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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·DSL EXTREME
| Re: Sad really. I agree... Sprint has typically been on the cutting edge, deploying more EVDO than Verizon, WiMAX, etc.
Sprint has taken a beating because its ability to capitalize on its upgrades. Nextel migration has overshadowed any of Sprints successes.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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53059959
Temp banned from BBR more then anyone
join:2002-10-02
PwnZone | Re: Sad really. how on earth is sprint losing money? isn't cellular service a cash cow? they must be buying their execs solid gold planes or something to report such a big loss, whatever happened to that stiff sprint guy who wore the trenchcoat? | |
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| | | mojo1
join:2006-12-05
Jefferson, GA
·Windstream
| said by 53059959  :whatever happened to that stiff sprint guy who wore the trenchcoat? He got a haircut, started wearing glasses and updated his wardrobe. Then, Verizon hired him... | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| said by 53059959 :whatever happened to that stiff sprint guy who wore the trenchcoat? Sprint wasn't paying him enough, so he went to be a test subject for a "atomizer". Now he is a flying color blob like Ghostwriter. | |
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pende_tim
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Andover, NJ
1 edit | Re: Sad really. Who will buy Sprint? Here is a scenario:
Google looses the 700 Mhz auction and uses the cash instead to pick up Sprint.
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The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. | |
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| | xenophon
join:2007-09-17
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| ION isn't a good comparison to WiMAX. ION was a Sprint-specific solution. WiMAX is an IEEE spec that has many many large players involved Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Cisco and others. WiMAX will survive globally even if Sprint doesn't get it out the door in the US.
I expect Sprint to split of Xohm and maintain ownership of the massive spectrum, over 100Mhz per market, which is simply huge.
WiMAX needs to happen. LTE is too controlled by the telcom industry (3GGP) and will be limited to devices the carriers control. WiMAX is much easier to get onto any kind of consumer electronics device that could benefit from being on the Net. Like WiFi, the WiMAX device maker simply drops in an IEEE compliant chipset w/out needing any interaction with the provider (unless involving unique services tied to a provider). | |
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
·Comcast
·Patriot Media
| Re: Sad really. said by xenophon :ION isn't a good comparison to WiMAX. ION was a Sprint-specific solution. WiMAX is an IEEE spec that has many many large players involved Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Cisco and others. WiMAX will survive globally even if Sprint doesn't get it out the door in the US. I expect Sprint to split of Xohm and maintain ownership of the massive spectrum, over 100Mhz per market, which is simply huge. to a provider). But the problem is Sprint is selling it. So even if its sliced bread. People dont think Sprint can do it successfully. Wimax will go nowhere, not because of the business model, but because Sprint is involved. | |
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Matt
Gone playing Dragon Age Origins
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| Re: Sad really. said by DaveNJ :Wimax will go nowhere, not because of the business model, but because Sprint is involved. I think there is too much clout behind WiMAX for it to go nowhere. It's device agnostic, it will soon be as ubiquitous as 802.11b/g thanks to Intel's Centrino push, and should be pretty open for 3rd parties. Sprint has already proven they don't mind letting other people ride atop their network if you look at the number of MVNO's who use Sprint.
I think WiMAX is going to shake up the mobile phone industry. People are tired of being locked to one carrier, one set of apps on their phone and not being able to use it the way they want. I think WiMAX may change all that.
I do agree that Sprint should spin it off to avoid tainting the brand. They need to change the color scheme to something non-Sprint-like too. | |
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| | | | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Sad really. It will be carrier locked. I bet Intel's WIMAX Centrino will only work on Sprint's and Clearwire's frequencies, effectivly locking it. I dont see the FCC having a 2.3/2.5 auction any time soon. | |
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| RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| I agree. But their problem has always been corporate ADD. They just can't seem to follow through to maturity on anything and somehow manage to piss away that innovation goodwill by angering their customers. You can do that a couple of times (ION, Sprint Broadband Direct) but now they've peed in their core business pool and Wall Street is not going to put a toe into it until they thoroughly disinfect their corporate culture.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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| | xenophon
join:2007-09-17 | Re: Sad really. They have done very well with EVDO. They have a better 3G data network according to scores on this site and on evdoforums.com. Sprint has always been strong with data.
