RedSpark
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Posts posted by RedSpark
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Yes I noticed that! It loads the old interface and a second later the new one pops on top. I've never seen that anywhere before!
At some point, I hope the old website content behind it can be removed.... but if they've merely put a new style layer over the old website, the old content may not be able to be removed.
It's crazy to see the site load twice in certain sections.
I have to say that the most poorly designed section has to be the "My Devices" Screen, with the big graphical blocks. We have 8 devices on our account and viewing all the devices at one time is pretty difficult.
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It's called maintenance and most websites go through it at some point.
Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk
This isn't from maintenance. It's likely due to conflicting project managers, limited funds and inadequate testing.
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WTF have they done to the website. It has gone from bad to an unusable mess. It just had me sign on 3 times, it flickered back and forth between the old and the new inter phase, I was forced to enter an 8 digit code twice, and now apparently 15 days into my cycle Ive sued 0GB, 0 minutes, and 0 texts.
Yup. The website is totally unusable. It makes you sign on multiple times when navigating between sections. It's a jumble of an unreadable new interface and a readable (but stale) old interface. There are many sections which have out of date or flat out wrong information.
In fact, if you look at the new interface, you can see the old interface lurking behind it when loading. It's a sad state of affairs.
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Verizon has a lot of debt also, $105B.
It's not just the debt, but the ability to service it that matters. Verizon doesn't seem to have an issue with doing that, while maintaining substantial Capital Expenditures for network, etc.
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So what I see is, you guys want Sprint to lower it's rate plans while increasing money to network buildout, and you want it done by by summer no later. Oh and while they at it give away free things. Make you guys even more spoiled brat arm chair CEO's and when they haven't done what you guys want, find someone else that will? I guess most of the current generation of people are mostly give me what I want or else, I I'll complain, bad mouth, never feel satisfied, and try to preach orders to a company you don't even work for. It's just like the company I work for too.
Sent from my 2PYB2 using Tapatalk
I think the following are fair questions to ask, and I'm interested in what you think:
- Do you believe, as Marcelo has repeatedly said, that Sprint having "Fewer Distribution Channels Than The Competition" justified the expenditure of funds for the Radio Shack venture starting back January 2015? (Bloomberg Article: "RadioShack has been a key sales partner for Sprint since 1996. Sprint has 1,100 of its own stores, about half as many as its rivals. AT&T Inc. has more than 2,000, Verizon Communications Inc. has 1,700 and T-Mobile US Inc. runs slightly more than 2,000.") Even more recently (February 2, 2017), Marcelo said this: “We've been very public that we believe that we're under distributed, so we plan to open anywhere between 500 to 1,000 stores in the next 18 months,” Claure said. “And if you figure that every store carries between six to ten people, you see where the job growth will come in Sprint and it's going to be mainly through distribution and bringing back agents that were sitting outside.”
- What has the Radio Shack venture ultimately accomplished for Sprint at this point?
- What is the ROI for the Pokemon campaign in terms of customer traffic/sales in store locations, or should that money have been used for CapEX or other capital improvements?
- Was Sprint's investment of $200 Million into Tidal the right course of action to take at this time, or should that money have been used for CapEX or other capital improvements?
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This especially!!! It is frustrating to even hear about Tidal because there are many areas of the network where you cannot reliable stream Tidal lossless. And the Pokemon Go thing is just ridiculous. It cheapens the appearance of the store. If you are in business to provide telecommunications to consumers and businesses then there is no need for your store to be 'gym' for people to catch Pokemon. Also, the few remaining RadioShacks I have seen really look like a shack filled with crap. Appearances mean everything and right now if I were in charge of Sprint, the retail and web operations team would be given an overhaul.
It's really hard to say what's next for Sprint with Tidal. I just don't see how Sprint benefits. Perhaps we'll all be surprised, but I'm very skeptical and believe the money should have been spent differently.
I do agree with you that Radio Shack was a poor choice for a partner. If Sprint wanted to spend money on stores, it could have overhauled some of the stores most in need, and placed a few flagship store locations in high traffic areas: Sprint would benefit from having a store in Union Station (The Train Station) in Washington, DC.
Here's the demographics (http://www.unionstationdc.com/info/demographics.cfm)
- 40 million visitors each year:
- Mostly 35 - 64, married, well-educated with income of $75,000+
- 15.5 million local residents
- 3.5 million business leaders and government workers
- 8 million tourists
- 5 million commuters
- Millions of transportation passengers each year:
- 3.8 million Amtrak passengers
- 206 million Metro riders annually
- 2.2 million bus riders connecting through Union Station
- 75% of all Capitol Hill employees go through Union Station daily
- Well educated (46% of DC residents hold Bachelor's Degree or higher vs. 27% national population)
- The Union Station patron is cultured and active:
- 52% attend theater or professional sporting events
Those are some awesome figures... and customers would pass by the store every single day on their daily commutes, or pass it when traveling otherwise.
