T-Mobile is deploying 1900MHz HSPA/4G

[terryjohnson16]

Not gonna happen. I have posted numerous times that T-Mobile has only 20 MHz of PCS spectrum in New York. T-Mobile is not likely to "refarm" 10 MHz of that spectrum for W-CDMA 1900 anytime soon. Such would leave GSM 1900 with only 10 MHz bandwidth (e.g. only ~2 channels per sector in a fully loaded cluster). Furthermore, T-Mobile has 30 MHz of AWS spectrum in New York, and that is already enough spectrum for fully three W-CDMA 2100+1700 carrier channels.

AJ

Wishful thinking. I am surprised they didn't announce hspa+ 84 at CES. Maybe they waiting for the February report.

They take the longest just to report their quarterly numbers, even with the lowest amount of subscribers vs the big three.

[Guest 214]

Wishful thinking. I am surprised they didn't announce hspa+ 84 at CES. Maybe they waiting for the February report.

They take the longest just to report their quarterly numbers, even with the lowest amount of subscribers vs the big three.

I think they are trying to come up with a plan now that the merger has failed..

[DRNewcomb]

Not gonna happen.....

You took the words right out of my mouth. A major metro market running on only 20 MHz of PCS is not going to convert 10 MHz to WCDMA until 95% of phones in service can use it.

[WiWavelength]

I am surprised they didn't announce hspa+ 84 at CES. Maybe they waiting for the February report.

Not really surprising. One, as far as I know, no HSPA+ 84 (Release 10) equipment currently exists. Two, unless T-Mobile were to employ MIMO, which it has avoided thus far, T-Mobile would require four W-CDMA carrier channels (40 MHz bandwidth) to deploy Quad Carrier HSPA+ 84. And if T-Mobile were to have that much spectrum available, then it could just as easily deploy LTE.

So, I do not expect HSPA+ 84 to be a big part of T-Mobile's evolution. HSPA+ 42 is plenty fast. In fact, one could argue that it is already too fast. The peak data speed "specsmanship" is really getting out of control. Very few (who are not violating their ToS) actually need greater than 2-3 Mbps downlink from a cellular network.

AJ

[terryjohnson16]

I think they are trying to come up with a plan now that the merger has failed..

But they should have had a plan b just in case. Stupid management.

[Kies]

T-Mobile will have to go MIMO or seriously expand the HSPA 42Mbps network to make up for it.

no network announcements were done at CES (and the network itself) because they were not prepared for it, network announcements are coming this month though.

[terryjohnson16]

Not really surprising. One, as far as I know, no HSPA+ 84 (Release 10) equipment currently exists. Two, unless T-Mobile were to employ MIMO, which it has avoided thus far, T-Mobile would require four W-CDMA carrier channels (40 MHz bandwidth) to deploy Quad Carrier HSPA+ 84. And if T-Mobile were to have that much spectrum available, then it could just as easily deploy LTE.

So, I do not expect HSPA+ 84 to be a big part of T-Mobile's evolution. HSPA+ 42 is plenty fast. In fact, one could argue that it is already too fast. The peak data speed "specsmanship" is really getting out of control. Very few (who are not violating their ToS) actually need greater than 2-3 Mbps downlink from a cellular network.

AJ

Crazy thing is that they don't have the back haul to match the theoretical download speeds. Even with 42 in many markets, the customers see speeds of up to ~10Mbps down on one or two towers, but cap at speeds near 5 on others within the same radius. IMO that's absurd.

If you trying to give customers a real reason to proudly say I am on TMOBILE and our 3G speeds rival LTE, make sure the towers are equipt with enough T1s, DS3 lines or something that won't piss the customer off.

I test the type of connection on my Gs2 and I have only hit 21 down once or twice. It's in my sig. That's the last time I saw those speeds here in NYC.

Some towers are 42 equipt but give off GPRS speeds. My phone shows HSDPA 0, HSUPA 1, DC_Hspa+ 1, when typing *#0011#.

I would love to see speeds similar to Verizon LTE here in NYC. My friends have verizon lte phones and modems and regularly see speeds near 30 to 40mbps and uploads near 10. Jealously kicks in.

At least they adding pcs 1900 hspa in areas with enough pcs spectrum.

[Kies]

Slow speeds are not always indicative of backhaul, really...

[WiWavelength]

I would love to see speeds similar to Verizon LTE here in NYC.

Why? Do you really have pressing need for those speeds? Or would faster data simply allow you to do more mindless things on your handset more quickly?

My friends have verizon lte phones and modems and regularly see speeds near 30 to 40mbps and uploads near 10. Jealously kicks in.

The data speeds of your wireless carrier do not define you as a person.

AJ

[terryjohnson16]

Why? Do you really have pressing need for those speeds? Or would faster data simply allow you to do more mindless things on your handset more quickly?



The data speeds of your wireless carrier do not define you as a person.

AJ

The main reason for me wishing for faster speeds, is because when I stream using my sling box, it buffers a lot and video is occasionally choppy at times.

