xcharles718

It's official.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/2/4685156/verizon-wireless-vodafone-stake-purchase-official

Getting the PS4 myself, primarily due to pricing, as the policies that MS tried to implement on the Xbox One. This is will be the second Sony console I've own(the first was a PSone slim), still works too. However, can't say the same for my 360 Elite, which died two years ago.

Plus, I heard PS+ is pretty great.

TMUS' bread and butter has always been urban areas. In the case of those living in rural areas with EDGE or GPRS, they already seem to be living with those data disadvantages. If they're with TMUS now, I don't see them leaving anytime soon.

I guess they're playing the long game...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Picked up one from Best Buy today(along with the 3 month free Netflix promo code). Overall, with my use of YouTube, Netflix, and Play Music All Access, it just...works.

Best $35 I've spent

If your TV uses HDMI 1.4, then the USB cable isn't needed, as it will draw power from the TV itself, like MHL does. If you don't, then external power is needed.

I know that Dallas is under deployment. Its just not being launched on the first day. This is not the end.

 

Robert from Note 2 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Does this mean that non-NV TD-LTE deployment will still continue?

They've been angling for something for a while. At the last couple of earnings calls when they get asked about their LTE plans or whether they're going to be part of Sprint's NV plans they always get very cagey.

What spectrum holdings does NTelos have? I'm assuming they at least have some AWS since AT&T is interested...

Anyone here going to switch over new plans?

...What does truly unlimited even mean? Is throttling just streaming video that impacts network performance sometimes but allow that to happen in an unlimited amount something less than truly unlimited?...

I view "truly unlimited" in the case of mobile phone data as the ability to utilize as much data as possible has possible at the best speeds that the network would allow. Now, if it the case that a customers data utilization begins to take a serious toll on network quality for other customers on that sector(like if LTE speeds on a sector becomes inappropriately low), then a network should throttle that one "power user" connection for the sake of everyone else, until conditions allow otherwise. Sprint, along with VZW & T-Mobile has this type of ability that's included in a customer contract.

If video throttle is done within the reasons stated above, I do still see it as "truly unlimited", but otherwise I don't.

Strictly speaking about the new "My Way" plans, of course. Does this video throttling also apply to the 1GB data option?

 

These numbers are off

 

Tmobile's 3 smartphones plan with unlimited is 150 add 60 dollar EIP and you get 210, which is the same as Sprint's plan. 

Tmobile's 4 smartphones plan with unlimited is 160 add 80 dollar EIP and you get 260, which is the same as Sprint's plan.

Tmobile's 5 smartphone plan with unlimited  is 210 add 100 dollar EIP and you get 310, which is the same as Sprint's plan. 

 

Sprint raised their prices to MATCH Tmobile's plans. 

 

Going over the numbers twice, still screwed up   

I'll correct my post...and done  

So why is it fair to include T-Mobile EIP plan for a Smartphone and not include the cost of a Smart Phone with Sprint's plan? Wouldn't it be best to look at both plans without a mobile device attached. The plan will be the same cost on Sprint with or without brand new device. 

 

A fair comparison with a device attached would be a pricing it all out for a customer who has bought the same exact device from either carrier at today's offered selling price. 

The reason why I opted to include EIP is because in most cases, your standard Joe Blow consumer isn't going to buy smartphones for themselves and their family at full cost up-front. I decided to work with what is the minimum asked for by T-Mobile upfront when a high-end device is bought(using the GS4 as my base). Plus, the subsidy for a device is already in the pricing of Sprint's plans, thus wouldn't make much sense to compare one plan with sub. to another w/o, thus the rational I used in including the EIP in the cost of the T-Mobile comparison.

Looking through the plans and comparing them with the main offering of T-Mobile, I decided to do a little comparison.

The comparison looks at limited and unlimited data offerings by both carriers. For the sake of making the comparison a bit more fair in terms of total amount data offered by both carriers, I opted to price Sprint's 1GB family plan add-on option against T-Mobile's 2.5GB option instead of the 500MB option, as a 1GB option isn't offered in T-Mobile's lastest family offering. Also, the "Unlimited Guarantee"(which I personally believe is full of crap) & throttle is(for the part) disregarded.

2 lines with smartphones on limited data plans

For a total of $140 MRC(incl. a EIP of $20 a month per phone), T-Mobile offers Unlimited talk, text, and 2.5GB per line with post-limit throttle and tethering included.

$180 for the same plan w/ 3 lines.

$220 for 4 lines.

$260 for 5 lines.

As for Sprint, $130 MRC will net you Unlimited talk, text, and 1GB per line w/o throttle & no tethering capabilities included.

