Softbank Mulling Sprint / DISH Combo

[ncted]

I know I am connected to 700Mhz but wouldn't 700Mhz have better coverage than 850Mhz since it's a lower frequency so it's able to handle distances and building penetration better. I think the older phones were tri-band meaning they only did 900/1800 and 1900 and later 850 was added to the phones since Cingular added 850 to their towers before the AT&T Wireless merger. AT&T Wireless actually spin-off from AT&T Corp and then when SBC bought AT&T, it seems like they all became part of AT&T Corp again.

Better coverage perhaps, but slower speeds, although LTE on 700MHz is going to be faster then EVDO Rev. a on 850MHz. Again, I can't say for sure, but moving customers from an optimized 850MHz network to two new bands could result in a very different customer experience. I watched Verizon re-do an Alltel tower next to the building I worked in at the time. Adding 700MHz involved messing with all of the antennas on the tower. Not sure why that was the case, but I could see it impacting reception.

Cingular had 850MHz assets in a lot of the SBC territory, while PacBell and BellSouth were largely 1900. AT&T also had both 850 and 1900, depending on the region. When AT&T merged with Cingular, they were forced to divest themselves of a lot of 850MHz where they had both A and B side spectrum. Oddly, Verizon was not subject to the same requirements when they bought Alltel.

AT&T Wireless Services - Wikipedia
History of AT&T - Wikipedia
AT&T Mobility - Wikipedia

It is a complicated history, but it is almost like AT&T was never split up.

 

[Almighty1]

Better coverage perhaps, but slower speeds, although LTE on 700MHz is going to be faster then EVDO Rev. a on 850MHz. Again, I can't say for sure, but moving customers from an optimized 850MHz network to two new bands could result in a very different customer experience. I watched Verizon re-do an Alltel tower next to the building I worked in at the time. Adding 700MHz involved messing with all of the antennas on the tower. Not sure why that was the case, but I could see it impacting reception.

Cingular had 850MHz assets in a lot of the SBC territory, while PacBell and BellSouth were largely 1900. AT&T also had both 850 and 1900, depending on the region. When AT&T merged with Cingular, they were forced to divest themselves of a lot of 850MHz where they had both A and B side spectrum. Oddly, Verizon was not subject to the same requirements when they bought Alltel.

AT&T Wireless Services - Wikipedia
History of AT&T - Wikipedia
AT&T Mobility - Wikipedia

It is a complicated history, but it is almost like AT&T was never split up.

At my location in San Francisco, I actually only get 2Mbps down/0.04Mbps up. Yeah, Cingular is different since it was all of SBC's footprint. PacBell Mobile Services started in 1995 or 1996 and they basically sucked in SF so it's Cingular here I am thinking of. Verizon did have the same requirements you just didn't realize.

In San Francisco, Bay Area Cellular One was 60% owned by PacTel and 40% owned by McCaw. PacTel became Vodafone Airtouch and McCaw is basically AT&T Wireless. When Verizon was formed during the merger of BellAtlantic and GTE, Verizon Wireless was formed from GTE Wireless, BellAtlantic Mobility, PrimeCo and Vodafone Airtouch. What happened was Vodafone Airtouch had to sell the 60% of BA Cellular One it owned to AT&T so Bay Area Cellular One basically became AT&T Wireless so Verizon Wireless basically was 55% owned by Verizon Communications and 45% owned by Vodafone Airtouch and later Verizon bought out the 45% from Vodafone Airtouch. I am sure Vodafone Airtouch basically had to sell off anything it owned in the U.S. that was not part of the Verizon Wireless footprint. Verizon Wireless was more of a partnership at the time than a company that was controlled by one company.

 

[ncted]

As I look again, it looks like Verizon has sold much of their B-side to US Cellular. A few years ago, they had access to both in many places, which gave them a competitive advantage.

 

[navychop]

I found this to be a useful tool to compare coverage when looking for a new wireless carrier:

How to Compare Coverage Maps & Carriers for the Best Coverage

It uses advertised coverage maps, so YMMV of course.

It's showing all kinds of little podunk companies I've never heard of, reputedly serving a backwater where we keep our RV: 3247 Vineyard Road
Falling Waters WV 25419

Not buying it. ATT got better this year but still not as good as desired. Verizon better? I think I'll have to get a one month "disposaphone" to check it out. But I doubt that would tell me much about data (Dish Anywhere, email, texts).

I'll check RootMetrics next.

 

[comfortably_numb]

It's showing all kinds of little podunk companies I've never heard of, reputedly serving a backwater where we keep our RV: 3247 Vineyard Road
Falling Waters WV 25419

Not buying it. ATT got better this year but still not as good as desired. Verizon better? I think I'll have to get a one month "disposaphone" to check it out. But I doubt that would tell me much about data (Dish Anywhere, email, texts).

I'll check RootMetrics next.

Verizon has a few good prepaid resellers such as Total Wireless. Even Verizon's own Prepaid is pretty good. You can get an LG smartphone for $20 at Dollar General on Verizon prepaid and even use it as a hotspot.