Why isn't there a store located there instead of all the money Sprint invested into failing Radio Shack locations? I'm not sure... but seems like a mistake to me.
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John Saw can't make Masa increase cap ex. And to be fair, Sprint has had to pull back from Cap Ex because of the debt obligations of the past, debt obligations that came because of the past errors of Forsee and Hesse.
I realize people are frustrated with the lack of spending and the issues that Trip pointed out which Sprint can fix without cap ex. I just hope people realize frustration can cause cognitive dissonance and see the root of the problem rather than merely mocking it.
That said, I think that the engineering people can and should lay low talking about the spectrum haul until much more of it is paired with infrastructure capability. I certainly think that is a fair complaint. Likewise, complaining about spending on RadioShack/Tidal/Pokemon is also fair when that capital could have and should have went into network infrastructure.
I hope Marcelo reverses course and pulls back on RadioShack. If the real estate is good for Sprint corporate locations, do that. If the real estate is not, let it be someone else's problem.
The Radio Shack deal should never have happened in my opinion. Distribution was never Sprint's problem. I'm not sure why Marcelo believed this and said it multiple times in interviews.
Frankly, the relative "strength" of Sprint's overall balance sheet has kept this from dragging the company down too far... but all of that money should have done into CapEx.
How many new Macro Sites and Small Cells could we have had instead of the Radio Shack venture? Someone here knows better than I how the math would come out on that, and even a few sites in the most essential areas could have made a huge difference in the customer experience.
Legere was actually on point in his assessment about Sprint's Radio Shack venture via Twitter at the time (January 15, 2015):
When you’re on a sinking ship, don’t call another sinking ship for help! #SprintShack
And here we are....
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The Radio Shack deal seems to have been a big mistake. I say this despite thinking the Radio Shack employees are much nicer to deal with than those I've dealt with at Sprint stores. I'm not even much of a fan for the retail model as it is. Seems to me much money could be saved by cutting way back on retail, rather focusing strongly on a strong online presence that doesn't cost nearly as much.
The idea was to get new Sprint retail store locations on the super-cheap. However, these Radio Shack stores were poor performers, which explains Radio Shack's overall demise... and not just because of product, but because of location. Often, the stores were in abandoned sections of large malls, or in a failing strip mall somewhere. I'm not sure how it made sense to expect a Sprint store to perform better than a Radio Shack at the same location... but Marcelo was convinced that Sprint's main problem was having fewer distribution channels than the competition.
I disagree, especially since Sprint offers its best pricing online...
All of that money for Radio Shack store locations could have gone into CapEX for the network.... and should have in my opinion.
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Looks like AT&T is getting to join the LTE-U/LAA fray at 5 GHz. Where is Sprint in this fold? They need to jump on this right when the other 3 major carriers are doing the same.
Here's Sprint's take on it from this Wireless Week article:
Though other carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile have also announced plans to roll out Gigabit LTE in 2017, Saw argued Sprint’s nationwide spectrum depth would be a differentiating factor.
“You need to ask them, one, are you using your actual licensed spectrum or are you also adding in unlicensed spectrum as well. Some of them would have to use License Assisted Access, which is using unlicensed spectrum as well. There’s nothing wrong with that except you have less control with the use of unlicensed spectrum,” Saw said.
“The other thing you need to be asking is the ubiquity of what they’re trying to do. Can you demonstrate gigabit class devices only in the lab … or are you able to demonstrate gigabit class devices only in certain markets in Arizona and not nationwide?” he continued. “For Sprint we have always been clear that we have a lot of 2.5 (GHz spectrum) nationwide and we have the right technology that is optimized for data, which is TDD. So when we say we’re going to roll out gigabit class devices, I mean all our phones once they can support 4x4 MIMO and 256-QAM will be usable nationwide.”
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Awesome deal!
They need to expand this! ASAP! SlingTV has come a long way since its inception, I've been using it since beta and its a ton better now than it was just 6 months ago.
Pretty surprising to see this. I imagined Sprint doing a bundle with Google Fiber given their past work on Google Voice Integration, etc.
It's for the Orange Tier. Service is free until May 2018, and then rises to $17/month, which appears to be $3 off the normal price.
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For you people in the Atlanta and Chicago Markets....
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That would represent quite a change of course for Comcast, which is supposedly working on this now with Verizon: http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-Prepares-For-Mid2017-Wireless-Service-Launch-139048
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I understand now all in the user end. So nothing needs to be done on Sprint's end. Sorry for the confusion, going through a week of back pain from an injury. Hopefully the next iPhone will also support it and hopefully it really helps with B25/26 congestion.
Hopefully Apple supports it this year. Sprint's "iPhone Forever" program means it can quickly deploy HPUE-capable iPhones into the userbase with annual upgrades.
