International Direct Connect Increase

**Mackdad** · 03-12-2012, 12:09 PM

Got a flyer in the mail today. Effective May of 2012 international direct connect add-on will increase from 10 to 15 dollars. So for those that add a new line of service you will be paying 10 for ppt plus 15 for intl ppt. I guess they need the extra money to get the Intl gateway set-up on CDMA eh.

**anex99** · 03-16-2012, 12:03 PM

Also got the flyer...effective may an increase from $10 to $15. Makes no sense...they are already losing customers..isn't raising the price of international DCC hurting the churn rather than helping?

I guess I have no choice but to switch to CDMA now...service in San Diego on iDEN hasn't been as good as it used to (and they haven't even started the decommission of the iDEN cell sites)

**Frito** · 03-16-2012, 03:23 PM

Waiting to hear what they International DC will be in the "new" sprint direct ceonnect. I only use Intl DC as it is cheaper then calling LD and is portable. Once I hear I will switch from iDEN to Sprint DC. Has anyone heard how it will work?? Will I still be able to DC a Nextel In Brazil?

**anex99** · 03-17-2012, 03:59 PM

A buddy of mine sent me this: http://imgur.com/a/qHFY3

International DC will work from US TO Mex, Brasil, Chile, Peru. Unfortunately, IDC will not work when you are in one of those countries since they will not be on CDMA

. Bummer, since I go to Mex all the time. Having Sprint DC still defeats the purpose of a Nextel.

Also, Sprint DCC will support 1xRTT and CDMA Roaming in the coming months according to this.

**Frito** · 03-17-2012, 08:34 PM

Thank you anex99, good info.\

**Mackdad** · 03-20-2012, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Frito

Thank you anex99, good info.\

They are saying PTT will an add on APP for Smartphones that doesn't have it. If it works via wifi then there is the poor mans IDC while traveling. If they charge 15 dollars a month then it will fail. I would say give away for free. Now if they tie it to an intl data package so you can use it while abroad then it might work.

Since I do alot of traveling I have over come this shortfall. For those that have an Iphone or Andriod. You can download Bobsled by Tmo and it allows you to call back to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico for free. As long as you can get wifi where ever in the world you are at. For those places that doesn't have wifi. I use a combination of Google voice, Vonage extension, local prepaid to make free calls back home and abroad. Yes its a PITA but what other choice do I have since my button is being taken away while traveling.

**anex99** · 03-21-2012, 08:30 PM

For iPad/iPhone/ipod...I use "talkatone" it used you google voice account to make and receive calls over wifi. It has a full dialer so it works just like the dialer built in on the phone.

For Android, I use "groove ip" which is the equivalent and uses your google voice number to make and receive calls over wifi.

No monthly fees for any

... Thats how I have my communication when I am out of USA. But its still not as good as having my free IDC working in mexico (with free texting internationally/roaming on iDEN)

Originally Posted by Mackdad

They are saying PTT will an add on APP for Smartphones that doesn't have it. If it works via wifi then there is the poor mans IDC while traveling. If they charge 15 dollars a month then it will fail. I would say give away for free. Now if they tie it to an intl data package so you can use it while abroad then it might work.

Since I do alot of traveling I have over come this shortfall. For those that have an Iphone or Andriod. You can download Bobsled by Tmo and it allows you to call back to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico for free. As long as you can get wifi where ever in the world you are at. For those places that doesn't have wifi. I use a combination of Google voice, Vonage extension, local prepaid to make free calls back home and abroad. Yes its a PITA but what other choice do I have since my button is being taken away while traveling.

**Mackdad** · 03-21-2012, 08:44 PM

Goggle voice doesn't allow free calls to Puerto Rico like Bobsled does.

**threean2** · 04-14-2012, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by anex99

Also got the flyer...effective may an increase from $10 to $15. Makes no sense...they are already losing customers..isn't raising the price of international DCC hurting the churn rather than helping?

I guess I have no choice but to switch to CDMA now...service in San Diego on iDEN hasn't been as good as it used to (and they haven't even started the decommission of the iDEN cell sites)

They're dropping antennas every day ..... know that for a fact ....

Why would your service be getting worse if they weren't

Landlords own the towers. They pay rent to the landlords. When they DE-commission a antenna they no longer pay money to that landlord.

They're ****ing us right now. Wasn't supposed to happen until 2013 well the check is in the mail

**Mackdad** · 04-14-2012, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by threean2

They're dropping antennas every day ..... know that for a fact ....

Why would your service be getting worse if they weren't

Landlords own the towers. They pay rent to the landlords. When they DE-commission a antenna they no longer pay money to that landlord.