 

[ncted]

It's showing all kinds of little podunk companies I've never heard of, reputedly serving a backwater where we keep our RV: 3247 Vineyard Road
Falling Waters WV 25419

Not buying it. ATT got better this year but still not as good as desired. Verizon better? I think I'll have to get a one month "disposaphone" to check it out. But I doubt that would tell me much about data (Dish Anywhere, email, texts).

I'll check RootMetrics next.

Click the map button in the upper right, or scroll to the bottom of the page for the coverage comparison.

 

[PortlandChris]

It is really sad.

Sprint and its management has done this to itself; Sprint is awful.

 

[bobvick]

Actually he has 2 and a half years left and yes it will go very fast. I still doubt Charlie will do anything in time other than sell off the frequencies to the highest bidders or he will sell out DISH entirely by the deadline to who ever he can unload it in.

They might, and might not, but the FCC can always grant an extension.

 

[comfortably_numb]

It's showing all kinds of little podunk companies I've never heard of, reputedly serving a backwater where we keep our RV: 3247 Vineyard Road
Falling Waters WV 25419

Not buying it. ATT got better this year but still not as good as desired. Verizon better? I think I'll have to get a one month "disposaphone" to check it out. But I doubt that would tell me much about data (Dish Anywhere, email, texts).

I'll check RootMetrics next.

Another great site I found is AntennaSearch - Search for Cell Towers, Cell Reception, Hidden Antennas and more. stick in an address and it finds all tower leases within a certain mile radius of that address. It found both the Verizon towers in my area.

The screenshot above shows the complete tower info for one within 10 miles of me.

 

[StanDarsh]

Try living in the Hearland anywhere outside a major city and see if Sprint works for you then. I can tell you it won't. I don't want a Femtocell device to just give me coverage in my house. That's a work around. I want coverage that works where I live *and* travel. I'm not holding my breath for that to happen with Sprint in the next 5 years. Maybe I'll check again in 10.

No, you can't tell me:

I can tell you it won't.

Because I've lived in the same 'fork in the road'...area, we don't even have a red light....population of 2500....for about 35 years now. For the past 8 years, I've had Sprint work just fine (and i don't mean femtocell either). They sent me one in 2008...for the past 2-3 years, it mostly stays unplugged because of the debacle that is AT&T DSL.... (well, not debacle...more like a joke).
Sprint works great...while I don't really need 200mbps/75mbps on my cell phone at home...I don't even know where the data speeds are while I'm home. But calls and texts work just fine...and never drop. The only time I had any problems with phones working at home was when Sprint added a 3rd tower in the nearest town, which is about 15 miles away. That caused me to have some issues. They only lasted a couple weeks though. Wasn't even enough to call 611 about.

*edit to add*
The Magic box is not a femtocell... A femtocell -- as used by the 4 carriers (I assume VZW has them also) -- has to be supplied with YOUR internet in order for it to properly work and deliver signal. The box that sprint will send me in the near future is IN ADDITION TO the femtocell that I have (which isn't even plugged up right now because I don't need it)...
The magic box will use Sprint's provided band 26 (850) signal as it's backhaul, or provided data line, and will broadcast it's own band 41 (2600) signal..

Honestly, I do not care about Sprints history. What I care about is the fact that due to whatever reasons, their service sucks across the majority of the country. If it works for you, awesome, however it still sucks across most the country. I live in one of the biggest cities in the US and could never get decent speeds or service. Also was greatly over priced. That issue disappeared with Verizon

Honestly, I do not care about Sprints history.

Which is the stance most people take about a company. I never deemed them to be perfect...
But I also don't claim to live in every metro area in the USA at the same time either. Sprint has terrific service in over 200 of the largest US metros..and that's coming from people who live and work in those places on S4GRU forums. You can't make blanket statements like "their service sucks across the entire USA" when you only traverse 2-3 of the 48 contiguous states. If I traveled for a living between New York and Los Angeles, I still wouldn't make those types of claims about a carrier because there's just too many vast areas of country that I could just not speculate something like that about. Have you seen bad service? I assume yes. Can you equate that to every Sprint customer, in EVERY city, in EVERY state, across the entire swath of country that is the United States? Well that should answer itself. I can understand being frustrated and the whole "I'm paying for something that doesn't work as they claimed it should"...
I totally get it. But making egregious statements that are largely debunked mainly, to put it simply, but facts and screenshots that obviously show otherwise...that's just not very resourceful...to say the least.

 

[comfortably_numb]

No, you can't tell me:

Because I've lived in the same 'fork in the road'...area, we don't even have a red light....population of 2500....for about 35 years now. For the past 8 years, I've had Sprint work just fine (and i don't mean femtocell either). They sent me one in 2008...for the past 2-3 years, it mostly stays unplugged because of the debacle that is AT&T DSL.... (well, not debacle...more like a joke).
Sprint works great...while I don't really need 200mbps/75mbps on my cell phone at home...I don't even know where the data speeds are while I'm home. But calls and texts work just fine...and never drop. The only time I had any problems with phones working at home was when Sprint added a 3rd tower in the nearest town, which is about 15 miles away. That caused me to have some issues. They only lasted a couple weeks though. Wasn't even enough to call 611 about.

