news-devices/att-samsung-team-on-sub-6ghz-5g-smartphone/ stats: 

"Mansfield noted AT&T’s 3G traffic is increasingly moving to LTE, clearing the way for AT&T to reuse its legacy 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum for 5G"

I initially took this as 3G will get refarmed for 5G.  But rereading it, it could just mean that they are using 850/1900 first to deploy 5G. It would be nice to have a direct quote from Mansfield from this event. 

And if they refarm 3G or LTE, at least in 850MHz, there is enough room to keep all three technologies still.  

I didn't think 3G could be trimmed down far enough to fit in a guard band. 

Beings that VZW complete shutdown is Dec. 31 2020, ATT is Early 2022, I think we can expect Sprint's shutdown around then as well, at least a partial one.  I think they could rock 1x800 for a long time. Unless they are ready for 5G on 800 and want to do 5x5 5G and repurpose the 1x800 into LTE. 

Good deal 😀

From some other articles I read it makes it sound like Mansfield said/implied they are refarming 3G in 850MHz for this initial rollout.  

I am not sure how much total spectrum they are generally using for 3G across 850/1900 but with the shutdown approaching they might just go to 1900 only and even in some places shut it down early if they lack 850.

Beings that they have B14 now, it would be pretty sweet if they did 10x10 5G and then 1.4x1.4 LTE on 850.

Is there a coverage map for just AT&T 3G?

On 10/9/2019 at 10:02 PM, lilotimz said:

Ericsson air 5331 29 GHz 5G massive mimo antenna.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

The only 5331 I am seeing is 37-40GHz. 

Also didn't think m-mimo as a thing yet in mmwave. 

Chocolate Gravy

3 hours ago, bigsnake49 said:

I am sure that the chip makers (Qualcomm) can make a chipset/RF front end that has all the bands that the combined company supports without cdma. The problem would be if there is a loss of voice roaming for Sprint if CDMA voice went away and all voice was over LTE.

Actually, the Alcatel Go Flip 3 uses the Snapdragon 210 and fully supports TMobile and Sprint.  

• GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
• UMTS: 2/4/5
• LTE: 2/4/5/12/25/26/41 (Support HPUE)/66/71
• CDMA: BC 0/1/10/ 1xRTT Call
• VoLTE: Yes

Once the merger goes through, it'll be interesting to see how soon a non-Sprint phone could be added to a Sprint account. 

After the merger goes through, how soon can we expect to be able to add a phone to our account that doesn't have CDMA support?

Any inside word if this will come to Sprint and will it be this year?

It not only does both Sprint and TMobile LTE bands including B71 and HPUE, VoLTE, but it also supports CDMA 0,1,10.

2 hours ago, dkyeager said:

While it is certainly true that Sprint is using less Verizon roaming, I think that is more of a function of using more T-Mobile and AT&T plus Verizon eliminating CDMA equipment from sites.

Some of the areas I visit was VZW only, and with the latest coverage map update, it appears that service may not exist now or very soon.  I haven't verified yet, but it is a concern. 

It isn't a huge concern right now because of the other roaming agreements (not including TMobile).  But once TMobile takes over, if roaming goes away, that is a huge hit on my coverage of areas I actually go. 

So, here I've been planning to switch over to MintSim if the merger goes through once my phone gets updated.  That is, if I jump off the New-TMobile.

However... TMobile's claim that 99% of the population is now covered, maybe if you are a few hundred feet above tree level? Where I live and where I go, TMobile is a distant fourth place compared to Sprint+Roaming even before TMobile roaming.  TMobile roaming has been more an annoyance really as their performance and coverage is subpar to the regional carrier. 

Sprint is already chopping VZW roaming.  I imagine the new Tmobile will kill all of Sprint's roaming. It'll be time to switch to ATT/VZW MVNO 😕 

On 10/24/2019 at 9:14 AM, RedSpark said:

Amazing how much money SoftBank had to burn on WeWork versus the neglect/scraps that Sprint was given:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/22/softbank-announces-take-over-wework/4067488002/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-24/softbank-plumbs-10-month-low-after-extending-lifeline-to-wework

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/22/20927188/wework-adam-neumann-payout-softbank-layoffs

I mean, look at that.

This merger is a complete farce.

This, along with the billions it has sunk into other ventures shows that SoftBank could have funded a massive capital expenditure for Sprint to right the ship, and that it could have provided funds for Sprint to acquire a substantial amount of 600 MHz spectrum in the auction.

Of course, one of the primary justifications Sprint has given for the merger is its lack of lowband spectrum. Go figure.

That isn't just giving them money though.  Nothing is ever for free.  It looks like part ownership and part financing.  

Softbank already did something similar with Sprint after they bought the,.  Sprint's did huge lease backs with Softbank shell companies to raise billions of dollars, almost $7 billion that I am aware of.

Can't find a spec sheet.

AirUnity 5G

https://www.airspan.com/portfolio-items/airspan-networks-5g-airunity-powered-by-qualcomm-technology/

Display is huge on it. When can we expect this?

17 hours ago, Brad The Beast said:

Verizon isn't shutting down CDMA until 12/31/20 now. 

Seems two fold.  IIRC they were going to shut down business/m2m 12/31/21 and consumers 12/31/19.  Seems like they both now have the same date. 

VZW though seems like they are still killing the roaming because they want devices off the 3G network. According to my VZW buddy, EVDO is already dead.  I'd expect them to run just 1 carrier in SMR were they can.

