ericdabbs

By that time the upgrade cycle will be hitting for the original Sprint iPhone 4S customers, plus whatever the next two iPhones are. Sprint won't have any problem meeting their obligations. People greatly underestimated the 4S because they didn't take into account contracts. The next iPhone will be even bigger than the iPhone 5 for the same reason, even though it is likely to be an evolutionary device.

 

Plus Q1 is always the low point because everyone blew their wad at Christmas

Not to mention that the iPhone 4S does not have LTE capabilities. With the iPhone 4S customer contracts up this year, I see a lot of Sprint iPhone customers reupping to get the iPhone 5S with LTE.

I think Sprint will focus on where they need the capacity first. I wouldn't expect to see BRS TD-LTE in Lansing, MI before NYC/LA/ATL/CHI/SF/BOS/DC/etc.

Definitely. The major metros that you listed should be of focus for TD-LTE deployment but in my previous post, I was eluding that Sprint needs to include other major metro areas this time like San Diego, Phoenix, Detroit, New Orleans, etc that were left out in the WiMax rollout that are normally near the top of the list for any carrier.

So based on what I've read in the quote above. Sprint (if clear wire is purchased I assume) would make 2.5ghz first priority, then 800, then 1900 for data???

I sure hope not. 2500->1900->800 should be the priority for LTE coverage. 800 MHz LTE resources are scarce and should only be used when the user is deep indoors especially if 800 MHz LTE is going to be deployed at every other tower.

I am more concerned about Sprint (post Clearwire purchase) that they deploy 2500 MHz TD-LTE in all major metropolitan areas including those that were left out in WiMax. LTE capacity offload is needed in every metro area and some major metro areas were left out in Wimax rollout. If Sprint's plan is to add TD-LTE to its own Network Vision towers then I feel more comfortable that these metro areas will be covered this time with TD-LTE.

I don't have to be in the industry to know that ...yes should be weather conditions where the tower workers do not climb the towers and I am certain that lightning is one of them. Even in rain, it is never safe to be dealing with powering up electronic equipment. I am sure the owners of these subcontractors already have a huge liability for its workers in dry conditions. When you add things like lightning and rain, there is no way any manager would allow their workers to work under those conditions. Safety is always number 1 in this line of work

Anyone catch any interesting QA questions about the network?

How are the removable sims working out for the Sprint LTE network? Any issues so far with activation and potentially swapping between phones? I guess there is not really that many choices to swap LTE phones with the removable sims. Maybe if someone swapped between the iPhone 5 and the HTC One.

True what you're saying. I just hope Dish doesn't buy Sprint.

 

Hmmm... I am still not finding the answer I am looking for but you guys all have made great points.

You still haven't answered the question which many of us have already asked so far: "what is your highest priority as a wireless customer? Is it voice coverage? Is it data coverage? Is it faster data speeds?"

We can't really help you answer your question if all you worry is potential issues outside of your control. It seems like from your previous response that if you moved to Tmobile, financially you wouldn't be any better off than Sprint since you plan to upgrade your device every 2 years. So if its not going to be financially driven, then what is your initial reason for contemplating the move to Tmobile? For me its not adding up because like I said...a move to Tmobile will get your out of a 2 year service contract but you will replace it with a 2 year device contract so either way you are in a contract.

You guys are all making some good points. Should I worry about dish buying Sprint?

i wouldn't worry with the noise related with Dish and Sprint. Its still got a long way to go given that the Sprint/Softbank/Clearwire is way closer to getting FCC approval than a Dish/Sprint deal which would still need to go through that long process. For all we know, Softbank could comeback with a counter offer that would appease the minority shareholders if it came down to it. I think Sprint is waiting to see if the FCC will approve the Softbank/Sprint/Clearwire deal in the first place and get their ducks in order as if it was the only deal on the table and see if they can get shareholder approval for the Softbank deal before entertaining any sort of deal with Dish. It would be foolish for Sprint to advise the FCC to halt its thorough review of the merger just because they may or may not deal with Dish.

What I don't get is how is Sprint and Softbank going to convince these minority shareholders like the Omega Advisor Group and John Paulson to vote for the Sprint/Softbank/Clearwire merger when they seem to be infatuated with the Sprint/Dish deal now?

