How so? One market is barely coming to life (on schedule I might add) and you've made this determination already?
As the saying goes, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... "barely coming to life" doesn't really acquit the decision to repeat the same organizational mistakes, does it?
For crying out loud, I'm referring to the posts that I've read
right here! You can scroll down; it won't kill you.
Lot's of companies use generic tower companies, even the big duo VZW and AT&T. So what? What makes you think Sprint is so inclined to fail?
When are you going to stop beating your wife?
Actually, the roaming thing is more than possible with
Software Defined Radios [LINK] Instead of restricting a handset to certain bands, software filters the bands appropriately, giving the radios nearly infinite range of reception in terms of frequency. What this means, is that it can be tuned to 850mhz, then switch to 1900mhz or 2500mhz on the fly, all while using the same radio, with no extra hardware needed. It's quite revolutionary, and it's going to blow the handset market wide open.
If all it took was wishful thinking and a too little knowledge, we'd all be zillionaires. You apparently missed the obvious fact that all radios must still obey the laws of nature. It's all moot because SDR
transceiver technology is still in the development stage, but if they went that way, they still have to work with conventional RF amplifiers, feed lines and antennas. Do you have a software defined antenna ready to go to market?
Also, Sprint has a very healthy cash reserve, and a stockpile of spectrum, especially after turning off the Nextel towers and repurposing the SMR spectrum.
So you say. I don't know about Sprint's cash reserves, but the data I can find disputes your claim. If they're so flush, how come they're taking the partnership road after it failed so miserably with Clearwire?
Although you spin the loss of Nextel as somehow being a revenue
source, the fact of the matter is that it works the opposite. When you lose customers, revenue goes down, not up.
Sprint's LTE rollout is going to surpass the WiMax in terms of coverage, that's a given considering they are using the PCS bands instead of the 2.5Ghz.
That's beside the point. While you're obviously counting un-hatched eggs, Sprint's track record gives wise people good cause to be skeptical. I hope that Sprint makes a strong comeback, but I'm not going to bet on it.
You have been touting Sprint's little sliver of the completely full 1900MHz band as a panacea, but again the fact of the matter is that Sprint can't break the rules of nature. Sure they have spectrum. But the point is that nobody has enough 1900MHz spectrum to be able to offer 4G data rates
and cellphone calls to enough people to make it profitable. There's simply not enough bandwidth to support it. That's why everybody else bought a lot of very expensive spectrum when the FCC auctioned it off over the last decade or so. They're all moving their data services to clear spectrum where they can provide big bandwidth on a grand scale
because they can't do it on the 1900MHz band.
WiMax in Chicago was actually decent, and outside of Chicago I was able to use it all the way out to Elgin, and south all the way to Oak Lawn.
With the exception of Oak Lawn, which is at least more than a stone's throw from a major interstate, it looks no better than previous rollouts. When I'm in the Northbrook / Deerfield / Glenview / Wheeling area next month, I'll see if my favorite Sprint store will lend me a LTE phone to see for myself. I'm not holding my breath, though.
And that's the base of my whole point. Sprint covers the areas where it gets a lot of business from less than mobile users, but has Swiss cheese coverage that makes their high speed data services impractical for people with cars, and/or who live and work in the suburbs and smaller cities. I live in Madison, and will be in Lake Zurich next year. Can you tell me truthfully that I'll see Sprint LTE where
I need it? I don't think so!
Using the PCS bands, even if it wasn't expanded, the PCS bands will enhance that coverage greatly. Bascially, anywhere you get Sprint 3G EVDO, you'll be getting LTE(eventually).
Great! When will the LTE airave be shipping?
I'm perfectly happy with Sprint's PCS service, at least now, after a lot of waiting for the EVDO rollout to become complete enough to be useful. But let's be real for a change. Sprint will be a PCS-only carrier for a very long time, except for a few select markets. The point is that's the same slow rollout that I'm so tired of. The point is that it's no longer acceptable for Sprint to leave its customers perpetually 5 years behind the curve.
Now that it's clear that Wi-Fi and other 802.11 isn't going to do come through for us, it's up to the cellphone providers. My next data dongle isn't going to be like the last one, "good enough for when there's no Ethernet". It's going to be good enough to use for my best home Internet connection if need be. And if Sprint hasn't gotten around to offering that in my neighborhood when others have, then they'll lose out and rightly so.
I'm not a Sprint fanboi; I'm a serious customer who expects service, not hype.
