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Sprint reserves its right to throttle wireless data?
You know how that Sprint HTC EVO 4G in your pocket is all about consuming data in 4G (if available in your area) like mobile data was going out of style? Well, it turns out Sprint (NYSE: S) has reserved the right to throttle your wireless data speeds. That means Sprint can limit the speed of your 3G or 4G data connection as they see fit, and it seems that the No. 3 US wireless carrier (by subscriber count) is getting ready to flex their throttling-muscles this summer.
While the move might make sense – the easiest way to alleviate a congested wireless data network is to simply limit the size of everyone’s data “pipe” – it does make us a little uncomfortable with the thought that Sprint can arbitrarily choke our data connection at will. How do we know? Well, it looks like Sprint’s “The Playbook” makes provisions for “Data Throttle.” In that document, Sprint says that the data throttling “functionality” will be rolled out “later this summer.” We have no idea if the data throttling plan will happen for sure, or if Sprint is just covering their bases, but either way it is worth talking about.
Carriers around the globe are coming to terms with the new reality of being a wireless carrier. Data will reign supreme and carriers will become little more than dumb pipes. Even voice calls will become nothing more than data transmissions in a couple years’ time. As such, these carriers need to make provisions to protect their data networks and make the most money they can from limited wireless spectrum. Like we said, Sprint’s data throttling plan makes sense.
But, how does data throttling sit with you, as the consumer? Would you pay more to avoid having your data speeds limited? Let us know below!
[Via: Engadget]
Damm, you guys need to follow up on unsubstantiated rumors and the like.
Post has since been updated on Engadget to include this:
"Update: We're hearing from a couple sources that the shot here from The Playbook is a little out of context, and actually refers to a new feature for businesses looking to restrict disproportionately high usage by employees with company data cards. That sounds a little less painful, does it not? Thanks, everyone! "
Nothing to see here folks.
What the poster above said and this is a repost.
On paper, Sprint and T-Mobile seem like complete opposites: Sprint has 4G, T-Mobile has "4G speeds" with HSPA+; Sprint is CDMA, T-Mobile is GSM; Sprint is yellow, T-Mobile is magenta. Ok, maybe that last one is a bit of a stretch, but you get the point. Despite the glaring differences, a rumor has surfaced today stating that the two carriers may soon be in cahoots to finish building out Sprint's 4G network. Three people "familiar with the situation" have spoken to the Wall Street Journal, saying that Sprint's board of directors is considering allowing T-Mobile to invest in Clearwire, the company that is aiding Sprint with their WiMAX network (Sprint also owns 54 percent of Clearwire). Clearwire currently needs billions of dollars to finished expanding its 4G network, the WSJ says, and it needs to figure out if it will continue to soldier on alone or get some financial aid from T-Mobile. This isn't the first time we've heard the possibility of Sprint and T-Mobile teaming up and, if Clearwire and Sprint need as much cash as the WSJ says they do, it may not be the last time.
Although Sprint and T-Mobile could use each other to help bring the fight to AT&T and Verizon, I would be kind of surprised to the number three and four carriers come together. T-Mobile seems pretty invested in their HSPA+ network upgrades and, if they were to invest in WiMAX, their hot new HSPA+ phones would become kind of obsolete. It would, however, allow them to immediately have a 4G network available to some of its customers, so maybe the idea isn't so far-fetched. What do you think, readers? Will we soon be hearing about SprinT-Mobile?
source: http://www.phonedog.com/2010/09/03/rumor-sprint-and-t-mobile-may-team-up-to-complete-4g-network/
I'll believe it when I see it. Number three and number four? I agree with T being four in terms of network Sprint is #2 behind Verizon last I heard.
auau465121 said:
On paper, Sprint and T-Mobile seem like complete opposites: Sprint has 4G, T-Mobile has "4G speeds" with HSPA+; Sprint is CDMA, T-Mobile is GSM; Sprint is yellow, T-Mobile is magenta. Ok, maybe that last one is a bit of a stretch, but you get the point. Despite the glaring differences, a rumor has surfaced today stating that the two carriers may soon be in cahoots to finish building out Sprint's 4G network. Three people "familiar with the situation" have spoken to the Wall Street Journal, saying that Sprint's board of directors is considering allowing T-Mobile to invest in Clearwire, the company that is aiding Sprint with their WiMAX network (Sprint also owns 54 percent of Clearwire). Clearwire currently needs billions of dollars to finished expanding its 4G network, the WSJ says, and it needs to figure out if it will continue to soldier on alone or get some financial aid from T-Mobile. This isn't the first time we've heard the possibility of Sprint and T-Mobile teaming up and, if Clearwire and Sprint need as much cash as the WSJ says they do, it may not be the last time.