Hi everyone, i've been a member for over a year now and I am also a sponsor. I love this site and everything that Robert does. If it wasn't for him, Sprint would've lost me as a customer. I am very excited for Sprint and their network vision and I am beginning to see the benefits of it now. I am in NYC so the rollout will take a lot longer than other markets to complete but my data speeds have begun to improve and I am very excited for Sprint in the coming years.

 

As many of you know, Tmobile just got rid of contracts and also offer unlimited data. Up until Tmobile announced that they were getting rid of contracts, I had never thought of leaving Sprint. Now that Tmobile got rid of their contracts and now offer the iPhone and are impleting LTE, joining them doesn't seem too bad. I love Sprint and I can't wait till they launch LTE in NYC. My contract ends November 27th of this year and my upgrade is on July 1st. I am debating whether I should wait until my contract ends and jump to Tmobile or upgrade in July and sign on for another 2 years.

 

I feel like I would be betraying this site and Sprint if I join Tmobile. Contracts do suck but at the same time, Sprint is stepping it up. Tmobile will be launching LTE in NYC soon. I don't like that Tmobile will be merging with Metropcs and I think they will begin using the name metropcs which I hate and I hope Dish doesn't buy Sprint.

 

I don't what to do so I am hoping your opinions will lead me to make the right choice come July.

I would suggest asking these 2 questions to yourself if this will help make your decision for you.

1. Do you travel a lot where voice and data coverage may become an issue? Sprint is in no way an angel here but with 800 MHz CDMA rolling out soon it will definitely help with voice coverage which will surpass Tmobile and not to mention 800 MHz LTE which will make data coverage more on par with Verizon and ATT for building penetration. Tmobile is great for the urban cities and if that is where you will be most of the time then you should definitely consider Tmobile as an alternative. There is no doubt that Tmobile 3G HSPA+ is way faster and consistent than Sprint 3G so I don't blame you for considering the switch.

2. Do you mind paying for the device full retail due to the additional $20/mo device contract which makes it $90/mo for 2 years? Even though Tmobile has gotten rid of service contracts they have replaced them with 2 year device contracts so you will still be shelling out $480 over 2 years. Of course after the 2 years is up, the $20/mo device subsidy goes away and you pay $70/mo of which you will start reaping the benefits.

It is very arousing to be a S4GRU Premier Sponsor.

Please don't get an e-boner.

A few weeks ago amazon was advertising the galaxy 2 as "4G LTE" now it just says "4G" no mention of wimax. And we all know, affiliate stores will do anything to sell a phone, including misleading the customers on what 4G is.

 

And yes, most customers do NOT know there are two different and incompatible 4G networks. I think its foolish to continue to extend the confusion by adding new wimax customers.

 

Further, the G2 is a defective phone. Go to the sprint forums under the samsung page. 95% of the problems are GS2 related, even though that forum is for ALL samsung phones. The problems havent been fixed, so signing customers up to a knowingly defective phone is a very bad policy idea. Once you lose a customer, good job getting them back.

I do not understand why Sprint continues to sell the GS2, preowned samsung epic, evo shift Wimax phones. sprint should only be promoting its 4G LTE network and leave Wimax in the dust.

Can someone tell me if these are future Sprint towers??

 

http://www.printemp....es/DSC00120.JPG

 

http://www.printemp.net/images/DSC00119.JPG

 

http://www.printemp.net/images/DSC00118.JPG

 

http://www.printemp.net/images/DSC00117.JPG

 

San Diego CA 92105

Just by looking at the bottom of the panels, these dont look like Sprint tower since it only has 4 inputs (4 fatter cables). An Alcatel Lucent panel should have 6 inputs (4 for 1900 MHz and 2 for 800 MHz). Besides the antenna panel itself doesn't look like its from Alcatel Lucent

If Sprint is going to acquire spectrum, they need to expand the PCS because that is their bread and butter with and eye on the 600Mhz auction, if that ever happens. No need to further complicate spectrum adding AWS. If anything try and pick up Cellular licenses because all the devices already support them.

The 10 MHz of PCS H block spectrum will definitely help with expanding Sprint's PCS holdings assuming they buy up nationwide licenses. In terms of trying to obtain more PCS licenses in the A-F block especially in markets that only have < 20 MHz, I find its really hard to do given that AT&T, Verizon and Tmobile are all using PCS spectrum for 3G or 4G deployment and have no reason to divest spectrum. Opportunities like buying Leap should be in the discussion but with so much M&A going on with Sprint, I find that buying a Leap would not be advisable in the near future.