YouTube as well.

[reuthermonkey]

I would love to see speeds similar to Verizon LTE here in NYC. My friends have verizon lte phones and modems and regularly see speeds near 30 to 40mbps and uploads near 10. Jealously kicks in.

Those 40mbps tests will continue to drop.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5419/c...t-extravaganza

Have a gander at that. You may notice that the average downstream, average upstream, and average latency aren't much better than what many people (for example, me) see commonly on T-Mobile's HSPA+. When you factor in that a *vast* majority of Verizon's data-users are still on EvDO (and thus aren't even using LTE) for one reason or another, and that just about *ALL* of T-Mobile's users are accessing their HSDPA/HSPA+ network, it's quite clear that Verizon's speeds will indeed average out to speeds that HSPA+ can and does match.

Wireless networks are no different than pre-DOCSIS cable networks. When you use a shared medium with no speed caps, you initially have access to all of the bandwidth since you aren't competing with anyone else for access. But as soon as you begin sharing the medium with other users, your speeds will be split evenly between all users. Comparing T-Mobile's HSPA+ network to ATT or Verizon's LTE networks (at this point) is like comparing car speeds in downtown Boston to car speeds in Montana. The speeds will inevitably be slower because there is a lot more traffic in one vs the other.

[ilvla2]

True, but the large majority of T-Mobile's network (I'm talking land here, not population) is still GPRS and EDGE, so for all the "biggest, baddest" commercials and their hoopla, that fact remains. They "say" they will change that, we'll see I guess.

[terryjohnson16]

Those 40mbps tests will continue to drop.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5419/c...t-extravaganza

Have a gander at that. You may notice that the average downstream, average upstream, and average latency aren't much better than what many people (for example, me) see commonly on T-Mobile's HSPA+. When you factor in that a *vast* majority of Verizon's data-users are still on EvDO (and thus aren't even using LTE) for one reason or another, and that just about *ALL* of T-Mobile's users are accessing their HSDPA/HSPA+ network, it's quite clear that Verizon's speeds will indeed average out to speeds that HSPA+ can and does match.

Wireless networks are no different than pre-DOCSIS cable networks. When you use a shared medium with no speed caps, you initially have access to all of the bandwidth since you aren't competing with anyone else for access. But as soon as you begin sharing the medium with other users, your speeds will be split evenly between all users. Comparing T-Mobile's HSPA+ network to ATT or Verizon's LTE networks (at this point) is like comparing car speeds in downtown Boston to car speeds in Montana. The speeds will inevitably be slower because there is a lot more traffic in one vs the other.

Yeah. A good amount of tmobile customers are on 3g. It will be interesting to see what they do for coverage, speeds and network build out this year.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using HowardForums

[Antenna]

While I am personally happy with my T-Mobile service, T-Mobile does need faster HSPA+, more HSPA+ coverage, and an upgrade path for LTE by 2014.

If T-Mobile does not commit to LTE, they will be stuck with back-water, low end, android phones. Switch to LTE and they too, can join the iphone 5 party with the VZW AWS LTE phones.

After a disappointing year and failed merger, T-Mobile should be working on something to keep their customers satisfied, unless they want to keep watching postpaid subscribers leave.

[reuthermonkey]

While I am personally happy with my T-Mobile service, T-Mobile does need faster HSPA+, more HSPA+ coverage, and an upgrade path for LTE by 2014.

agreed.

If T-Mobile does not commit to LTE, they will be stuck with back-water, low end, android phones. Switch to LTE and they too, can join the iphone 5 party with the VZW AWS LTE phones.

Now that's just silly. HSPA+ is and will remain the dominant data standard for the next 5 years at least. There are a couple of reasons, but the biggest obstacle is simply a lack of spectrum in most European countries. Their auctions keep getting pushed back, and even the countries with successful auctions don't show a strong push for LTE beyond some urban cores. As always, whatever is most popular in Europe is what gets the latest and greatest phones. And that is and will remain HSPA+ for some time. That's by design, in fact. Feel free to read the 3gpp documents yourself, or whitepapers from groups like 3g/4gamericas. Moreover, GSM-track LTE devices will have HSPA+ included by default for voice and for data fallback. So you can get an LTE phone that has HSPA+ support. They are not mutually exclusive. To the contrary. Any GSM-Track LTE phone *must* include UMTS/HSPA of some sort until VoIP is deployed on LTE (which won't be for another year or so).

CDMA networks are obviously pushing for LTE deployment because they need it to stay competitive, but most GSM-track companies are sticking with HSDPA/HSPA+ for a while, which means that for the next few years HSPA+ will continue seeing the latest and greatest phones. And as pentaband support becomes more prevalent, more phones (like the Galaxy Nexus) will include support for TMO USA HSPA+ out of the box.

After a disappointing year and failed merger, T-Mobile should be working on something to keep their customers satisfied, unless they want to keep watching postpaid subscribers leave.

TBH I think they had a pretty good year, considering it was plastered all over the news that they were getting bought out and that everyone should flee TMO.