Boosted20V

I'm travelling for work in Western PA as I often do and I'm glad to say that EVDO along the I80 corridor is alive and well. Very snappy too! I have't been out this way since ~November. JeremyAndrew, if you don't mind me asking, what are they using for backhaul in these parts given how remote it is? Bonded T1s? Either way, my phone is finally usable for data in these areas!

Im just trying to help you all out and not let you get screwed over by temp workers and outsourced call centers. Also i cant control where you live and what Shentel will and will not do.

I agree and this is nothing against you personally. I had great hope due to your memo that this wouldn't be an issue. Glitch or not, the most important thing is transparency as I said and I wish Sprint would take a simpler approach to billing. Customers just want to know my bill will cost $X. For the new lines I brought over (new customers from VZ), it's not positive to see your first month billed at the incorrect rate, can we not agree on that?

Also, for the record, I brought over 2 co-workers to my plan from Verizon. First off, we had to drive 45 minutes to get to a store that would move the accounts to Framily due to Shentel not participating. Then, one of the accounts got listed as being under a 24 month contract when they had brought their own device. Lastly, I moved my account with 4 lines on the same day 2 more were added to my Framily. My bill was cut 3 days later for the full $55/month. The billing system had all the pertinent information of the number of lines on my plan but a "glitch" caused it to cut the full bill? I do not think so. I work with software for a living, this is no glitch. This is padding ARPU before the fall.

And what of people who upgrade at a preferred retailer? Also, cmon, you're saying a Sprint customer should find some memo posted online and hold a company accountable to it. The most important thing to a customer is transparency. This isn't very transparent. I've been a member here a long time and got a credit for my account but the fact of the matter remains this isn't doing Sprint any favors.

I agree with the above. I've seen it mentioned earlier in the thread that Sprint is aware of the billing "issue" and advising reps to credit accounts but this does NOT appear to be true. It's pretty underhanded.

My experience moving to Framily was also less than savory. Clearly it appears they're trying to force the first month at full price to pad ARPU before it drops from the new plans. Had to call and be VERY persistent to get my first month at the correct rate. It "only" saved me $50.

If you call, you can switch to the plans and yes, you can visit a corporate store outside their areas from what I was told. So odd that if they can't stop you from getting on the plans they don't just accept marketing them.

Anyone else try to get on a Framily Plan? Shentel won't let you and says they're not participating. I understand their hesitance to cut their margins but this looks awful for customers who see the commercials and are told they can't get on a plan.

Sprint IS upgrading equipment in some cases LONG before backhaul arrives, so I'm not seeing what your point is?

Here's an interesting note: I went into a Shentel "corporate" store (even though Shentel's stores aren't really considered corporate from my understanding) but anyways, they still don't offer the Framily plans. Said if I wanted to switch I would have to call. Unfortunately, though, I have a coworker who wanted to come on my plan and has a N5, but none of the stores have SIM cards, and they won't send one until the person is on your plan. Quite a pickle. I've been wondering how the balance works between Sprint/Affiliates when Sprint changes the pricing structure. Guess there are certain details to work out between the two companies. Definitely a PITA though as the nearest corporate store is ~45 minutes away. Also, what is the deal that every Sprint store has a ton of Nano-SIMs but no Micro-SIMs!?

I guess. I think we all place too much emphasis on sheer speeds because we're interested in technology. T-Mobile is giving away their service at cut rate prices and paying people's ETFs and yes T and VZ have responded to a degree. But realistically, they've gained, what, 2 million subs out of 260+ million that are on other providers? And as Hesse said, that tapers down as time goes on. There was a pent up demand of people who were looking to get out of contracts, that doesn't last forever. We all read tech sites and are "in the know". As long as my mom, dad, sister, extended family can pull up web pages when out and about, use GPS, and place calls, that's all they care about. So again, many people have no issue with Sprint even if they ONLY get a 1mbps connection.