The problem has been losing iDen customers and customer support overall. | |
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| | | RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Sad really. EVDO is nice but it is only a part of the equation. ION was a great product too. EVDO is not going to save them unless some wide-ranging, meaningful changes are made at the highest levels, and then they follow through instead of giving lip service. You have to perform as a company not just as a single product.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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| | | | xenophon
join:2007-09-17 | Re: Sad really. Of course EVDO won't alone save Sprint. You said they can't follow through with anything but they have. EVDO/3G is something they are doing better than anyone else. Other aspects of their business is pulling them down. | |
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| | | | | RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Sad really. Well, I could use EVDO as the exception that proves the rule, except that they're starting to poison even that business with their utterly horrid customer service. They aren't hemorrhaging millions of subscribers because they do 3G better than anyone else. Their overall track record is abysmal.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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| | | | | | xenophon
join:2007-09-17
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Sad really. Right, because of customer service and Nextel subscriber losses.
So if customer service is now better, would you even know it? I expect even if Sprint improves customer support to be even better than competitors in next few months, most won't be aware of it or will continue to bitch based on perceptions and past experiences. That is Sprint's bigger challenge. | |
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| | | | | | | RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Sad really. Sprint's customer service was nothing to issue glowing press releases about even before they got in bed with Nextel. That just put a very clear face on it, and illustrated how bad it really was.
Like I said, they are going to have to do some spectacular housecleaning and show some stellar customer service before anyone will believe a thing they say about a 'turnaround'.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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| | | | | | | | mojo1
join:2006-12-05
Jefferson, GA
·Windstream
| Re: Sad really. said by RadioDoc :Sprint's customer service was nothing to issue glowing press releases about even before they got in bed with Nextel. That just put a very clear face on it, and illustrated how bad it really was. Like I said, they are going to have to do some spectacular housecleaning and show some stellar customer service before anyone will believe a thing they say about a 'turnaround'. I absoutely dread calling them for anything that comes up. I have a 10-year-old daughter on my plan and the need to call them comes up way too often. I really wish it wasn't so difficult to deal with customer service there. We are looking for a new carrier now. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Sad really. said by mojo1 :said by RadioDoc :Sprint's customer service was nothing to issue glowing press releases about even before they got in bed with Nextel. That just put a very clear face on it, and illustrated how bad it really was. Like I said, they are going to have to do some spectacular housecleaning and show some stellar customer service before anyone will believe a thing they say about a 'turnaround'. I absoutely dread calling them for anything that comes up. I have a 10-year-old daughter on my plan and the need to call them comes up way too often. I really wish it wasn't so difficult to deal with customer service there. We are looking for a new carrier now. 10 year old on a cell? Why don't you just get a pay as you go. My 14 and 16 year old has one. Short of one SMS text msg issue, I've not had any problems. Now, I would get them a firefly or a trac phone. Other then that.. your asking, no, begging for trouble. Ben there.. done that.  | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| said by xenophon :Of course EVDO won't alone save Sprint. You said they can't follow through with anything but they have. EVDO/3G is something they are doing better than anyone else. Other aspects of their business is pulling them down. I don't think their legacy wireline portion is doing bad at all. Matter in fact, if not for the "wired" portion of the company, they would have gone down in flames long before now. Too bad Embarq didn't take the LD division with them (FCC WHAT WHERE YOU THINKING) when they merged w/Nextel. Just think of the access charges they would be paying. And we won't even touch on the back bone they provide for cable providers IP network.  | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | iDEN is a dead network. It has no future. I dont see 3G anytime soon on it. Also the new voice codec isn't helping with voice quality. | |