Although Sprint and T-Mobile could use each other to help bring the fight to AT&T and Verizon, I would be kind of surprised to the number three and four carriers come together. T-Mobile seems pretty invested in their HSPA+ network upgrades and, if they were to invest in WiMAX, their hot new HSPA+ phones would become kind of obsolete. It would, however, allow them to immediately have a 4G network available to some of its customers, so maybe the idea isn't so far-fetched. What do you think, readers? Will we soon be hearing about SprinT-Mobile?
source: http://www.phonedog.com/2010/09/03/rumor-sprint-and-t-mobile-may-team-up-to-complete-4g-network/
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Last I read, Sprint is moving forward with LTE purchases. That opens talks again with T.
T will not move to wimax.
Bielinsk said:
Last I read, Sprint is moving forward with LTE purchases. That opens talks again with T.
T will not move to wimax.
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I heard that too... but HSPA+ is not LTE and neither are technically 4G. i dont really consider wimax to to be 4G either thou.
"An IMT-Advanced cellular system must have target peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access, according to the ITU requirements. Scalable bandwidths up to at least 40 MHz should be provided."
I dont want a merger lol less competition equals more money from my pockets. There is plenty of competition right now though among the monthly plan companies keeping things low I guess.
Also it sounds like T-Mobile would be paying Sprint to help build 4G and T-Mobile would get in reward to use 4G. So... now we gotta share with T-Mobile. Also I bet if we start sharing we get capped. I mean currently 4G is uncapped mostly because there arnt a huge network of people using all of its resources.
twilk73 said:
I dont want a merger lol less competition equals more money from my pockets. There is plenty of competition right now though among the monthly plan companies keeping things low I guess.
Also it sounds like T-Mobile would be paying Sprint to help build 4G and T-Mobile would get in reward to use 4G. So... now we gotta share with T-Mobile. Also I bet if we start sharing we get capped. I mean currently 4G is uncapped mostly because there arnt a huge network of people using all of its resources.
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Not quite. The reason there aren't any worries with WiMax is because of the huge amounts of bandwidth Clearwire and Sprint have access to. The bandwidth combined with the shorter range of towers means that the network can handle a lot of people using the network at any given time. T-mobile is small enough, it shouldn't make a big enough difference. The bandwidth part won't change if they ever convert to LTE, so Clear and Sprint have the advantage right now due to having the only functioning 4G capable network and the ability to upgrade that network relatively effortlessly, and still have enough bandwidth to beat Verizon/everyone else.
I actually don't think this is a bad idea. If it would help expedite the expansion of the 4G network then onward and upward I say. For the amount of bandwidth that T-Mo would gain access to it would be a benefit to them. And maybe Sprint could get some pointers from T-Mo on customer service. Sprint has come a long way in that respect since we signed up, but I hear a lot of T customers swear by the service they get. All in all it sounds like it could have a win-win for both companies and the customers. Then again corporate America has an amazing penchant for screwing up what could otherwise be a good thing. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Rumor has been going around for quite some time - today was hardly the first mention of this in the media...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Pierceye said:
I actually don't think this is a bad idea. If it would help expedite the expansion of the 4G network then onward and upward I say. For the amount of bandwidth that T-Mo would gain access to it would be a benefit to them. And maybe Sprint could get some pointers from T-Mo on customer service. Sprint has come a long way in that respect since we signed up, but I hear a lot of T customers swear by the service they get. All in all it sounds like it could have a win-win for both companies and the customers. Then again corporate America has an amazing penchant for screwing up what could otherwise be a good thing. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
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You would be right.my brother had/has nothing but great things to say about tmobile cs.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I wish they would team up so I could get my hands on a G2.