They're ****ing us right now. Wasn't supposed to happen until 2013 well the check is in the mail

The only reason I think they are raising the price for the service is. It will be like a international unlimited data add-on for the Direct connect application. So when you travel outside the country and if you have data roaming, you can PTT back to the USA. If this was going to be the case then I would think the add on would be worth it if worked in all countries. In essence the PTT foot print would be over 100 countries.
If they did this above I would stay, but knowing how Sprint do things they probably are not thinking outside the box.

**xchpstang** · 04-16-2012, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by Mackdad

The only reason I think they are raising the price for the service is. It will be like a international unlimited data add-on for the Direct connect application. So when you travel outside the country and if you have data roaming, you can PTT back to the USA. If this was going to be the case then I would think the add on would be worth it if worked in all countries. In essence the PTT foot print would be over 100 countries.
If they did this above I would stay, but knowing how Sprint do things they probably are not thinking outside the box.

There's no reason why they aren't able to do it. Develop a Sprint DC world phone with HSPA or HSPA+ and then run Sprint DC over that when outside of the US. Not sure why they couldn't negotiate a decent agreement for data roaming strictly for PTT traffic and strictly in the countries where NII has a presence. Nextel Peru already has a HSPA network and eventually Nextel Mexico will so the solution isn't that complicated.

**threean2** · 04-17-2012, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Mackdad

The only reason I think they are raising the price for the service is. It will be like a international unlimited data add-on for the Direct connect application. So when you travel outside the country and if you have data roaming, you can PTT back to the USA. If this was going to be the case then I would think the add on would be worth it if worked in all countries. In essence the PTT foot print would be over 100 countries.
If they did this above I would stay, but knowing how Sprint do things they probably are not thinking outside the box.

It'll **** up ....... Sprint is a **** up ..... 18 months ago they started converting the iDen voice mail to the Sprint digital frequencies and then back to your iDen phone. That crippled voice mail right there. Face it pal ..... iden is on it's way out and it's already started. They don't own many towers, they're renting space from landlords. They've been DE-commissioning antenna sites and this is destroying your service right now.

So .... Sprint is not paying out as much for their antenna presence but still charging their customers as much as before or even more. Do you know they are still selling nextel plans and phones ..... incredible!

Sprint sucks

**lsutigers** · 04-30-2012, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by threean2

It'll **** up ....... Sprint is a **** up ..... 18 months ago they started converting the iDen voice mail to the Sprint digital frequencies and then back to your iDen phone. That crippled voice mail right there. Face it pal ..... iden is on it's way out and it's already started. They don't own many towers, they're renting space from landlords. They've been DE-commissioning antenna sites and this is destroying your service right now.

So .... Sprint is not paying out as much for their antenna presence but still charging their customers as much as before or even more. Do you know they are still selling nextel plans and phones ..... incredible!

Sprint sucks

It sounds like you need to face it, iDEN is done, and rightfully so, while it was great t one point, it no longer serves the needs of most. Sprint is doing everything, cost permitting and rational, to keep Nextel customers and offer a similar experience to NDC. Sprint Direct Connect is just that, NDC customers wanted data rich fetures and this is it. Sprint is not screwing anybody, they have sent numerous communications to their customers advising of the Nextel de-commissioning and Network Vision / Sprint Direct Connect upgrades. You cant make everyone happy.

**Cabo Villa** · 05-21-2012, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by threean2

They're dropping antennas every day ..... know that for a fact ....

Why would your service be getting worse if they weren't

Landlords own the towers. They pay rent to the landlords. When they DE-commission a antenna they no longer pay money to that landlord.

They're ****ing us right now. Wasn't supposed to happen until 2013 well the check is in the mail

Do you know what Sprint is doing with all this equipment?
Are they selling them to Latinamerican iDEN operators?

**rafster** · 05-21-2012, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by lsutigers

It sounds like you need to face it, iDEN is done, and rightfully so, while it was great t one point, it no longer serves the needs of most. Sprint is doing everything, cost permitting and rational, to keep Nextel customers and offer a similar experience to NDC. Sprint Direct Connect is just that, NDC customers wanted data rich fetures and this is it. Sprint is not screwing anybody, they have sent numerous communications to their customers advising of the Nextel de-commissioning and Network Vision / Sprint Direct Connect upgrades. You cant make everyone happy.

Yeah, the only thing is now for us that visit Baja (for example) will have to pay for data and DC usage while down there (most likely) I don't see sprint letting us use even 1X data free while down in Baja.... even though NDC uses data... so maybe....