If Verizon was required to divest all of its PCS spectrum OR Tmobile to divest part of their PCS spectrum in order to obtain more AWS spectrum then that would be an opportunity for Sprint to pick up more PCS spectrum in the A-F blocks.

You don't expect them to jump back in during the next auction? That's a lot of spectrum to concede to T-Mobile/Verizon/Regionals

Exactly. If ATT were to sell its AWS holdings, I feel that Tmobile already has too much AWS spectrum for one carrier and I don't really want to see Verizon gobbling up the rest either. Verizon was missing the western part of the US for AWS spectrum before they bought the SpectrumCo nationwide AWS licenses. If Verizon bought all of ATT's AWS spectrum they would have at least 40 MHz nationwide of AWS spectrum. With the upcoming AWS expansion auction for an additional 30 MHz next year, that would further bolster both Verizon and Tmobile's AWS holdings. Sure US Cellular and Cricket can make a splash for licenses but I don't expect anything big since both those companies only focus in particular parts of the US.

If anything I could see ATT try to bid AWS spectrum in the eastern part of the US to get nationwide AWS licenses unless the FCC bars them from doing so. I just don't see ATT voluntarily giving up spectrum unless it was part of a deal that required divestitures.

Sprint merging with T-Mobile / MetroPCS is a non-starter. They have too much M/A activity that it's completely impractical right now, and downt he road once the CLWR / SoftBank / Dish dust settles, I don't think it would make much sense anyway.

 

Besides, didn't the Nextel deal teach us anything about completely incompatible networks and frequencies? T-Mo and MPCS have 1900, but they've got a lot of other baggage too that complicates. You can't play in every spectrum pool, you've got to settle on a few and Sprint seems to have settled on 800/1900/2.5/2.6

I don't know...AT&T and Verizon seem pretty close to playing with every spectrum pool (700/850/AWS/PCS). AT&T goes even further with investing in WCS spectrum as well. I agree that Sprint needs to settle on a few bands but I feel Sprint should support bands that everyone else is also using for economies of scale. I wouldn't object if Sprint decided to add AWS band spectrum support at some point in the future whether that is through obtaining some AWS spectrum (ex: Cricket purchase) or if LTE roaming becomes available. The other 3 major carriers are planning to deploy LTE on AWS spectrum and there will be an upcoming AWS spectrum auction perhaps in 2014 to expand the AWS band.

AWS-4 band: 2000-2020 MHz x 2180-2200 MHz (nationwide)

Lower 700 MHz E block: 722-728 MHz (nationwide, except New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco)

 

AJ

Without 700 MHz in 5 of the largest markets, its garbage. Who holds the 722-728 MHz market in these 5 markets? AT&T?

EDIT: It looks like AT&T hold the 722-728 MHz licenses in these 5 markets. I wonder why Dish decided not to buy up the licenses for these 5 large markets. I wish there would be a way for Dish to buy up the 5 missing markets from AT&T.

Captain Howdy would say just about anything right now. If the verb he used was "aim", what he really means is "we might do it" , just like when someone asks you to go hang out with them and you say "oh, I don't know, I might come", really meaning "I'm 90% certain I won't be doing that". You think Sprint & Tmobile have been stingy about capital expenditures in areas where the return is not guaranteed? Captain Howdy is a penny pinching maniac.

 

I expect him to go on a big media blitz in the next few weeks if he gets the feeling Sprint isn't going to take his deal, especially if we get FCC approval of the Softbank deal. SO, expect more rosy promises from Charlie.

 

And in the event he sugar lips his way into being the Fuhrer of his new media dynasty, he won't bat an eye at throwing hot coffee on the first person at the table who asks him to consider something that doesn't guarantee him immediate return.

Exactly. Lets say for instance that Dish did end up buying Sprint. Dish could come back later and say "we discussed about expanding to rural areas but it turns out it didn't mean economic sense to do so ...so we are not doing anymore. We certainly aim to do so in the future if the opportunity presents itself but at this time it does not make economic sense". BAM at that point, Dish is able to weasel out of that hole. Words like "aim" are not contract binding words. Its very easy to talk your way out of it.

Dish said they'd aim for service in rural areas.

Something that the other main cell companies have not mentioned, they concentrate on the cities.

