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uniqs
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alancats
join:2000-09-20
New York, NY

2 edits

alancats

Member

We'll See...

I wish Sprint the best, as I favor competition and more consumer choice, but, Sprint is lagging far behind AT&T and Verizon with respect to 4G coverage. I was a Sprint customer for 2 years, from Fall 2011 until Fall 2013, and I jumped ship to AT&T precisely because the company's inexcusable, glacially slow 4G rollout has seen zero 4G coverage installed in the Washington, D.C. area. I couldn't justify continuing to pay for 3G service when 4G is undeniably the standard. It feels like you're not getting full value for your dollar with Sprint, if you have a 4G smartphone that can only be used on a 3G network. Unlimited texting and data are nice, but, I'd rather have decent speeds.

The company has made some monumental missteps -- the Nextel acquisition was a total disaster, with a $26 billion write-off of Nextel's goodwill occurring a few years after that failed integration; the hubristic pursuit and promotion of WiMax when it was clear that LTE was going to be the emerging 4G standard was similarly idiotic, costly and time-wasting. I don't know how many more boneheaded strategic moves Sprint can survive, even with new ownership.

"Spark" seems like a total gimmick to me, an attempt to create some buzz and to make amends to customers for the company's paltry 4G coverage. It requires new phones and doesn't appear to me to be a substantive offering.

amarryat
Verizon FiOS
join:2005-05-02
Marshfield, MA

amarryat

Member

said by alancats:

"Spark" seems like a total gimmick to me

It's a marketing term for using more spectrum that they have. Not a gimmick.

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec to alancats

Premium Member

to alancats
said by alancats:

the company's inexcusable, glacially slow 4G rollout has seen zero 4G coverage installed in the Washington, D.C. area.

The many users who have mapped LTE in Washington DC would disagree with you. »sensorly.com/map/4G/US/U ··· C%2C+USA

What may have been true last year, or 6 months ago or even 1 month ago can change overnight with how this network upgrade progress operates.

For example, I was sitting in my house about 10:30 this past Saturday night and my phone alerted me that it had just connected to 1x800SMR. They flipped the switch at that point and I now had coverage in my house for the first time ever....my Airave was disconnected within 5 minutes.