RedSpark

Bill insert from what I heard.

https://www.sprint.com/change Looks like older Unlimited Plans are being retired in the coming months. Those customers are getting moved onto Unlimited Freedom. This is a pretty big deal!!! Goodbye Everything Data... Otherwise, Customers have the option to end their agreements without a Termination Fee. However, customers are still responsible for device costs/payments.

There’s a lot of neat stuff there!

Speaking of IoT: http://www.sprint.com/iotfactory Release: http://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-launches-groundbreaking-iot-factory-to-make-everyday-business-easier.htm

Sprint sure loves its robots!!!

Sprint offers some employees bonuses to stay on board: report

Also see Slide 22 of the Merger Sales Pitch PDF: https://allfor5g.com/content/uploads/2018/04/CREATING-ROBUST-COMPETITION-IN-THE-5G-ERA-2.pdf

Apparently, they’re on-air and being tested in Dallas, LA and NYC:

Yeah... I was thinking that “Next-Gen” upgrades progress as a benchmark in one area would bode well for updates in another.

Correct. Sorry for the confusion. My reference was to the “Next-Gen” Network mention that Saw made.

A good sign for the upcoming Super Bowl!!! Super Bowl LIII: https://atlsuperbowl53.com/ Perhaps Massive MIMO will launch by then.

I agree. $200 Million is a drop in the bucket for capex overall... but if it was targeted capex reserved for Sprint’s poorest performing sites, it could have done a huge amount of good. Instead, as you said, it was largely wasted on this Promo which was poorly executed to the point that the offer was claimed by non-Sprint customers. Looking back at how the merger came together, Sprint seemed to have money for everything but its network. It’s really frustrating to see this. The Hulu Offer makes a lot more sense. Hulu is a competitive service right in line with Netflix. On the other hand, Tidal doesn’t have a real future vs its competitors.

Great question. This Tidal investment was a bad idea from the start in my opinion. It was a distraction from actually improving the network.

Honestly, Sprint’s Tidal investment was a waste of $200 Million with very limited upside. I don’t understand why they did this. There’s too much competition in Music steaming and Tidal isn’t even on the radar vs Apple Music, etc.

Very neat!

I do share your sentiment and I don’t mean to be a buzzkill here... but this petition, even if it reaches the official threshold, may not get an official response beyond a “decline to comment” per the Terms and Conditons for “We The People”... and here’s why: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/about To avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government in its response to a petition. Where possible, we will notify signers of petitions whose content falls into these areas, in instances in which we don't feel we will be able to respond meaningfully. _________ The White House will likely say this falls under the purview of other federal departments or agencies: FTC/FCC/DOJ, etc.

The next iPhone will likely have support for 600 MHz and HPUE. As far as the the model breakdown: Apple will either continue with the 2 separate models: GSM for AT&T/T-Mobile using an Intel Modem and CDMA/GSM for Sprint/Verizon/Unlocked using a Qualcomm Modem.... or Apple will make a single model using only Intel Modems which are capable of both CDMA/GSM (or supplementing with Qualcomm to ensure supply if necessary). If Apple leaves support for 600 MHz (or HPUE for that matter) off of the Sprint model handset, I’ll be pretty upset to say the least...

Would the combined companies support HPUE?

When the Sprint/T-Mobile Roaming Agreement kicks in, how will that affect Network Mapping in each of the Apps? (Sensorly, Rootmetrics, OpenSignal, etc.)

Apple absent from growing Sprint HPUE device list (October 27, 2017) A Sprint representative told Mobile World Live the operator expects more than 10 per cent of its smartphone base to have an HPUE-enabled phone by the end of 2017. The figure is anticipated to grow to more than 33 per cent of the base in 2018, she added. —————————————— So according to this, there’s quite a way to go for Sprint in terms of seeding HPUE devices to the user base. Apple could do its part by actually releasing a device that supports it. ?

Considering the fact that iPhones don’t support HPUE yet, this is a real issue, and I’ve experienced it. Perhaps Apple deserves some of the blame here as well for being such a laggard on this, but they don’t support 600 MHz either for T-Mobile. (Heck, the iPhone SE doesn’t even support Carrier Aggregation.) Sprint’s in a fix here since a substantial number of devices on its network don’t support HPUE.

I wonder what impact the announced merger will have on Sprint's (or T-Mobile's) participation in the Millimeter Wave Auction: Sprint: Millimeter wave spectrum is ‘important part of our strategy going forward’ Auction begins in November.

At least Sprint's VoLTE plans for launching this Fall haven't changed: Sprint's roaming agreement with T-Mobile doesn't impact VoLTE rollout

Wouldn't it also be the case that if Sprint didn't do this, it wouldn't perform as well in the RootMetrics/OpenSignal/Ookla Download rankings, which is what most people seem to pay the most attention to?

This Offer is not marketed at all. It's essentially word of mouth, which is by design. Sprint wanted to test a completely self-service digital offer that runs with essentially no promotion or advertising. The most exposure this deal got was on Slickdeals or on other boards. The program is self-limiting in a way: People have to own their device, know how to do BYOD and have an eligible device on the BYOD list for the Program: https://www.sprint.com/en/shop/offers/free-unlimited.html Not everyone meets these criteria or hears about the Offer.