They aren't moving, they are deploying them both. Supposedly WiMax for data and LTE Advanced for both data and voice.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Sprint Sues to Halt Merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They aren't moving, they are deploying them both. Supposedly WiMax for data and LTE Advanced for both data and voice.
AMPS (analog service) was completely outdated in 1995, but many people used it in the USA well into the 21st century. It was not discontinued before 2008!
Many people in Europe were making joked what the "A" in "Advanced mobile phone system" (AMPS) really meant.
No, GSM is not going to die in the next few years. Not in the US, not in Europe, not anywhere else.
Probably for the same reasons that kept analog alive for a long time: Coverage (in case of GSM: all over the world), cost, reliability.
Christian
Last edited:
It was more in reference to what you quoted previously, that the GSM spectrum would not be monopolized. And seeing as how all the carriers you listed depend on either T-Mobile or AT&T for coverage...
Verizon and AT&T are moving to LTE. Sprint is probably moving to LTE too since WiMax was a complete failure. The issue of a national GSM monopoly will be less and less of an issue as time goes on.
Exactly. Everyone bitches that their service sucks, and when a carrier finally wants to improve it and build a tower, everyone bitches and says "No, towers are ugly! They cause cancer! I don't want it near me!"
Can't have it both ways. My parents have an AT&T tower just down the street from their house, and they have never dropped a call in their house and I can consistently pull between 5 and 6 mbps off the HSPA+ network when I'm there. Having a tower practically in your backyard is awesome - wish I had one in my backyard, my service at my apartment can be iffy at times.
Competition is necessary in the mobile world.. a world with just Verizon and AT&T would be horrible.
Read the news... Sprint is not renewing their ClearWire contracts.
They are divesting away from WiMax in favor of LTE.
Bigger picture... they go the LTE route, they can work out roaming agreements with Verizon's LTE infrastructure.
That's not necessarily the case.
- Although AT&T and Verizon are currently deploying LTE in the 1700 band, they primarily own licenses to different chunks of that 700 band and phones can easily be made to be incompatible with the other's network. Considering Verizon does own some licenses multiple blocks (including the block that AT&T will operate on), though, it'd be pretty stupid for Verizon to go out of their way to have phones be incompatible.
- US Cellular is also going to be deploying LTE in the 700 band, and, like, Verizon, their licenses are spread across multiple blocks.
- MetroPCS is deploying LTE in the 1700 band; if the AT&T/T-Mobile merger succeeds, then we could see roaming between MetroPCS and AT&T, as AT&T plans to use T-Mobiles 1700 licences for LTE.
- Cox is planning on rolling out LTE service on the 700 and 1700 bands, so the same conditions as with the aforementioned carriers all apply.
Now, Sprint's LTE "plans" prevent them from ever being able to roam with any other LTE networks.
- Clearwire operates on the 2500 band, which no one else uses.
- LightSquared plans to operate on the 1500 band, which no one else uses. LightSquared is also running into issues as their network poses a significant risk of interfering with GPS services.
Basically, Sprint's screwed themselves over. If Clearwire and LightSquared can't give Sprint the coverage they need, they're going to face a T-Mobile-like predicament down the road, and it's no one's fault but their own.
Now, you might say "phone manufactures could build phones that support all the frequencies deployed in the US for roaming purposes". Just look at HSPA phones for T-Mobile and AT&T. That's clearly not happening, and I doubt that'll happen down the road, either.
Good to know, the last I checked it was a rumor anyhow, so I will check to see if they've given up on WiMax entirely.
Either way Sprint goes I am for it. Not brand loyalty, they just have the best smartphone plan prices, and I get good reception in much of the east coast.
Oy, that's ridiculous. Obviously it's technically impossible to have all carriers on the same frequency, but phone manufacturers need to step up to the plate and just release one phone that supports them all. I would think it would be cheaper for them in the long run.
Plus, you have the European frequencies and American phones need to be able to roam on those networks and vice versa.