Welp, looks like it's going that way...
http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/15/sprint-evaluating-switch-to-lte-over-the-next-four-to-six-months/
...thing is, there hasn't been any new WiMAX phone announced this year, so either they're relying on riding that EVO and Epic wave to get new WiMAX customers, or maybe they do have something up their sleeve.
In any event, I don't see that many new customers signing up for Wimax, so to LTE Sprint will go. Now what do we do with our Evo at that point?
Other than the shifts but if they give me a choice to choose a new phone I'm in
Sent from my gingerbread evo 4g
It's like sprint is playing the "you can't get mad at me, i'm not touching you" while holding hand in front of face game with all these changes that piss everybody off without letting them go etf-free
Oh, they would have to provide us with a LTE phone if they do switch. At least offer us a pretty hefty discount. Otherwise, I see a huge class-action lawsuit headed over their way. I'd love for this switch to happen. WiMax is just not cutting it.
From the user comments of the linked article:
They're still going to roll out WiMax and then just add LTE functionality later on. Again, It's just a baseband card swap and a software upgrade. The phones would probably use a dual-mode WiMax/LTE chip (like the one introduced last year by Beceem). Sprint did a pretty good job of future-proofing their network and WiMax was a better/cheaper choice for "4G"... Verizon was having some major 3G/4G handoff issues in mid-December and there's still no word of that being resolved. That's a major issue for Big Red and could slow or kill LTE adoption (imagine having to either wait about 2 minutes or even having to reboot your phone whenever you go from 4G back to 3G). I'm not even getting into AT&T and Verizon's LTE spectrum limitations.
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m4rk0358 said:
From the user comments of the linked article: They're still going to roll out WiMax and then just add LTE functionality later on. Again, It's just a baseband card swap and a software upgrade. The phones would probably use a dual-mode WiMax/LTE chip (like the one introduced last year by Beceem). Sprint did a pretty good job of future-proofing their network and WiMax was a better/cheaper choice for "4G"... Verizon was having some major 3G/4G handoff issues in mid-December and there's still no word of that being resolved. That's a major issue for Big Red and could slow or kill LTE adoption (imagine having to either wait about 2 minutes or even having to reboot your phone whenever you go from 4G back to 3G). I'm not even getting into AT&T and Verizon's LTE spectrum limitations.
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But they would eventually have to actually flip the switch to LTE.. would they not have to pick one or the other?
As long as I got a huge discount on an LTE phone, I'd be okay with this. I like WiMAX, but for the dev community, LTE is going to be way better.
akarol said:
Oh, they would have to provide us with a LTE phone if they do switch. At least offer us a pretty hefty discount. Otherwise, I see a huge class-action lawsuit headed over their way. I'd love for this switch to happen. WiMax is just not cutting it.
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They're facing this scenario now, if they turn off the iDen network to use LTE. Some speculate that Sprint will lose a lot of money on this, but all they have to do is sell the spectrum that wimax is on now. T-Mobile would buy it...
AbsolutZeroGI said:
As long as I got a huge discount on an LTE phone, I'd be okay with this. I like WiMAX, but for the dev community, LTE is going to be way better.
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I'm also curious about the stuff I've been reading recently regarding how tightly controlled LTE access can be by carrier. Presumably the same restrictions would apply when tethering?
they will have pry my evo from my cold dead hands....
cyanogen/evervol-acies flavored gingerbread
drbadass said:
But they would eventually have to actually flip the switch to LTE.. would they not have to pick one or the other?
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Not really cause Wimaxx is just another channel or frequency. I mean they still have 2G/3G and now 4G, LTE will just be another channel that they will be able to accomidate
I say the only reason why the would make that switch is to keep up or ahead with the other carriers, t-mobile, att, Verizon so why not make the switch everyone gsm and running on sim chips mmm nice different phones on different networks sounds fun
Sent from my PC36100-EVO-using Tapatalk
drbadass said:
I'm also curious about the stuff I've been reading recently regarding how tightly controlled LTE access can be by carrier. Presumably the same restrictions would apply when tethering?