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jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | Notable. Sounds like the rumors of the death of Nextel's iDen network have been greatly exaggerated (or just plain made up). Also mentioned is a Nextel Wifi Blackberry and PTT connectivity between the two networks. | |
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thesimonsens
Premium
join:2007-09-14
USA
| Need new provider God Sprint sucks! Need to find better company that offers better reception and service here, but its hard to find
I have made 2 payments online in the past week and neither one has been submitted even though I have the confirmation numbers. And every time you call them you get someone who is very hard to understand. Just now I called and got "Our systems are down so we are asking our customers to call back in 1 hour"  | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Need new provider said by thesimonsens :God Sprint sucks! Need to find better company that offers better reception and service here, but its hard to find I have made 2 payments online in the past week and neither one has been submitted even though I have the confirmation numbers. And every time you call them you get someone who is very hard to understand. Just now I called and got "Our systems are down so we are asking our customers to call back in 1 hour" Must be all those people rushing to get the "all you can eat plan".. Not. | |
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| | AJICQ499087
join:2001-12-01
Louisville, KY
| Re: Need new provider I'm getting dropped calls and lousy audio quality this week on my Nextel cell phone. I talked to other Nextel users in town and they also are having these problems! So, I guess the Sprint/Nextel system is going downhill. Maybe a cell tower problem in Metro Louisville, KY?
Hopefully things will get better soon or it might be time to jump the Sprint/Nextel sinking ship! 
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low cost and fast speed is what customers want in broadband | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Need new provider said by AJICQ499087 :I'm getting dropped calls and lousy audio quality this week on my Nextel cell phone. I talked to other Nextel users in town and they also are having these problems! So, I guess the Sprint/Nextel system is going downhill. Maybe a cell tower problem in Metro Louisville, KY? Hopefully things will get better soon or it might be time to jump the Sprint/Nextel sinking ship! Why not call and open a trouble ticket? If it's a load gone bad, yep, your going to problems but call test plans that they perfrom is suppose to find this. They just don't go "downhill" over night unless there is a switch problem. Unlike VoIP providers who upgrades and updates on a friday afternoon, telcos don't do theirs outside night time (unless it's an emergency). But the bottom line is, your using a radio. What do you expect? Not to sound rude but having spend 20 years in radio communications, I've never looked at my cell "phone" as nothing more then a radio transceiver. I think we expect 7/24 perfect comms and that's expecting too much IMO. We have marketing to thank for that.  | |
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| | | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Need new provider We need 20 watt cellphones with rubber ducks on low frequencies (400 sounds good). You can go 15 miles with that. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Need new provider I've had good luck with my FRS/GMRS radios that are rated at 18 miles. And they get weax warnings too? And.. no need to call CS or pay a monthly charge.. Maybe if everyone went back to a CB radio w/SSB, things would be less of a problem.  I like the rubber duck thing.. I'm sure it flew over about 99% of the readers here. | |
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| Spensergig
Threadkiller Supreme
Premium,MVM
join:2000-03-26
Bradenton, FL
| I don't know about the payments thing, but I can confirm that they were having serious system problems earlier.
I was on the phone with one tech, trying to get my Treo up and running again, when he told me they had lost both of the systems he was accessing.
In the background, i could hear other techs commenting on the same problem.
I called back about an hour+ later, and all was functional again. | |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26 | Don't feel too bad Sprint is likely to have plenty of company in the "takes a beating" department soon enough.
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flyingjoey
join:2005-11-07
Jersey City, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Verizon FIOS
| LTE vs WiMax There is no way that Sprint should switch over to LTE.
LTE is at least 3 years away, so we're now talking about 2011, if not 2012 and we all know how fast AT&T is when it comes to Data services, for AT&T ETA 2015. WiMax is here today and Sprint has it.
If XOHM becomes available today that means that the Verizons and AT&Ts of the world are at least 3 years behind, when LTE becomes available XOHM will already be reaching puberty in teams of experience. Verizon & AT&T will be playing catch-up to Sprint.
