quote:

Originally posted by Cousin Vinnie:
Sprint and T-Mobile are 2 sub standard companies that will be one big looser....Their coverage blows, their prices suck and I would never be their customer. I am a Verizon customer.....a little more expensive, but superior coverage and product offerings.

How would you know, if you have not been a recent customer of either Sprint or T-Mobile?

quote:

their prices suck and I would never be their customer. I am a Verizon customer.....a little more expensive

Their prices suck yet Verizon costs more?

Ive been with Tmo for 12 years. Coverage in Texas is excellent. I dont lose signal even when im hours from the nearest town, on an island, in the middle of a lake.

100% unlimited plan, free netflix, 4 lines and all for 130$ a month. (5$ a line monthly discount for auto pay) I hope this merger doesnt change them for the worse.

Word on the street is this is 50/50 at whether this gets approved by the gubbermint.

quote:

Originally posted by Jaywendland1981:

quote:

their prices suck and I would never be their customer. I am a Verizon customer.....a little more expensive

Their prices suck yet Verizon costs more?

Yeah, that made no sense at all.

We've been with TMO for about five years. With current phones that support their newer bands we've rarely been without service. And, as I wrote earlier: Vacationing in Europe has been a seamless mobile transition.

If SoftBank will not be the controlling company, then I'd be somewhat less concerned about the merger. But don't expect any big coverage boosts. Last I knew they largely overlapped.

They collectively have 110000 sites, out of which they are planning on decom'ing 35000 and building 10000. So at the end of the day they will have more than either Sprint or TMO have separately.

As long as TMO is running it I am confident as a customer though not as a vendor.

I would rather work for Sprint as a vendor

T-mobile doesn't even exist where I am.

Well, shit. I'm just now paying off a Samsung Galaxy S7 and I've been using Sprint. Does this mean I'll have to either switch to Verizon or buy a new phone? My usage doesn't push any of the limits of whatever service I have now and I've been happy with my local coverage, so I'm in not excited about having to change anything.

Nothings been approved yet. You'll have plenty of time before any approval happens and a plan is put in place as to how to merge the networks. Plus they will be deploying their 5G network in a year or so. You should be able to wait until new 5G phones come out and then upgrade to a phone that will be compatible with the new, faster network.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
Well, shit. I'm just now paying off a Samsung Galaxy S7 and I've been using Sprint. Does this mean I'll have to either switch to Verizon or buy a new phone?

Not unless, like me, you keep your phones well beyond their normal usable lifespan--and even then only if the deal passes regulatory muster.

I really wouldn't sweat it just yet. Those of us expressing concern are expressing concern about the long-term effects on TMO. Far longer-term than the average lifetime of the average mobile device.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
Well, shit. I'm just now paying off a Samsung Galaxy S7 and I've been using Sprint. Does this mean I'll have to either switch to Verizon or buy a new phone?

Not unless, like me, you keep your phones well beyond their normal usable lifespan--and even then only if the deal passes regulatory muster.

I really wouldn't sweat it just yet. Those of us expressing concern are expressing concern about the long-term effects on TMO. Far longer-term than the average lifetime of the average mobile device.

This is my first smartphone, I didn't know anything about them when I bought it, and almost immediately I regretted letting the guy talk me into the more expensive (and bigger!) one. I'd actually prefer one with a smaller footprint, but I'm just paying this one off and the last thing I want to do is shell out another $500-1000 for a replacement when there's nothing wrong with what I have. This whole planned obsolescence thing really pisses me off. If they tell me I have to buy another expensive one now, I'll tell them to go F themselves and switch back to a flip phone. Screw texting and internet, I don't need it that bad.
<rant off>

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
This is my first smartphone, ... I'd actually prefer one with a smaller footprint,

Yeah... They don't get a whole lot smaller than that, these days. The trend has been toward bigger-and-bigger mobiles for years.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
This whole planned obsolescence thing really pisses me off.

That's one of the reasons we switched to Apple. My 6S' battery is at 85% of its original capacity. When it drops to around 75-80% I'll just take it to the store and have a new one installed for $80. ($30 if that happens before Jan. 1, 2019. In fact I may do it early, just to save the $50.)

Samsung was one of the last holdouts having user-replaceable batteries. Now even they are abandoning it.

Figure two-three years before your battery performance becomes so bad you'll want to replace the device.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
If they tell me I have to buy another expensive one now, ...

Like I said: Don't worry about it. Even if the proposed merger is blessed by the regulators: It'll take time for it to actually happen, and a lot of time for the effects to start being seen.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
I'll tell them to go F themselves and switch back to a flip phone.

Yeah... good luck with that. Those are becoming increasingly rare. Last time I looked for a flip phone for one of the people on the plan I administered we had a hell of a time finding one that was acceptable.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
Screw texting and internet, I don't need it that bad.
<rant off>

Stop using those things now, then, because I'll warn you: Once you start actually using a smartphone you'll find more-and-more things for which to use it. Eventually it's original purpose, that of being a phone, will become almost secondary.

I use my mobile "phone" for:

• Phone
  
• Address book
  
• Alarm clock & "nap timer"
  
• Calculator
  
• Calendar/appointments
  
• Camera
  
• E-book reader
  
• Encrypted keyring
  
• E-wallet (Apple Pay)
  
• Foreign language dictionaries/language learning
  
• Navigation
  
• Notes/ToDo list
  
• Security system monitoring/control
  
• Streaming media
  
• Texting
  
• Video surveillance system monitoring/control
  
• Weather
  
• Web browser
  
• Miscellaneous other stuff
  

Between my phone and my tablet, and with a keyboard for the tablet, there's really not much I cannot do that I would otherwise do on a laptop or desktop. E.g.: Just spent a bit over a week in Europe with nothing more than those two. Not a problem in the least.

Even if they merge they will have to meep both GSM and CDMA alive for voice for at least 18mo for E911 compliance besides the fact that redoing a network plus rolling out 5G will take 3-4 years.

Most carrier adds my team ever did in one year was 24000.....and my team only managed the technical aspect, this kind of build requires resource numbers that do not currently exist.

Nationally there are 22-27k tower climbers....we need 70k for the next 18mo and that is without the merger.

Lots of things to do if it goes through before they harvest spectrum and shut off phones and if it get to the point that a few CDMA phones owners get in the way....you will get new phones deeply discounted or more than likely free.