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This is what scares me. I know LTE is faster than wimax. (Job I work at sells both Wimax capable cards and LTE broadband cards now and I have installed both on computers, and speedtest wise, LTE was pulling 15 down and 1.5 up. Wimax in our area usually does 5-7 down, and 1 up.
But I don't want Sprint to be able to decide that what I do with the data access I am provided isn't what they think I should. The fact they can block sites, charge rates for sites, and so forth is very bothersome. It is the same crap certain ISP carries are looking to do.
It is this reason (among data caps) that I decided not to wait for the LTE thunderstorm phone(or w/e its called, im kinda tired ) and go with verizon over sprint.
I just with their Wimax was better in the Cincinnati, OH area than it currently is. Map shows I should have 4G outside everywhere but my backyard. And I barely get it in my front lawn where I should have a perfect signal.
Does anyone have a link to the story of how carriers can control access to the web using LTE. I read it but don't remember where. This is very disturbing that the carriers will have this much power over our web viewing habits
Don't worry fellow evonauts, they (probably) won't block your fetish adult entertainment.
But seriously, better speeds would be awesome, better coverage would be great but the capability to throttle or block what i want to do with my "unlimited" connection is unacceptable.
Here's some things to remember before anyone gets up in arms over this:
1. Between the Sprint, Clear, Comcast, and Time Warner brands there are millions of users on the Clearwire WiMax network, many of whom are in contracts based on WiMax devices or services. They're not going to just flip a switch in a few months and suddenly none of us have 4G anymore. I would not expect to see much further WiMax development beyond what's known about at the time of any LTE announcement, but by the time the WiMax network goes dead anyone posting here will have moved on to a newer phone.
2. There's no reason at all that this would need to be done as an on/off type switch. They install the hardware bits needed for LTE, then switch channels of their available spectrum over as dictated by utilization. AT&T's migration from TDMA to GSM after the Cingular buyout took years to complete.
3. The Evo Shift just came out and the Blackberry Playbook with WiMax has been announced and given a rough street date. Like most of us existing users, these users will likely for the most part be in contracts, meaning if Sprint does anything that significantly impacts the usability of those devices (such as terminating WiMax service) they'll need to either give us cheap/free upgrades to LTE phones or let us out of contract ETF-free.
tl;dr version: LTE is probably coming, since Sprint's rapidly becoming the odd man out in the 4G cell world, but there's no reason for current WiMax users to panic.
edit:
drbadass said:
I'm also curious about the stuff I've been reading recently regarding how tightly controlled LTE access can be by carrier. Presumably the same restrictions would apply when tethering?
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ghodzilla5150 said:
Does anyone have a link to the story of how carriers can control access to the web using LTE. I read it but don't remember where. This is very disturbing that the carriers will have this much power over our web viewing habits
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Any ISP has about the same power. It has nothing to do with the last mile medium and LTE will change nothing about this.
Regarding tethering, there is no way to tell for certain by looking at the data transmitted whether a user is tethering or not when a modern smartphone is involved, since they're capable of doing anything a full PC could do with that data connection. Certain types of data may be suspicious and more likely to have come from a PC, but nothing could be proven to any reasonable standard as long as they have not loaded a "tattler" program in to the OEM ROM to explicitly identify tethering. Assuming a rooted phone, this could be removed and of course would not even be in AOSP-based ROMs.
Good rational post. Thanks.
wolrah said:
Here's some things to remember before anyone gets up in arms over this:
1. Between the Sprint, Clear, Comcast, and Time Warner brands there are millions of users on the Clearwire WiMax network, many of whom are in contracts based on WiMax devices or services. They're not going to just flip a switch in a few months and suddenly none of us have 4G anymore. I would not expect to see much further WiMax development beyond what's known about at the time of any LTE announcement, but by the time the WiMax network goes dead anyone posting here will have moved on to a newer phone.
2. There's no reason at all that this would need to be done as an on/off type switch. They install the hardware bits needed for LTE, then switch channels of their available spectrum over as dictated by utilization. AT&T's migration from TDMA to GSM after the Cingular buyout took years to complete.