Honestly, why in hell will I want LTE, so that I can reach its cap faster? At least with XOHM I’ll be able to consume as much data as I like without having to worry about being over charged. | |
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
·Comcast
·Patriot Media
| Re: LTE vs WiMax Where has the pricing for Xohm being published, its not available either. No company i dont care who they are, is going to let to download Gigs of data and not impose a cap. Also Verizon is already testing LTE, and is expected to start conversion end of 2009. At least with LTE a customer can change providers as easily as changing a sim. LTE is no more closed then Wimax, its just the business application of it. Xohm isnt available today. Its not in New York City, which is the most metro you can get. I cant go to best buy and get a wimax device.
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“Say no to fear. Don’t let anxiety crush your life. Live life free and unfettered.”
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| | xenophon
join:2007-09-17
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: LTE vs WiMax said by DaveNJ :No company i dont care who they are, is going to let to download Gigs of data and not impose a cap. Sprint EVDO is already completely unlimited with no cap - many over on evdoforums.com are doing over 10GB/month on Sprint with no issues. Sprint will need to keep WiMAX unlimited because they intend to compete with cable/dsl with WiMAX. | |
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| | flyingjoey
join:2005-11-07
Jersey City, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Verizon FIOS
| You are right WiMax is not available in our area, but I have actually used it while traveling abroad. Based on my experience using WiMax it's a promissing technology, the speed was more constant, and it allowed me to go online and use VoIP without a hitch. | |
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T_Flight
join:2007-12-30
·Millenicom
| said by DaveNJ : No company i dont care who they are, is going to let to download Gigs of data and not impose a cap. Well shucks! I really thought I've been doing just that the last few months using Millenicom which is a Spring Mobile Boradband Reseller. No Caps, no fine print, definitely noe of that stuff Verizon is doing.
They can do this becasue they CAN. They are not overselling their bandwidth becasue they have it, and I made sure they were going to have it in the distant future before I went strictly to EVDO for my Home PC and my travels.
Gigs per month? LMAO!!! I average 40-70 and told them that up front before I signed on. I wanted to be certain that *I* was not going to create a problem for them...not the other way around. It is a non-issue to them.
There is no Company that will do that? Well, actually there is one. Sprint. I don;t worry about their billing issues personally becasue they don't affect me. I deal with Millenicom for that. I do help people on the forums when i see they are having issues though. Sprint most definitely will get those issues sorted too. I can assure you of that. The courts are going to sort them out now. They have let this sort of poor billing and service go on so long that they have broken the law and people have filed class action lawsuits now, so now a Judge is going to tell them exactly how they are going to fix that problem and my bet is they will get it done darned quick.
It's a shame it had to result ina court case, becasue everybody ends up being the loser aftera court battele. The customer looses becasue of the fines they'll end up paying and the resulting price hikes, the company ends up loosing, even the courts ends up loosing becasue a Judge shouldn;t have to be a nanny for bad buisness practices.
That should be taken care of by the CEO's and department heads. In this day an age though there is alot of people who wanna collect a check but sit on their tail and not do anything. Judges will light a fire under those tails real quick. They ahve the power of God like that!
Sprint ain't going anywhere, and they are gonna spring right back up there, and will continue to offer the great cutting edge stuff with no limits just like they always have. They'll just be conducting buisness a little better after these court cases is the only difference. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI | Re: LTE vs WiMax Bullseye!!! | |
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Worried
@sbcglobal.net | Going Out of Business? Sounds like Sprint is fixing to have a going out of business sale or making themselves attractive for an unfriendly takeover. More losses in the future! | |
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| xenophon
join:2007-09-17
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Going Out of Business? People who keep saying they will go out of business don't understand the flexibility that very large suffering companies have.
They may merge but they won't go away. They are a $40B for Fortune 50's company. They are bigger than Intel, Apple, Coca-Cola and Disney. Even if they lost several million more customers, Sprint would still likely be bigger than them.
They'll suffer CAPEX budget in near future to deploy new things (which is why they'll need outside investment to get WiMAX out the door) but they won't be going away anytime soon. See the car industry - suffering huge companies if anything simply become smaller or merge.
