Sprint decommissioning iDEN towers

[bezking]

Kind of OT, but you can see when Sprint plans to decommission iDEN towers at your location here:
https://nextelnetwork.sprint.com/

It only says they will be working on "some" of the towers, not necessarily all of them.

What is this new "Sprint Direct Connect" based on? IP?

[KE7JFF]

I'm wondering also about the Sprint "Direct Connect" replacement they promise.

At my work, there's a Nextel site among the other carriers on the roof. There was a tech a while back who said he was going to "shut down" the Nextel side one night but then about a couple of weeks ago, he comes by again saying he is getting things ready to shut down the site "before June" and will be starting to stage new equipment up there. Using this tool, I see they show "mid April" as the shut down timeframe for my work location.

[MTS2000des]

well considering they haven't really added any iDEN sites in west Atlanta since about 2002, this won't have a huge impact. If anything, it's going to mean a boom for local SMR's operators, like RadioOne's Georgia FleetTalk NexEDGE, who will be more than happy to take the PTT/dispatch customers Sprint doesn't want.

[Jim1348]

I had read that it is coming. I actually wouldn't mind buying a couple of R765 or R765IS units for the off network simplex. By any chance, does anybody happen to know if these ever popped up on Nextel or were these designed for other iDen networks? With the demise of Nextel, I suppose it is possible that some old equipment would be practically given away.

[escomm]

Pretty much OT, but rebanding is being thrown in a huge loop because of Sprint doing this. Sprint wants to take the Nextel SMR licenses and convert them to PCS. I think there is a great deal of opposition to Sprint doing this. It makes me even more convinced that rebanding won't happen in the territories next to Mexico.

[N4KVE]

Exactly. The 850-870 freq's were supposed to be for dispatch purposes. Not cellphone. Nextel was a dispatch company that allowed phone patches on their dispatch freq's. Now Sprint, a PCS company in the 1900 band wants to use the 850-870 band for PCS. Will the FCC grant a waiver to allow this? The day the Iden system closed down is the day I say adios to Sprint. GARY N4KVE

[MTS2000des]

Pretty much OT, but rebanding is being thrown in a huge loop because of Sprint doing this. Sprint wants to take the Nextel SMR licenses and convert them to PCS. I think there is a great deal of opposition to Sprint doing this. It makes me even more convinced that rebanding won't happen in the territories next to Mexico.

I agree, but it shows you what Sprint's real intention was with the Nextel merger from the get-go. it was to get their mitts on the valuable 800MHz spectrum. PCS is garbage in terrain challenged area, and getting a block nationwide of that size would cost today more than they paid for the Nextel system (even with rebanding). So it was a smart move.

I am opposed to them doing anything but ESMR on the current bandplan and emission masks.
Wideband CDMA/LTE/whatever can negatively impact other users on the band, and isn't that what all the billions were spent on rebanding?

but with the turds at the FCC, they'll probably get their way and we'll all end up paying for it somehow...

[N4DES]

I was told by a third party tower site manager that I personally know that Sprint has already notified them that they would be deploying CDMA in the 821-823/866-869 spectrum in the near future at all his locations. I'm sure it won't be long for them to petition the FCC to allow them to have a nationwide license and would allow them to get away from the site licensing hassles of ESMR so they can create the 800 Cellular "C" Block.

[escomm]

I was told by a third party tower site manager that I personally know that Sprint has already notified them that they would be deploying CDMA in the 821-823/866-869 spectrum in the near future at all his locations. I'm sure it won't be long for them to petition the FCC to allow them to have a nationwide license and would allow them to get away from the site licensing hassles of ESMR so they can create the 800 Cellular "C" Block.

Sprint has petitioned but so far I believe the FCC has told them to go pound sand. Will try to find the FCC filings tonight.

[N4DES]

I was told by a third party tower site manager that I personally know that Sprint has already notified them that they would be deploying CDMA in the 821-823/866-869 spectrum in the near future at all his locations. I'm sure it won't be long for them to petition the FCC to allow them to have a nationwide license and would allow them to get away from the site licensing hassles of ESMR so they can create the 800 Cellular "C" Block.

Sprint has petitioned but so far I believe the FCC has told them to go pound sand. Will try to find the FCC filings tonight.

Interesting and yes I would like to see those filings. If this is the case I would think that the FCC is waiting for the completion of rebanding to make sure of the displaced licensees get what that have requested in their FRA's, etc before they look to approve anything.