3. The Evo Shift just came out and the Blackberry Playbook with WiMax has been announced and given a rough street date. Like most of us existing users, these users will likely for the most part be in contracts, meaning if Sprint does anything that significantly impacts the usability of those devices (such as terminating WiMax service) they'll need to either give us cheap/free upgrades to LTE phones or let us out of contract ETF-free.
tl;dr version: LTE is probably coming, since Sprint's rapidly becoming the odd man out in the 4G cell world, but there's no reason for current WiMax users to panic.
edit:
Any ISP has about the same power. It has nothing to do with the last mile medium and LTE will change nothing about this.
Regarding tethering, there is no way to tell for certain by looking at the data transmitted whether a user is tethering or not when a modern smartphone is involved, since they're capable of doing anything a full PC could do with that data connection. Certain types of data may be suspicious and more likely to have come from a PC, but nothing could be proven to any reasonable standard as long as they have not loaded a "tattler" program in to the OEM ROM to explicitly identify tethering. Assuming a rooted phone, this could be removed and of course would not even be in AOSP-based ROMs.
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Maybe I'm just misunderstanding something but I'm taking this switch from WiMAX to LTE as Sprint just has to change the cards on their ends and send us current WiMAX users a software update and we can use LTE.
rkjg24 said:
Maybe I'm just misunderstanding something but I'm taking this switch from WiMAX to LTE as Sprint just has to change the cards on their ends and send us current WiMAX users a software update and we can use LTE.
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Half right. The Wimax chip in the Evo is straight Wimax...no LTE capability.
Since the wiMax is actually from Clear as far as i know, Sprints choice shouldnt really matter in the long run. WiMax wont disappear so your "old" phone should work, and Sprint actually having its own 4G network means more than likely better battery life and better connection/coverage
I've been a T-Mobile customer for seven or eight years now and have never regretted a moment of it. These people have always gone above and beyond to make me feel like I was worth something to them as a customer and a person. I haven't had to contact them often, but when I did, I always knew I would hang up the phone with a smile on my face. T-Mobile US has one of the best customer service departments in the world in terms of customer satisfaction. If I were planning to commit suicide, I would probably call T-Mobile, since I know they would be able to talk me down.
On the flip side of this is AT&T, with whom I've had some of the worst customer service and just service in general in all of my life. I started out with my first cellular device through Cingular Wireless. I wouldn't say they were the best service (they were far from it), but most of my friends and family were on the network and it was in the early days of the talk for free within the network deals. AT&T came along a few years later and ruined any creditability Cingular Wireless had provided me. When the networks in my area finally were updated to EDGE through AT&T, I immediately began having problems with dropped calls and spastic data rates. Calling to complain about this service garnered me a generic response from them along the lines of "What do you want me to do about it?" The customer should not be the one who suggests that the cellular connection to the tower needs to be reset.
After a full year of waiting out my contract and the remainder of my patience with them, I began searching for an alternative solution. I narrowed down my list to All-Tel and T-Mobile for their outstanding customer service. T-Mobile won me over, since, at the time, I was using my HP iPAQ hw6945 (HTC Sable), and needed a GSM network. Since that day, I have constantly raved about their phenomenal customer service, support and network speed. I was also blown away by their astonishingly competitive pricing.
I am currently paying the same $50 for service that I was when I signed up initially. I have a plan consisting of 1000 minutes a month (unlimited for me), unlimited text, and unlimited data ($30+$10+$10). This data plan also includes tethering for free. I haven't been under a contract with them since the first year I was with them, as it was required. I have never been hassled about updating my terms of service, or anything of the sort. It has been one completely happy ride other than the spotty 3G coverage which has been growing rapidly.
With all of this considered, I must say that I am completely shocked and appalled that the company is being sold off to the only other GSM network in the country with a national footprint: AT&T. Though the transaction isn't completely finalized yet, I see no reason why the FCC would oppose this as the also let Verizon's "Net Neutrality" rules pass, even though they were completely one-sided.
Other than customer service from AT&T (or lack thereof, rather), this also presents yet another problem for the customers of T-Mobile: 4G. We will now be set to move into AT&T's field of using LTE instead of HSPA+ or WiMax for our 4G coverage. For those of you who don't already know, LTE is not the happy trail to the Internet you may think.