They could be bought by someone like SK Telcom or BT. Given the weak dollar, a foreign company just might be interested now that Sprint wrote off the Nextel merger value. | |
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Brian Roberts
@ameritech.net | Re: Going Out of Business? Please don't take this the wrong way, but your unrealistic optimism about Sprint has a lot in common with whistling past the graveyard. | |
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| | | xenophon
join:2007-09-17
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
2 edits | Re: Going Out of Business? said by Brian Roberts :
Please don't take this the wrong way, but your unrealistic optimism about Sprint has a lot in common with whistling past the graveyard.
Please explain. Has there ever been a Fortune 100 company that went completely out of business in 5 or 10 years? I can't think of any. Suffering companies that big have either merged or have become smaller or have eventually turned around.
Even Sears, KMart and JC Penney still exist.
Companies this big can go through multiple bankruptcies and eventually pull through. I don't think Sprint is anywhere near bankruptcy, are they? | |
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| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Sprint going out of business? Not happening. They are a public utility, someone will always be paying to use their frequencies. Its like the power company or cable company going out of business. They dont, atmost they merger/get taken over. | |
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Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
·Comcast
·Embarq
| Sprint's situatuion is tragic I believe Sprint made a brilliant move when they merged with Nextel. By acquiring Nextel, Sprint acquired the licenses for Nextel's Iden network. The Iden network operates at frequencies below the Advanced Mobile Phone Service 850Mhz Band. Frequencies below 900Mhz have better propagation characteristics that the 1.9Ghz Personal Communication Service Frequencies. That means the Nextel Network requires fewer towers to serve a given area. If Sprint/Nextel had found a way to integrate the two networks quickly and efficiently they would be hard to beat. I had Sprint Wireless until May 2007 and was always satisfied with the service in South Florida. When I purchased a home in Central Florida I found that Sprint has poor coverage in the area. Although Sprint had almost no signal in my new home, Nextel had an acceptable signal. When in mid 2006, I tried to negotiate with Sprint to have the very favorable plan I signed with Sprint in 2003, transferred to Nextel. Sprint's representatives said it would not be possible. I considered subscribing to Cingular Wireless service but decided not to because Cingular was having trouble integrating their network with AT&T's Network. The only choice I had was to drop Sprint and sign a much less favorable contact with Verizon. I hope that Sprint can get their act together because they were the technology leader when it came to wireless service. | |
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| patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| Re: Sprint's situatuion is tragic Getting the SMR spectrum was smart of Sprint, now time to get rid of the proprietory IDEN crap on it and put something much newer and standardized (LTE/CDMA/UTMS/WCDMA/UMB/HSDPA/WIMAX), and turn it into a network that makes Verizon and ATT shudder because of its coverage and building penetration. I love the fact in my market Verizon EVDO runs on PCS, so I have 5 bars on the street, and when I enter SOME buildings I immediately loose EVDO and fallback to 1X (runs on 800). I still have 5 bars inside the building, but on the EVDO debug screen it shows no signal. | |
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0zero01
join:2000-08-01
Port Orchard, WA
·wavebroadband
| Go Sprint! It's a shame. Personally, I've had T-mobile, AT&T, Nextel (pre-Sprint merger). I've been with Sprint wireless for 6 months now. I've never had a problem with my service, never had a billing problem. Every time I've contacted customer service with a question they've always been great! I hope business gets better for them, I signed on for the "Simply Everything" plan today. I had a 900 min plan with some extras. It was $94 a month. For $6 more a month, I now have Unlimited Everything! I'm very pleased with Sprint right now! Internet, TV, GPS Navigation, Unlimited Minutes! $99.99. Now If I could output video from my phone to my LCD at decent resolutions I'd be completely set!
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The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson | |
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nonextel
@rcn.com | buy buy sprint sprint will end up like MCI. verizon will end up buying their assets on the cheap | |
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Sprint Takes a Beating
Sad really.
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