15 hours ago, PythonFanPA said:

As for satellite radio, regardless of how many times they throw out the bone of availability in cars (including my own - I'm not a subscriber), it still doesn't carry remotely the kind of service demand that tv/media consumption or wireless phone/data availability does.  You're talking around ~10% of the US population there going by rd's numbers in the post above compared to, again, the vast majority of the population being cell service customers. So, while it may be a monopoly, its certainly not a monopoly on the same scale of comparison that consumer demand shows that it really warrants (nor does it seem that there is movement towards) the FCC stepping back in and breaking it up.   😉

I wouldn't even consider SiriusXM a monopoly anymore.  Maybe after they merged yes.  Having a satellite capable device to get SiriusXM radio isn't a requirement.  These days, it just so happens that they also offer satellite as an available method (which still heavily relies on ground based towers) to receive the service but it is by no means essential to have the service.

Back when sat radio merged, both companies were bleeding money and almost filed for bankruptcy after the merger still.  Many analysts thought two weak companies were merging to make a weak company. This was more than a decade ago.  Their arguement to the FCC was that the merger was needed just to survive.  If they didn't merge, they could have both disappeared or we still only end up with one service provider in the end.

Since then, they have like almost 30 million subs and almost $6billion in revenue.  But this still needs to be broken down as you don't have to get the signal from satellite to be a SiriusXM customer and this likely includes Pandora subs as well. These days, their radio is transfered just like everyone else's via an app.  You can be a subscriber and get your entertainment through you ISP or Cellular provider. Shoot, I wouldn't be surprised if SiriusXM coming with your new car goes over LTE. 

On 10/2/2019 at 12:42 PM, bigsnake49 said:

Sprint's pilfering of Lifeline funds really did not help they case for this merger. I believe the merger will go through but I hope that Sprint has contingency plans in case that does not happen. It is now clear that the acquisition of Sprint by SoftBank was a disaster. Softbank was never interested in investing in Sprint. They always wanted to merge with T-Mobile. So what are the best options for Sprint?

1. Acquire Dish's wireless division and get acquired in turn by a consortium of Cable cos

2. Cable cos and sprint acquire the rest of EBS in rural areas and use that and CBRS to provide fixed wireless service/TV programming to rural areas

3. Cable cos become facilities based MVNO of Sprint 

4. Cable cos provide strand based and pole based 2.5 Ghz +CBRS based small cells

 

I have no idea what Sprint can do to survive on its own.

Softbank did invest in Sprint. Softbank is an asset holder, putting money into a company is an investment. They just don't hand out free money, and it would take at least two years worth of capex to get Sprint somewhere substantial where that money spent would actually make them money long term.  Even things like Softbanks $100B IT fund, they are just exchanging money for ownership where it is buying a large portion of a public company like ARM to get majority ownership, or a small startup that needs money and is willing to sell a portion of the company to get the money they need.  There is nothing left to buy from Sprint unless they want to take Sprint private.

Sprint's contingency plan is to operate as normal, like they are now.  They can keep going.  We'd see a Chapter 11 or Softbank taking Sprint private before a complete full on asset sale. Sprint's disaster apex would be when they can no longer raise money and take on debt.  When there is a full on loss in confidence.

Things can't be all too bad.  Sprint's numbers still aren't in the black, but they would easily have been if they didn't spend the few billion extra on capex.  But you gotta spend money to make money and it is great that Sprint's capex isn't complete garbage anymore.  Marcelo really might have had to trim capex way back just to keep the books not as deep in the red and sustain Sprint, but it cost Sprint a lot of time.

I think would would help Sprint greatly is removing CDMA requirements for devices to be on their network. Having a CDMA requirement is ignoring tens of millions of potential line additions and flat out throwing away tens of milions of others.  MVNOs have switched over from Sprint to TMobile.  New MVNOs are more likely to be a TMobile MVNO. People can't just take whatever phone and say "make it work". 

If CMDA exists on the device, even if it lacks BC10 should just be more a bonus for Sprint.  Sprint used to be the MVNO king, but TMobile has really been able to pick up Sprint's slack.

Does Sprint still do free WiFi routers?

On 9/23/2019 at 1:36 AM, dkyeager said:

The Sprint 5G plans are in the merger documents in map form.  It will be deployed in many places, but do to limited cash flow, the duo will beat them to those places in many cases.  With their current Massive MIMO, they would be limited to 120MHz out of 194MHz for 5g in many markets with their existing equipment models.  The bigger question is whether they can afford to buy more in the upcoming 2.5 auction to better cover small towns and rural areas.

Have, will or why hasn't Sprint been leaving up their 8T8R gear where they have the extra spectrum?

On 9/11/2019 at 10:25 PM, Brad The Beast said:

I've been testing the T-Mobile network here in Grand Forks for the past two days on the Test Drive program. I am less than impressed. Of the 27 tests I've done, only 4 of them have had download speeds in the double digits. No tests have resulted in upload speeds in the double digits.

Im sure you are aware, but I'd also keep in mind that the hotspot can't CA. IMO the device is meant more for coverage awareness.  

If you want to test speeds, grab a TMobile sim and drop that into an unlocked phone.  Speedtest app is whitelisted. 

They are keeping up with their quarterly patches on the Sprint V30.  Wish they weren't so far behind on Android 9.  

Been looking at the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G and boy is that sucker tempting. 

So what is like the theoretical maximum DL/UL for a 20MHz 5G channel with 256QAM, 4x4MIMO with the current TDD config Sprint is running? 

On 9/14/2019 at 9:35 PM, Brad The Beast said:

Does it still show 3G in that area on the coverage map?

Is there a map source that lets you disable LTE on the legend to view just 3G coverage? But even that coverage may not differentiate between EVDO and 1x.