The LTE standard was designed with carriers in mind, not consumers. This means that the format allows carriers to control the content they show you. You will begin seeing tiered data plans with access to partial content coming soon as the networks expand. For example, if you decide to get the cheapest data plan, you will not only be limited in maximum data caps, but also certain things like YouTube may be filtered out of your service because you would have to pay extra for it. AT&T and Verizon have already come out and said that this will happen with services like Skype and YouTube. WiMax does none of this as it was intended to be an open format set up with end users in mind. HSPA+ simply doesn't support the concept.
Am I the only one concerned here? I think if this does go through, I'll be booking it over the Sprint. I am not fond of CDMA networks, but it's FAR better than the alternative.
Sources:
Lots of good LTE vs. WiMax links in this thread
AT&T/T-Mobile US acquisition details
AT&T is taking over T- Mobile.
Well said Cajunflavoredbob. I went through similar experiences that you speak of. Like I said in another thread, after AT&T stuck me hard, I vowed never to give them my business again. Now after hearing this news, I will end up eating my own words!
I have the Touch Pro2 (T-mobile brand) and I really like this phone, especially after the modified ROMs here on this site. I have no intention to get another phone. So now I have to wait until this deal gets finalized and then determine if keeping this phone is worth going through the headaches with AT&T all over again.
All plans will be grandfathered. Also better service coverage too, so I don't think it will be so bad. I hope we can use At&t frequency phones on a T-Mobile service.
We have so many threads about this topic.
Androidboy35961 said:
We have so many threads about this topic.
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Care to share which ones? I looked through this forum and hadn't found a single one talking about the acquisition. If I had, then I wouldn't have started this thread. If there are threads about it in other areas of the site, then there isn't much I can do about that as those threads would be in the wrong place. This thread was started to allow open general discussion of the subject. Obviously, if threads you may be referring to are in device specific forums, then not everyone is going to see them.
I don't know much about the world of mergers except I read that this one will take at least 12 months. Is this a done deal? Or is there something sufficiently monopolistic about it that could run into legal troubles?
Jake
jakfish said:
I don't know much about the world of mergers except I read that this one will take at least 12 months. Is this a done deal? Or is there something sufficiently monopolistic about it that could run into legal troubles?
Jake
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The deal could take up to a year to finalize if it is allowed. This acquisition would make AT&T the only nation wide GSM carrier. AT&T is also looking to acquire more radio spectrum from Qualcomm who had those FloTV things for a while that bombed. It still has a lot of red tape to go through, but, honestly, I doubt that it will run into much opposition unfortunately. The other downside to this is that we now know that DT is looking to offload T-Mobile US to the highest bidder. Before this, there was a rumor about Sprint trying to acquire the company. I doubt Sprint can afford the price tag on T-Mobile now that AT&T has set the bar. It is a loose-loose situation for T-Mobile customers. No matter what happens, Big Daddy is still putting up TMoUS for sale. The question now becomes, who will get it in the end?
if this goes through im going to Sprint because i hate AT&T AND dont like the idea of youtube being a premium service on Verizon. but isnt this deal like monopoly. i doubt the US government will allow this too happen without some legal troubles and a lot of money being payed to the government.
The only positive things I can see out of this, are that a) it's a true gsm marriage, which continues to maintain a world flavor to the phone and b) AT&T will have boatload of different bands: 1700, 2100, and whatever AT&T uses. That should free up 4G considerably.
Had T-Mobile and Sprint gotten together, I just can't see the CDMA-GSM thing. What were they going to use, half a sim card?
But I'm old enough to remember the bad AT&T days and can't feel that these will be any better.
Jake
AT&T is not that bad..lol
I have been with T-mobile since the company was Voicestream... Im hurt to see DT sell us out like this I hope google will outbid AT&T because I dont like any of the other cellular providers.
Androidboy35961 said:
AT&T is not that bad..lol
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I am very glad to hear someone speak well of AT&T, because my personal experience has not been good. I am convinced that CFB is dead-on with his assessment about why they purchased T-Mobile (his LTE argument). This is NOT even remotely good for the consumer.