[MTS2000des]

I was told by a third party tower site manager that I personally know that Sprint has already notified them that they would be deploying CDMA in the 821-823/866-869 spectrum in the near future at all his locations. I'm sure it won't be long for them to petition the FCC to allow them to have a nationwide license and would allow them to get away from the site licensing hassles of ESMR so they can create the 800 Cellular "C" Block.

Sprint has petitioned but so far I believe the FCC has told them to go pound sand. Will try to find the FCC filings tonight.

Interesting and yes I would like to see those filings. If this is the case I would think that the FCC is waiting for the completion of rebanding to make sure of the displaced licensees get what that have requested in their FRA's, etc before they look to approve anything.

Sprint sought (and got) FCC certification for a Samsung phone early last year that is a CDMA phone on the 850MHz ESMR band, Samsung SPH-M380:

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/rep ... Timeout=30

[ai4ui]

According to a post on Howard Forums last May, Sprint has obtained a waiver to implement a 1.25 mHz CDMA carrier on the ESMR band for some of it's licenses. Below is a link to a PDF from the FCC giving them such a waiver. I do not know if it is authentic, but based on Sprint going ahead with their plans to shut iDEN down would tend to indicate its authenticity. Anyhow, here is the link:

http://www.howardforums.com/attachment. ... 1304602456

[motorola_otaku]

Any change in emission mask or licensing should be contingent on a legally-binding commitment from Sprint to mitigate any interference incurred by public safety and traditional SMR licensees in adjoining spectrum with no cost incurred by the incumbent. [/pipe_dream]

From a user standpoint, my big gripe right now is that Sprint isn't fielding any simple ruggedized candybar-style phones to replace the iDen offerings. I manage a company fleet of about 40-50 devices, and 3/4 of those guys do not need a smartphone.. would go through them like a change of pants, actually.

[mr.syntrx]

CDMA has a very low power spectral density, with 8 watts spread over 1.25MHz and without that nasty low frequency component. CDMA may well be an improvement where interference is concerned when compared with iDEN.

[KE7JFF]

Any change in emission mask or licensing should be contingent on a legally-binding commitment from Sprint to mitigate any interference incurred by public safety and traditional SMR licensees in adjoining spectrum with no cost incurred by the incumbent. [/pipe_dream]

From a user standpoint, my big gripe right now is that Sprint isn't fielding any simple ruggedized candybar-style phones to replace the iDen offerings. I manage a company fleet of about 40-50 devices, and 3/4 of those guys do not need a smartphone.. would go through them like a change of pants, actually.

My employer I know ran into this issue I know and has been replacing their i570 phones with BlackBerry phones.

[MTS2000des]

Any change in emission mask or licensing should be contingent on a legally-binding commitment from Sprint to mitigate any interference incurred by public safety and traditional SMR licensees in adjoining spectrum with no cost incurred by the incumbent. [/pipe_dream]

From a user standpoint, my big gripe right now is that Sprint isn't fielding any simple ruggedized candybar-style phones to replace the iDen offerings. I manage a company fleet of about 40-50 devices, and 3/4 of those guys do not need a smartphone.. would go through them like a change of pants, actually.

the Kyocera they show as being the only non-smartphone with a Sprint CDMA direct connect is garbage.
it's a cheap plastic POS with horrible audio and reliability problems.

I think it's clear Sprint wants dispatch customers to GO AWAY. which is fine, the SMR business will rise from the ashes. At least in the southeast, we have Southern LINC which is, IMO, a superior iDEN system compared to the skeleton that was Nextel. Southern LINC has real SMS, better rural coverage with hardened sites, and a full line of rugged handsets. They also "act" like an SMR and don't go blind, deaf and dumb when you start asking about features like talkgroup scan, emergency call, and ISO (Isolates Site Operation) like the idiot kids at Sprint sales do.

We also have Georgia fleet talk and several DMR systems in the state, so we'll be just fine when Sprint pulls the plug.

[KE7JFF]

I think it's clear Sprint wants dispatch customers to GO AWAY.

See Sprint doesn't understand this concept of having customers give them money in exchange for services they want. No wonder they are in the hole!

[N4KVE]

We also have Georgia fleet talk and several DMR systems in the state, so we'll be just fine when Sprint pulls the plug.

Wish there was another Iden provider here in Florida. GARY N4KVE

[MTS2000des]

I think it's clear Sprint wants dispatch customers to GO AWAY.

See Sprint doesn't understand this concept of having customers give them money in exchange for services they want. No wonder they are in the hole!

checked their stock price lately? they don't have long above water.