Dish can say a lot of things but I doubt rural areas is of their main concern. Dish right now is playing politician making promises like keeping unlimited data and deploying voice and LTE into rural areas to try to win Sprint shareholders over. It remains to be seen what Dish's plans are for deploying LTE in the S-band.

When I look at what leadership is best to drive the Sprint ship going forward, I don't see how Dish can do it any better than Softbank. With Softbank's proven record over the best few years to leapfrog from 3rd place to competing for 1st place in just a few years, I feel hopeful that Softbank can turn Sprint into a similar situation. Maybe Sprint could demand Softbank to come back with a competing offer to be similar to Dish but I feel that Softbank and Sprint are more aligned in terms of their strategy outlook since they have been working together on this since October 2012. I just don't see Dish and Sprint aligning themselves and Dish keeping Sprint management around after a merger. I see Dish being more concerned about selling cable TV services and bundling it with wireless services than they are about building out the LTE in the 800/1900/2500 MHz bands. Maybe Dish would only be concerned with building out LTE in the S-band.

Here's an interview 2 months ago from fiercewireless:

 

'Dish's Ergen: Without wireless partner, we'll put 'for sale' sign on spectrum'

 

http://www.fiercewir...2#ixzz2QZQhMSPV

Well then Ergen should instead focus on putting up that "for sale" sign for their spectrum. Coldwell Banker and REMAX can help Dish with making signs for them. Sprint and Tmobile should both turn Dish down and force Charlie to squirm.

has anyone listened to the call this morning?

 

If yes - I don’t know what all of the negative posts are about - Dish seems to like the unlimited data and see value in it! And like Soft Bank Dish see’s HUGE value to going the TD-LTE route!

 

I don’t see any negative side to it…

 

so tell me how I’m wrong facts please!

Of course Dish is going to say all the right words in its conference call. Its trying to win a battle over Softbank and Sprint shareholders for the rights to Sprint Nextel. If Dish came out and said that they would get rid of unlimited data and not go the TD-LTE route for Clearwire spectrum that would be asinine. Sprint has already made it clear that these are 2 things that are part of their current strategy anyways. Dish would be dumb to all of a sudden come in and disrupt that strategy when its really the only path they can go especially with Clearwire and TD-LTE.

NO NO NO. I do not want a Dish merger. I would much rather have the Softbank deal. I don't want Sprint mixed in with Charlie and his management. I believe Son would do a much better job of helping Sprint in the long term that what Charlie can offer on the table. Besides Son actually has wireless carrier experience and Charlie does not. Its a different ball game between offering cable services and wireless cell phone service.

I have no idea what Sprint's plan would be to merge their network with Tmobile and MetroPCS given that Network Vision is close to 1/3 done. With Tmobile doing its own "Network Vision" and MetroPCS with its own network, I don't know how Sprint is planning to merge everything even if the plan is to move everything to LTE.

I guess with Softbank's funding, Son is definitely willing to pump in as much money to try to catch up to Verizon and AT&T. Would be curious to see how the FCC would look at a potential Sprint/Tmobile merger.

Just remember that according to Bloomberg, T-Mobile already has a merger offer from Sprint.

I don't think the Bloomberg article mentions anything that Tmobile has a pending merger offer from Sprint. It does mention that Tmobile and Sprint had held talks about a merger as early as 2011 but it does say that the deal fell apart due to both parties unable to reach an agreement price. But that doesn't mean that Sprint and Tmobile are still actively in discussions for a merger as of this moment.

Sprint/Softbank/Clearwire are still in a huge debacle with their own merger where Sprint can't seem to get Dish and Crest Financial off their backs for Clearwire. It doesn't make any sense at all that Sprint and Tmobile would be talking at this point. It seems like Dish is the only company in the running for Tmobile. It does mention in the article that Deutsch Telekom is waiting for the Tmobile/MetroPCS transaction to be finalized and that a pending deal for Clearwire is off the table before engaging with any talks with Dish.

If Dish buys Tmobile they will have so much spectrum when they also combine Dish's own 40 MHz of S-band spectrum. If that were to happen, would the FCC require Tmobile to divest some of their PCS spectrum. Also if Dish were to buy Tmobile, you can kiss a possible Sprint/Tmobile merger in the future bye bye because good o' Charlie will not want to deal with Sprint. This would really make Tmobile a strong 4th contender in the market with a huge spectrum portfolio. The only downside is that Tmobile would still lack some low band spectrum which could be resolved with a 600 MHz spectrum auction.