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I'll be honest, I do not know if it will be "Sprint" rolling this out once the auction ends (most likely a combined company will), and who knows what a merged company will want to do. Sprint has unfortunately made me very skeptical about their network over the years. Literally, Sprint is the only cell phone company I have ever had since I got my first cell phone. I was upset about WiMAX, but understood why they went to LTE. Then tri-band LTE with B41, the speeds are great when connected to B41, but when you are traveling you often do not hang onto B41 for long. Son is really not seemingly optimistic about Sprint unless it is merged: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/business/dealbook/masayoshi-son-sprint-and-a-bet-on-the-trump-economy.html?_r=1. The HPUE demonstration at MWC may have been a showcase to potential suitors the power the spectrum. I would not be surprised if Comcast or another cable provider gains interest.
The HPUE-capable LG G6 has already been announced by Sprint.
and....
The whole point of HPUE is to expand Sprint's Band 41 footprint:
With HPUE, our outdoor 2.5 GHz coverage strength becomes nearly identical to our 1.9 GHz coverage. And indoors, where 60 to 70 percent of all wireless traffic is generated, HPUE enables our 2.5 GHz spectrum to achieve 90 percent of the indoor penetration that is currently achieved by our 1.9 GHz spectrum. The result? An even better experience for our customers with increased coverage, more capacity, and faster speeds.
Sprint said the network was "ready today" back in December 2016:
Our network is ready today for the initial roll-out of HPUE, including in our 250 LTE Plus markets. As for devices, we’re excited to see that leading players such as Qualcomm Technologies and Samsung plan to support Band 41 HPUE with devices slated to launch in 2017. Today we estimate that more than 600 million Band 41 2.5 GHz devices have shipped globally, making it one of the largest LTE ecosystems in the world.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is likely to follow soon, based on this, and should also be HPUE-capable per this article.
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Seems like root usually use Samsung devices so the next round of testing will be with a 3x CA capable device.
Hopefully an HPUE-capable one.
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One of those speed test had a download speed of 211mbps!
Yeah, that was awesome!
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It is all well and good, but I would much rather have a consistent 10-25Mbps speed block to block, area to area, rather than insane speed tests on one block and 0.53Mbps on the next block. I do like seeing progress being made though.
HPUE and HPUE-capable devices (like the upcoming LG G6, and presumably the Samsung Galaxy S8) will help to make this possible.
With HPUE, our outdoor 2.5 GHz coverage strength becomes nearly identical to our 1.9 GHz coverage. And indoors, where 60 to 70 percent of all wireless traffic is generated, HPUE enables our 2.5 GHz spectrum to achieve 90 percent of the indoor penetration that is currently achieved by our 1.9 GHz spectrum. The result? An even better experience for our customers with increased coverage, more capacity, and faster speeds.
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1 band band 41 macro install equipment installed or activated, of the 113 sites in my market.
Ok. Gotcha. Thanks.
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I am tracking in SC, 1 installation of 113 sites around Myrtle to Florence.
Sorry, but can you clarify what you mean by "1 installation of 113 sites"?
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Has anyone else noticed Marcelo's "RF Engineers Doing Speed Tests" campaign on his Twitter feed? I think it's a pretty good sign how things are trending at Sprint...
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/837705634158161925
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/837484682317086720
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/835973226794725376
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/835530048769822721
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/834227844347723776
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/833683887167565825
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/832729059394199553
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/830795850674749440
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/830168273736052736
https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/830115133414318081
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My county disappoints me and they need to learn how to spell Shentel. If only they cared about the heroin problem as much as they do wireless.
I wonder how many of the NIMBY people complain about the speed/coverage in that location at the same time.
Perhaps they think wireless coverage is based on having a sufficient number of unicorns and amount of pixie dust.
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The scary thing is that Sprint leadership thought this was a good idea worthy of investing money in. They need corporate owned stand alone stores here in New Jersey. The RS locations they kept were mostly in rundown areas and washed up shopping centers that time passed by. Meanwhile the other three carriers make sure they are where their customers are.
You are 100% right. RadioShack stores made for cheap real estate, but most of them were not well located at all.
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I knew I wasn't dragging 85% out of thin air...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
I can take some comfort in that my typo wasn't as bad as the one for Amazon S3: http://www.pcmag.com/news/352160/a-typo-took-amazon-s3-offline
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Softbank currently owns ~83% of Sprint. The tender offer is triggered at 85%.
Whoops, I totally messed that up! Thanks.
Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread
in General Topics
Posted
As much as I wanted to have a redesigned Sprint website to keep pace with the competition, this wasn't what I had in mind... Not even close.
At this point, it appears to be such spaghetti code, they'd be better off removing the new style layer entirely and using the old interface for everything again. Although it was clearly dated in appearance, at least it looked consistent and worked better.