I would like to take this moment to quote myself:
Mind you, the only phone manufacturer that sells phones that operate on the 5 HSPA bands needed for functional universal-use is Nokia. While the iPhone 4 may have a pentaband chipset, the 1700 frequency isn't active. Only two T-Mobile-branded phones are capable of operating on AT&T's HSPA network (the Vibrant and the Galaxy S 4G, both of which are more or less the same phone anyway), whereas no AT&T phones (actively) support the 1700 band. In addition, non-Nokia "international" phones with the ability to roam in the Americas don't support 1700, either (i.e. the Galaxy S II).
Because T-Mobile and other AWS-using telecoms are the odd ones out, phones for their networks are generally custom-made for that network. Once LTE is fully deployed, Sprint (and Leap since they're relying on LightSquared) will be in that "odd one out" position as the 4 planned main LTE bands are 700/1700 in the Americas and 1800/2600 internationally, not the 1500/2500 bands that Clearwire and LightSquared are going to be using.
Sure, it's ideal for phone manufacturers to support every frequency in existence, but it's not practical and it's not necessary. It isn't necessarily "cheaper in the long run"; if it were, we'd be seeing a lot more pentaband HSPA devices. However, because the cellular phone market in the US primarily revolves around carrier-customized phones (whereas the international market is much less carrier-centric), phones sold in the US are generally still customized even for 850/1900 networks, as phones sold internationally are commonly only dual-band 900/2100 HSPA. For instance: the HTC Desire HD is sold in the US by AT&T as the HTC Inspire 4G. Same external design and almost the same internals: the 900/2100 antenna was swapped out for an 850/1900 antenna. Likewise, the Desire Z's 900/2100 antenna was swapped out for a 1700/2100 antenna for T-Mobile's G2.
TMO USA *may* do better with newer phones. Their new plans are also quite price competitive. The reason people have left TMO is the lack of new phones over the last couple of years and corporate customers have also left. TMO USA may do fine this last quarter, but we'll have to wait and see. DT was getting a good price for TMO USA that no else wanted to pay, but with $3 billion with spectrum or about $7 billion from ATT, TMO USA will be able to survive. Sprint is pissed off that ATT came in with a much better deal and have objected to this merger. They, and others, would rather see TMO liquidated than to have ATT acquire them.
----------
The cost for 5-band devices, essentially voltage-controlled-oscillators, will become lower in time, and Apple is ideally suited for doing just that if it wants to gain an advantage over the Android competition that is now finally getting to be viable.
I should rephrase: I don't think that wide-spread penta-band HSPA won't happen (everything points to it happening eventually, considering the only dual-band GSM devices on the market are the ultra-cheap bargain-basement featurephones while everything else has, for a while now, abandoned tri-band and moved to quad-band), my main point is hex-band LTE devices needed for Sprint to have any chance of roaming won't be happening for a while just like how penta-band HSPA devices are currently rare. The iPhone 5 is already penta-band, only with one band disabled.
It's not bad for Sprint because Sprint is going to be made stronger buy it.
Sprint is whining so they can get their share of what will be broken up. AT&T probably won't acquire ALL of T-Mobile, meanwhile Sprint gets free lunch.
When Verizon acquired Alltel, the other carriers got free lunch too because the government made Verizon give up spectrum in areas where Verizon was already dominant.
Sprint is suing for that free lunch. Sprint doesn't care if T-Mobile survives, they want their sweet, sweet, precious spectrum.
Why would apple care if they are getting the same amount from each phone. If sprint wants to take less profit per phone, but sell more, I don't see apple objecting since it would mean more dollar bills for them.
Poor Sprints grasping at straws as they ever so slowly implode. After years of customer defections, they get a bit of a breather thanks to the wildly popular Android powered EVO.
Next they are presented with a chance to sell the iPhone, yet by now they can barely afford the expenses that come with it. Eager to focus elsewhere they take aim at AT&T.
Oops, they come to their senses and realize they've got too much to do to keep their own house afloat.
Times are tough and Sprints expiration date is near.
Next they are presented with a chance to sell the iPhone, yet by now they can barely afford the expenses that come with it. Eager to focus elsewhere they take aim at AT&T.
Oops, they come to their senses and realize they've got too much to do to keep their own house afloat.
Times are tough and Sprints expiration date is near.