I know only one person who has been happy with Sprint (out of dozens), but they seem to be the least restrictive which may force me to give them another try. But they'll probably have the same indoor reception issues Verizon has - CDMA doesn't penetrate walls as well as GSM does. It's kind of funny: we have two groups of people huddled outside the office doors - smokers and Verizons customers.
FWIW:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03...es-but-will-consumers-see-the-benefit/?hpt=T2
jakfish said:
FWIW:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03...es-but-will-consumers-see-the-benefit/?hpt=T2
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I read that this morning before leaving for work. It doesn't help to ease my tensions about the acquisition.
Given that it's a Republican, hence laissez faire, House, I can't see them stopping this merger, but the initial political chatter is very much against it. That could be nothing more than posturing for constituents, but for AT&T to take over 80% of the mobile market in one fell swoop, politicians are really going to have to look the other way.
They often do, however,
Jake
. The question now becomes said:
Well stated, and an apt analogy! That is as well the conundrum of the new prisoners at the state prison...
ATT will play the part of Bubba perfectly!
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Everybody needs to take a deep, deep breath and calm down. We're a two cellular carrier household; T-Mobile and AT&T. According to T-Mobile at their home page they addressed several questions one being our current devices and plans and they said they will honor them. For many of us who have been with T-Mobile for example were with two other companies in the SE USA - PowerTel and VoiceStream. It was no secret Deutsch TeleComm had been shopping T-Mobile USA around for quite some time and their statement reflects they will be concentrating with their business in the countries of Germany and other European countries. Current trends suggest AT&T has a 50-50 chance at obtaining T-Mobile USA; however their lobby in Washington is strong and there has been no hint from the Obama administration to curtail this merger as other big name mergers have yet to be turned down. There will be stipulations and this will be watched very carefully. Judging my the speed which this has moved in the past two days, much of the legwork prior to announcement seems to had been done well in advance. Whether we like it or not; we're at the whelm of these companies and they are going to do what is in their best interest and we're all along for the ride; we have a choice whether we like it or not, it's whether there are enough of us after the two companies merge.
jakfish said:
Given that it's a Republican, hence laissez faire, House, I can't see them stopping this merger, but the initial political chatter is very much against it. That could be nothing more than posturing for constituents, but for AT&T to take over 80% of the mobile market in one fell swoop, politicians are really going to have to look the other way.
They often do, however,
Jake
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It actually not on the Republicans this time. Democrats are the ones fighting for a nation-wide broadband network. This merger would be the basis for that goal. Our president has outlined this several times before. I would not be surprised in the least if AT&T becomes a monopoly...again. It's not that they would look the other way, it's more about will they allow it to happen to further their goal? I'm all for a national broadband infrastructure, but AT&T is NOT the way to achieve that.
SnittyKitty said:
Everybody needs to take a deep, deep breath and calm down. We're a two cellular carrier household; T-Mobile and AT&T. According to T-Mobile at their home page they addressed several questions one being our current devices and plans and they said they will honor them. For many of us who have been with T-Mobile for example were with two other companies in the SE USA - PowerTel and VoiceStream. It was no secret Deutsch TeleComm had been shopping T-Mobile USA around for quite some time and their statement reflects they will be concentrating with their business in the countries of Germany and other European countries. Current trends suggest AT&T has a 50-50 chance at obtaining T-Mobile USA; however their lobby in Washington is strong and there has been no hint from the Obama administration to curtail this merger as other big name mergers have yet to be turned down. There will be stipulations and this will be watched very carefully. Judging my the speed which this has moved in the past two days, much of the legwork prior to announcement seems to had been done well in advance. Whether we like it or not; we're at the whelm of these companies and they are going to do what is in their best interest and we're all along for the ride; we have a choice whether we like it or not, it's whether there are enough of us after the two companies merge.
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Well, more than anything, this is a financial move for DT. They get a payout no matter what happens. If the merger goes through, they will get an 8% stake in AT&T as well as a DT board member on AT&T's board of directors. Even if the deal falls through by some chance, T-Mobile gets $3 billion, a roaming agreement, and a hefty chunk of spectrum for AT&T, just for doing nothing. Either way, DT wins. No matter what, T-Mobile customers loose.