I would agree with you if all vzw was going to do in the 2 years was deploy aws but they are not, they'll make their network denser. Sprint's network will only be as better than others in the top 100 markets and only by the end of 2015. Look my point is that the market and other carriers aren't standing still, sprint has an awesome advantage in their 2.6 holdings but that advantage declines over time. As other carriers begin freeing up more spectrum and look at carrier agrogation sprint advantage becomes less and less just like the WiMAX advantage declined over time.

You're ignoring the fact that Sprint owns more spectrum than the other providers by a WIDE margin and there aren't auctions lined up to sell nearly the amount of spectrum the others would need to match Sprint.

Edit - Also, just like any other technology, you reach a point of diminishing returns. Who cares if you can aggregate a pipe to 1Gb/s. Is that really necessary? Even if Sprint offered by far the fastest LTE service right now, many people still wouldn't leave T/VZ because inertia is a very strong force. Son said exactly that, if he can't buy T-Mobile, Sprint will never be the size of the other two because customer trends don't lend themselves to that many customers leaving.

Do you think it could be victimized by if you build it they will come, kind of like B25.  What if tomorrow everyone had a Tri-Band device and had access to B41, would it degrade?  In the manner in which we saw B25? Is it less crowding degrade proof somehow?

Yes, Much more capacity on a single carrier and Sprint can deploy quite a few carriers. A 20mhz TDD carrier should realistically be able to give ~75mbps throughput downstream. Whereas a 5mhz FDD will give ~35. Then, you factor in that Sprint can deploy at least 3 of those carriers (probably more but I'm not sure on their holdings in Chicago).

I agree with the sentiment regarding PHd's. I'm currently halfway through a master's program and have worked in industry for 6+ years and hands on experience and aptitude trump any class you'll take.

Hi everyone,I've been debating tossing away a few scholarships to go after a degree in computer science. I was wondering if anyone who has this degree (or equivalent) would be willing to share the type of job they actually hold/what they do with it. The information about the programs offered at various colleges basically boil it down to IT/programming/other options. Yet I can't find the other options described anywhere :/. Just about any info you can give would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

I do and I work in Data Warehousing/Application Development.

I generally ignore the spin and look at the numbers. Doing direct comparisons on a quarterly basis myself paints a more accurate picture than what Sprint's "spin" says. The spin sounds nice, but the numbers look pretty bad.

You don't seem to ignore T-Mo spin. Guess it depends whose lips it flows off of.

Did anyone read the FY 2013 numbers? Across the year, Sprint still lost 2.285 million subscribers. That's pretty astounding.

 

And if it weren't for the tablets, they would have lost 408,000 subscribers for the quarter. The only problem with replacing phone subscribers with tablet ones is that the ARPU is cut in half for those subscribers.

In FY2013 they shut down Nextel. Everyone knows they dropped many subs after shutting them down. This is nothing new. Also, ARPU was historically high in spite of tablet growth.

Sprint has $9.6 Billion in liquidity and plans to spend $8 Billion in capex for 2014.

Within the capex projection, most is weighting toward the second half of the year as NV 1.0 spend has trended down as they near completion. The 2.5GHZ build accounts for much of the above investment.

Can I get a link to listen to the call?

Go to investors.sprint.com

5000 Clearwire sites were converted in Q4, 2000 further legacy Clear sites will be converted in the 1Q. Small cells will begin being deployed later this year. Handsets capable of 2 carrier carrier-aggregation will be released later this year.

 More than 60% of Framily plan customers take the unlimited option.

Sprint is using hydrogen fuel cells for rooftop sites for backup power and has applied for patents regarding. Did anyone else know this???

Hesse is discussing churn due to call drops because of NV. When the network is < 70% complete, churn is largely elevated. Once 70% completed, it levels off to pre-NV levels. When above this threshold, the churn drops below pre-NV levels. Says this is consistent across all markets to date.

looks like 2 million lost was not credible..shares will jump today.

Already have pre-market.

Call just started if anyone else wishes to listen.