$180 for 3 lines.

$220 for 4 lines.

$260 for 5 lines.

2 lines with smartphones on unlimited data plans.

$160 MRC(with EIP) will give you Unlimited talk, text, and web on T-Mobile, along with 500MB tethering data per line.

$210 for 3 lines.

$260 for 4 lines.

$210 for 5 lines.

$150 MRC will also net you Unlimited talk/text/web on Sprint, but w/o any included tethering, plus the 1Mbps streaming data throttle to keep in mind...
$210 for 3 lines.

$260 for 4 lines.

$310 for 5 lines.

In the case of limited data comparison, Sprint beats T-Mobile on pricing on the first 2 lines by $10, those in the case of accounts with 3, 4, or 5 lines, the cost is the same. Even with that said, T-Mobile still provided more value in that comparison, as it offered more data and tethering.

(edited due to price errors at 11:57PM EST)
In the case of the unlimited data comparison, Sprint again beats T-Mobile on pricing on the first 2 lines by $10 and pricing again matches up with T-Mobile on 3/4/5 line accounts, though T-Mobile does offer 500MB of tethering within the plan's cost, in which Sprint does not.

Now of course, there are cases where one can not chose T-Mobile either do to lack of coverage or the lack of any more than a EDGE connection, but that aside, it seems that T-Mobile's offering does have more value compared to Sprint in terms in the total allotment of data. Sprint, however, does offer a small savings in 2-line families if you're interested in some data coverage, even though Sprint's network quality highly varies by location do to the nature of the Network Vision project, which wouldn't be completed for some time.

What I do wonder is what exactly is the basis for this new plan. Is it to complete with T-Mobile not in pricing, but it terms of larger data coverage? A way to attain more money from new customers(as it was stated that this will be the main offering that will be "sold" to new customers starting this Friday)? Or is this just business as usual in the mix of the whole SoftSprintWire conglomerate?

At the end of the day, it is up to you, the customer, the consumer to chose what exactly is exactly best suits your needs(need it be data allotments, tethering, coverage, or brand loyalty). And don't forget, it's all about...

-Xavier

I was planning to wait until after the deal is final, but since everyone is posting pics...
Introducing the face of Stephenson on the news that the Softbank deal is complete.

So sad, yet, so majestic.

I guess in about 48 hours time, this thread would've run its course

I do wonder if this deal would ever be told to the consumer-base. I remember that AT&T & T-Mobile introduced the deal on their site front pages...

Clearwire deal close tomorrow, Softbank deal on Wednesday.

Will Clearwire's CLEAR offering continue post-buyout?

I think the overall reason people think this way is the data issues Sprint has had for a long time. Hopefully, when NV is completed, public perception of Sprint will change, and personally hopefully that I'm able to return to Sprint and have a overall good experience, in which I can relay to others.

How.

If Sprint/Softbank & Charlie can come to reasonable terms on either a Lightsquared-like agreement or an agreement for Dish to purchase EBS and current infrastructure, everyone can end up (somewhat) happy.

But then again, everyone has their egos  ...

The reverse merger is definitely one, but also the fact that the original Metro deal only had a 6 month wait period before they were able to sell their stock. They extended to 18 months to get the deal done, however, it has been reported that they could still weasel out of that term at any time. That makes me hesitate that they are all in.  DT was in talks with dish prior to the sprint offer.

If I remember correctly, in order for DT to sell its shares before the 18 months are up, they would have to sell all of their shares in one swoop. I'm sure Charlie will consider giving TMUS another look if the whole "Don't trust the Japanese" shtick doesn't pan out.

I believe DT still wants out of the U.S., but until they can find a proper suitor, they're stuck here.

That makes too much sense to happen.

Competition doesn't like to share, thus things like redundant exist in the U.S. If in the off chance that they do decide to go this route, there's still many other things that'll have to be hammered out, from whether they're going with TDD or FDD, and how would network use be shared.

Has this always been the case? From what I've heard, you can switch between LTE devices by just putting the SIM in the device. In the case of LTE phones, the SIM provisions both CDMA & LTE services on the device.

The downside with MVDDS is that it's strictly limited to one-way communication.

I wonder what would Moffett would say...

Jeebus, what's next, DQ offers a $30 Billion offer(mostly in stock/bonds & Blizzards)?

I believe that Sprint should proceed with Son's offer, not do to Charlie's antics, but due to more cash & less debt.

Still a bit surprising that its FCC filing didn't even mention GSM support. Maybe some here on the forums can try putting in a GSM SIM and see what happens. It would be nice if Sprint starts selling their GSM capable phones with the SIM slots fully unlocked, like VZW did with the Droid DNA.