So with all the U.S. Carriers either severely limiting or capping Data on their phone/tablet plans(only a matter time for sprint too) why all the focus on cloud based services like google music/ iCloud etc. I would think that these 2 are in direct opposition to each other. I am currently on Sprint and enjoying the unlimited data but not holding breath on it staying around forever. I use Google Music and Netflix/Hulu+ as well as Pandora. I have a premium account where possible and have used others in the past like rhapsody and spotify. What incentive do I have to keep using these services if my data is limited. I see very little point to using them if I have to "triage" my data usage based upon priority. For reference I typically use 4-6gb a month on my sprint account and no I don't tether, I have a Time Warner Cable connection at home rated at 30+MBPS.
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The thing is, that technologies like HSPA+ and EV-DO can't handle the amount of data that is pushed through them, that's why Verizon and AT&T are going to LTE, because it CAN handle the amount of data they push now, and more, which is why they give you such high speeds, because it can handle it.
As time progresses, and carriers realize that Unlimited data can easily be offered, they'll switch back to that.
I don't know. I would like to think that way but corporations have repeatedly shown that they will do anything they can to get us to pay more. I don't see them offering unlimited data regardless of the network's capability. It frustrates me to no end to try to get someone on an android phone to use any of the cloud services from drop box to Google docs and music and then realizing they are not on a data plan that allows for what is in my opinion one of the major benefits of the platform.
I own a Nexus S and I think I am one of the very few I have seen or talked to that has no problem with only 16gb storage, the cloud negates the need for a massive memory card but the data limitations on carriers trump that.
I have no illusions of my Sprint plan staying unlimited much longer either and once it is gone I am gonna to adjust my android experience to accomodate and use it in a way that I am forced to, not the way I prefer.
ktt4510 said:
I don't know. I would like to think that way but corporations have repeatedly shown that they will do anything they can to get us to pay more. I don't see them offering unlimited data regardless of the network's capability. It frustrates me to no end to try to get someone on an android phone to use any of the cloud services from drop box to Google docs and music and then realizing they are not on a data plan that allows for what is in my opinion one of the major benefits of the platform.
I own a Nexus S and I think I am one of the very few I have seen or talked to that has no problem with only 16gb storage, the cloud negates the need for a massive memory card but the data limitations on carriers trump that.
I have no illusions of my Sprint plan staying unlimited much longer either and once it is gone I am gonna to adjust my android experience to accomodate and use it in a way that I am forced to, not the way I prefer.
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Just give it time. Eventually the FCC will sue the carriers. That will be a fun day.
Sent from my SGH-I727 using xda premium
Longcat14 said:
The thing is, that technologies like HSPA+ and EV-DO can't handle the amount of data that is pushed through them, that's why Verizon and AT&T are going to LTE, because it CAN handle the amount of data they push now, and more, which is why they give you such high speeds, because it can handle it.
As time progresses, and carriers realize that Unlimited data can easily be offered, they'll switch back to that.
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I disagree. You'll see that Verizon and ATT's data tiers for 3G and 4G phones are the exact same, same price for the same amount of data. However, Verizon is running a limited time promo where 4G customers get twice the data for the same price, eg. $30 for 2gb turns to 4gb. They launched this promo right after ATT launched their first LTE smartphone last month, certainly not a coincidence. Thank goodness for competition!
The main reason is the carriers realize how hooked we are to our smartphones, many of us couldn't go back to a feature-phone and want to take advantage of our addiction by having us pay more and more to keep using them.
Sadly, I think unlimited plans will never come back. One reason tiers have been implemented is because of exploding data demand and capacity and strain issues. But really, the main reason is just pure greed. Why do you think after you pass your monthly allowance, ATT and Verizon charge you for each extra gig instead of throttling your speed like T-Mobile? They want to get you hooked on bandwidth intensive applications like NetFlix and after you go over your allowance, they hope you'll keep ponying up more cash for data overages to continue using your phone.
There was even a public interview recently with a Verizon executive stating he wishes for as many customers as possible to move up from the $30/2gb plan to their higher $50/5gb and $80/10gb plans just to gain increasingly more revenue each quarter.