maximus1987/lou99

Weakly related to this thread: The H block. http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4023-the-h-block/

All questions/issue related to the H block. This thread is weakly related to http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/3843-sprint-add-a-second-pcs-2x5-lte-carrier/ but it's different because the above thread has to do with Sprint re-purposing current PCS spectrum for LTE whereas H block is part of neither PCS (LTE band 2) nor PCS+G (LTE band 25). H block: http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/aws-2pcs-h-block-spectrum-auction-guide

Special offesr: Sprint changes terms of service to give WiMAX customers more flexibility to switch to LTE Read more: Sprint changes terms of service to give WiMAX customers more flexibility to switch to LTE - FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-changes-terms-service-give-wimax-customers-more-flexibility-switch-l/2013-06-14#ixzz2WD4JfmLc Subscribe at FierceWireless

Sites that get fiber will likely get upgraded to HSPA+. I never said they wouldn't. I just said it will happen eventually. Robert As long as Tmobile gets at least 5x5 HSPA+ on every site by Jan 2015, I'll be happy. I don't have high expectations. "T-Mobile will invest a total of $4 billion over time into network modernization and LTE deployment. Over the next two years, this represents approximately $1.4 billion in incremental network investment" http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle_pf&ID=1805918&highlight= They got $3bil cash from ATT breakup and $2.35bil from towers but they're only investing $1.4bil extra? They deserve to fail.

Yes, eventually. However, Sprint will have their network complete on all 37k sites before Tmo will. Heck, Sprint will have 800MHz CDMA and LTE fully deployed long before Tmo gets their network upgraded. I live next to a Tmo site with EDGE only service. The day they show up and upgrade that to even HSPA+ with appropriate backhaul, then I will be a believer. Until then, I consider it just talk that they are going to all their native sites with broadband wireless. Robert Why would they deploy fiber to their sites if they're not going to upgrade to HSPA+ at least?

While the licenses are critical to AT&T, there is no way that Sprint will get any PCS from AT&T. It'll likely be a cash transaction, just like the acquisition of the US Cellular markets was. Well Sprint could always use some cash.

Thank you mr RF engineer. Please move this to another thread as it is irrelevant to this topic.

Can't they adjust length of that guard slot? Of course, if the slot has to be too long, then it negates the advantage of using TDD - have more download capacity compared to using FDD with same amount of spectrum.

T-Mobile's problem is establishing sufficient backhaul to all of those rural sites. Commend Sprint for not taking the easy way out, for going the extra mile and extending next generation backhaul to its rural sites alongside all others in one Network Vision fell swoop. AJ Its could also be AWS. I hear that due to lower allowed transmission power it has a reduced coverage radius compared to PCS. AWS HSPA+ or LTE on their current rural sites with their PCS spacing would produce small coverage islands of AWS with customers constantly moving in and out of service on the highway. PCS HSPA+, however should be pretty close to their current EDGE network coverage with the same number of sites. I'm starting to think AWS UMTS was what was holding T-Mobile back from adding new high speed coverage along highways and in rural areas. I think with the PCS refarm we may see a widescale deployment in rural areas. Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk 2 Any articles to back up your statements?

You just got "Rickrolled"! AJ So there's no map?

Use TmoMaps.com. AJ I don't get it. Seriously.

I live next to a Tmo site with EDGE only service. Robert Is there a map somewhere of all 37k TMO sites?

As far as buying Leap or USCC... I think that's off limits for the Death Star. Other than small regional carriers, AT&T probably not going to be able to buy. Then there's WCS in the future. I meant that those were the carriers ATT could sell the AWS to if they don't want to deploy. Does ATT care whether TMO or Leap, USM buys AWS from them? Or whoever's the highest bidder and allowed by FCC? I just remembered: Leap CEO: 60% of our spectrum is not being used, and we're interested in network, spectrum sharing Read more: Leap CEO: 60% of our spectrum is not being used, and we're interested in network, spectrum sharing - FierceWireless http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/leap-ceo-60-our-spectrum-not-being-used-and-were-interested-network-spectru/2012-11-01#ixzz2VYMdOfmW Subscribe at FierceWireless

Given that Sprint is adding LTE to more than 38k sites, it's not a stretch to assume that tmobile will add AT LEAST HSPA+ to all 37k sites, right? https://t-mobile.jive-mobile.com/#jive-document?content=%2Fapi%2Fcore%2Fv2%2Fdocuments%2F5736 "T-Mobile will be improving approximately 37,000 cell sites over the next 18 months. These upgrades include: Replacing copper lines with fiber optic lines Adding new radios Moving ground equipment to the top of towers Adding new antennas These changes will provide improved voice and data coverage and a 20 percent improvement to indoor coverage." How much more expensive is it to upgrade a site to include AWS LTE instead of just PCS HSPA+?