*edit to add*
The Magic box is not a femtocell... A femtocell -- as used by the 4 carriers (I assume VZW has them also) -- has to be supplied with YOUR internet in order for it to properly work and deliver signal. The box that sprint will send me in the near future is IN ADDITION TO the femtocell that I have (which isn't even plugged up right now because I don't need it)...
The magic box will use Sprint's provided band 26 (850) signal as it's backhaul, or provided data line, and will broadcast it's own band 41 (2600) signal..




Which is the stance most people take about a company. I never deemed them to be perfect...
But I also don't claim to live in every metro area in the USA at the same time either. Sprint has terrific service in over 200 of the largest US metros..and that's coming from people who live and work in those places on S4GRU forums. You can't make blanket statements like "their service sucks across the entire USA" when you only traverse 2-3 of the 48 contiguous states. If I traveled for a living between New York and Los Angeles, I still wouldn't make those types of claims about a carrier because there's just too many vast areas of country that I could just not speculate something like that about. Have you seen bad service? I assume yes. Can you equate that to every Sprint customer, in EVERY city, in EVERY state, across the entire swath of country that is the United States? Well that should answer itself. I can understand being frustrated and the whole "I'm paying for something that doesn't work as they claimed it should"...
I totally get it. But making egregious statements that are largely debunked mainly, to put it simply, but facts and screenshots that obviously show otherwise...that's just not very resourceful...to say the least.

Actually, I *Can* tell you. Your profile says you live in Georgia. My post said "Try living in the Hearland anywhere outside a major city and see if Sprint works for you then. I can tell you it won't." Last time I checked, Georgia isn't anywhere near the Heartland. I'm referring to Missouri/Kansas/Oklahoma/Iowa, etc.

 

[ChadT41]

Traveling most states and most areas, and having it drop in more areas than Verizon ever does, or even ATT makes a pretty good argument. Sprint, overall, is a terrible service. This is not really disputable. This is why they are 4th. They use to be a great service, and have since started digging their own graves, both before and after SoftBank. Awesome that it works for your small area, however the majority of the country does not have as quality of service as the other providers.

 

[StanDarsh]

Fact is, people are stating otherwise who live in varying sizes of cities across the country.
and I've never heard of Hearland. I've heard of the Heartland...George Strait sings about it, but it's widely known to be the southeastern rural country...

I've been in areas of bumfuct Mississippi just recently where cell services are "movin on up" for most people...and Sprint has a roaming LTE agreement with Cspire to give LTE to it's customers...

So..say what you want...Sprint and people who use it are proving that what you've stated here isn't the norm.

 

[ChadT41]

"PEople that use it". There is a reason they went from 3 to 4. It's because people that used them left them. Due to their crappy service. Again, they may have some small areas that they excel at, however, the majority of the country they are worse than the top 3.

 

[StanDarsh]

"PEople that use it". There is a reason they went from 3 to 4. It's because people that used them left them. Due to their crappy service. Again, they may have some small areas that they excel at, however, the majority of the country they are worse than the top 3.

Moffett's army stretches far and wide. You sound like his mouthpiece when he needs to short the stock.

 

[ChadT41]

By showing historical data? Are you arguing that they went from 3rd to 4th about the time that LTE started becoming important?

 

[comfortably_numb]

Fact is, people are stating otherwise who live in varying sizes of cities across the country.
and I've never heard of Hearland. I've heard of the Heartland...George Strait sings about it, but it's widely known to be the southeastern rural country...

I've been in areas of bumfuct Mississippi just recently where cell services are "movin on up" for most people...and Sprint has a roaming LTE agreement with Cspire to give LTE to it's customers...

So..say what you want...Sprint and people who use it are proving that what you've stated here isn't the norm.

Call it what you want. Out here, we refer to Georgia as "The South." I'm pretty sure George Strait was referring to his native Texas, and probably Oklahoma and Kansas. I can't even imagine anyone considering the deep south as "the heartland" by any stretch of the imagination!

 

[StanDarsh]

If you were stating factual historical data, then the last 2 years of quarterly earnings, CAPEX, and the results of their strategic moves would show what Sprint has done, and a little research on some TMO reddits, along with VZW as well would tell you that people are complaining just as much about those carriers as they are about Sprint.
VZW is killing it's own network and not adding anything new to help with the influx of people. You can't keep putting people on a highway and still have room...which is the same thing they are doing to their capacity of spectrum.
And the same goes for Tmo. They are starting to suck in the metro areas because they the ad campaign they've ran has flooded their network. Now they are trying to get 600 deployed fast enough to salvage it, but no devices in the pipeline to use that.
And they've barely been out of 3rd place for a year now...
Not since LTE became important...which was 2012-2013.

 

[ChadT41]

2012-2013 is about when Sprint took a nose dive. You can preach as much as you want, but Sprint is still at the bottom of the pack for a reason.

 

[charlesrshell]

2012-2013 is about when Sprint took a nose dive. You can preach as much as you want, but Sprint is still at the bottom of the pack for a reason.

Wonder if that is why they quit sponsoring NASCAR Cup races.