TMO wants to have as much AWS dedicated to LTE so does this mean that they have a strategy for getting their customers to switch from a device that only has HSPA on AWS? Are they gonna offer upgrade incentives or will they just announce "AWS HSPA will stop working on this date" and not care otherwise? And will they make the decision to kill AWS HSPA market-by-market or will 100k users (aggregate) in biggest metro areas be enough to stall the AWS HSPA shutdown nationwide? In this PDF, slide 20/34 http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/mdano/amis/tmopres.pdf They say they're gonna keep AWS HSPA through 2015 which seems overkill. They're gonna complete LTE rollout in 2014, right? And the only reason to have AWS HSPA is for the iPhone 5 until LTE arrives. And I'd guess they haven't sold a AWS-only phone in a long time (my brother has one but he's upgrading to iphone).

What does that have to do with LTE and EVDO? It doesn't but this was very similar to the Sprint .ipcc hack so I thought I'd tag along.

Will TMO be able to run LTE on PCS using the equipment they're currently installing without any physical modifications when they finally kill GSM?

They are likely seeing higher speeds not because of any upgrade but because their hack puts them on the less burdened PCS W-CDMA carrier(s) instead of the long standing AWS W-CDMA carrier(s). Correlation ≠ causation. AJ Shouldn't TMO's network automatically do this?

What about this? "The hack is said to enable Release 9 DC-HSPA+ on the iPhone 5, opening the device to an increased amount of bandwidth for better throughput of data even though T-Mobile has not upgraded its network to support Release 9. The coders claim their hack bumps up HSPA+ speeds by 3 Mbps to 8 Mbps on the downlink. According to Brown, T-Mobile's HSPA+ network is capable of Release 8 downlink speed of 42 Mbps and Release 6 speed of 5.76 Mbps on the uplink." Read more: T-Mobile iPhone 5 users get faster HSPA+ speeds via hacked software - FierceBroadbandWireless http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/t-mobile-iphone-5-users-get-faster-hspa-speeds-hacked-software/2013-05-13#ixzz2VRpFcos1 Subscribe at FierceBroadbandWireless

I love my Tmo $30 per month plan. I don't like to talk to people on the phone. 100 minutes suits me fine. Also, Tmo is a secondary phone for me. Actually, it's a tertiary phone. Robert Verizon is letting me leave, no ETF, cause I'm in a "marginal coverage area" so the $30 plan is looking tempting cause with the $45/month difference plus $120 I could sell my iphone 4, I could justify an iphone 5. But, I'm afraid Ill end up paying for more minutes if the VoIP doesn't work well.

Why wouldn't they just go to VoLTE SMR? By the time potential merger happens, won't VoLTE be almost as good as 1xA?

There's not gonna be any aggregation across bands, only intra-carrier TDD Band 41 "Yet, while a 40 MHz pipe in Band 41 would certainly go a long way toward solving the capacity strains caused by rising video consumption, Alston noted that Sprint is not planning to pursue further capacity gains via complicated inter-band non-contiguous CA between the TDD and FDD flavors of LTE. He said, however, that the concept is worth contemplating." Read more: Sprint exec: Clearwire spectrum is our priority for LTE carrier aggregation - FierceBroadbandWireless http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/sprint-exec-clearwire-spectrum-our-priority-lte-carrier-aggregation/2013-04-21#ixzz2VNcANLqM Subscribe at FierceBroadbandWireless That sentence in bold, was said to cover his behind, meant more like "I'll think about it . . . (not)"

No, it's not. If TMO were really serious about marketing the 5GB plan, they wouldn't put it in the bottom half of the pre-paid page like it's a regulatory concession. Furthermore, they wouldn't give you only 100 minutes and then charge you $0.40/minute overage. Actually, this shows that they still have a classic carrier mindset - shocker. They have this plan to lure people in and then either upsell them to a plan with more minutes or charge them overage minutes. Since they have more capacity than they know what to do with, why don't they drop their unlimited everything to $50, their 500MB plan to $30 at least temporarily? After all, isn't it better to fill in that capacity with paying customers? But they don't want to because then it'd be impossible to raise prices later on when they've rolled out LTE and they'd "devalue the brand", as if the TMO brand isn't devalued enough; they're working for their shareholders, maintaining their precious margins. Here's an example (almost) straight from the horse's mouth: "What we're trying to find is that balance point where we care for our subscribers and where we care for our shareholders." Read more: CenturyLink's Beal sees value in 1 Gbps fiber - FierceTelecom http://www.fiercetelecom.com/special-reports/centurylinks-beal-sees-value-1-gbps-fiber#ixzz2VNaAsx00 Subscribe at FierceTelecom Centurylink doesn't have anything to do with TMO but this is a good example of how every CEO thinks. This is why TMO will NEVER offer more than 100 minutes with their $30/month 5GB plan unless their subscriber numbers start free-falling. Free-fall is what caused them to bring back truly unlimited after eliminating it.

(Like)x10000 It's about marketing. The urban/suburban customers are most valuable but they want to feel surrounded by a filled-in map i.e. coverage. The fact that most of them will never need rural coverage is irrelevant; it's the perception.

I'm assuming you got that 51,000 number from the article I posted from RCR wireless? Well in another TMO thread, it was settled that they have a total of 36/37k sites