For all you folks complaining about AT&T capping your download speeds, it appears it's only going to get worse. The federal government so far has not made any progress toward getting additional spectrum available, forcing carriers to make do with what they've got. As the article in the link below notes, "Ultimately, carriers will have to get more creative about how they use their existing spectrum, which will likely result in stricter caps on usage. Consumers who use more data will likely be charged higher prices for that data."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57379526-266/how-politics-inflame-the-spectrum-crisis/?tag=nl.e404
In the short run, you might jump to another carrier, but in the long run, it could get worse for everyone. Lightsquare has been effectively stopped (for now) from building a new wireless network because of the potential for interfering with GPS signals. AT&T has been stopped from acquiring T-Mobile which would have given AT&T more spectrum.
So, as bad as things seem now, this may be the best that they will be.
PS: Also see this article:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...-suffer/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
The FCC really needs to figure out how they are going to auction off the spectrum. Also, the whole ATT/T-mobile merger should have gone through. ATT is the only company that is compatible with T-mobile's equipment and can afford them.
rft3ch said:
The FCC really needs to figure out how they are going to auction off the spectrum. Also, the whole ATT/T-mobile merger should have gone through. ATT is the only company that is compatible with T-mobile's equipment and can afford them.
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it was cited that the decrees in competition would hurt every one and the loss of high paying jobs was to great
Aww that's bull does the fed gov have contract with Verizon or somethin? Coz a merger like that would surely put them out of commission
Sent from my HTC Raider X710e using xda premium
Cingular. Aka ma bell was broken up before for having a monopoly. Monopolies are bad for consumers, if any of you have graduated high school you should know this. Cingular has thus bought all tel, at&t, and now wants t-mobile. Creating another monopoly would not net us any better prices.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
Verizon bought alltel
So your saying Verizon is At&ts only competition ??? Lol
Sent from my HTC Raider X710e using xda premium
colonel187 said:
Cingular. Aka ma bell was broken up before for having a monopoly. Monopolies are bad for consumers, if any of you have graduated high school you should know this. Cingular has thus bought all tel, at&t, and now wants t-mobile. Creating another monopoly would not net us any better prices.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
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Cingular was not Ma Bell, it was a seperate company that purchased the failing wireless portion of At&t. Which was then purchased back by att, which wad really a rebranded SBC
Also Verizon purchased Alltel.
Good story though.
Sent from my HTC Raider X710e using xda premium
How does the merger or buy out of T-Mobile from AT&T help the consumer in any sense? Less companies out there competing, the higher your prices are gonna be, simple as that. If verizon goes, all those consumers have to go somewhere....
PakAttack1994 said:
How does the merger or buy out of T-Mobile from AT&T help the consumer in any sense? Less companies out there competing, the higher your prices are gonna be, simple as that. If verizon goes, all those consumers have to go somewhere....
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One reason AT&T wanted to buy T-Mobile was to use its network to more rapidly expand its LTE network. Also, the two systems are compatible in some ways, making a transition easier.
As to competition as a way hold down prices, the major carriers (AT&T and Versizon) already control most of the market with T-Mobile and Sprint dividing a much smaller portion. Price comparisons I've seen usuaally show Verizon higher than AT&T for similar plans.
The main point I was making in the original post was that prices are likely to rise for all carriers in the long run as demand increases faster than the ability of the government and the carriers to provide adequate spectrum. The main concern should not be how many carriers there are, but whether the carriers (2 or 20) can meet the growing demand for high-speed services.
You got me about all tel, its another company I can't quite get off the tip of my tongue. Anyway.
Yes Verizon is the only real completion at&t has, tmo and sprint are too small. AT&T wireless was formed by by AT&T
AT&T wireless was doing so well they split into their own company. Sbc acquired Cingular which. At&t & Cingular were the two major companies in competition with Verizon but norther had the customer base alone to match Verizon.
Cingular bought at&t wireless and sbc bought at&t landline. Owning the rights to the name now Cingular and sbc changed their name to at&t thus gaining the same or a little more customers over Verizon. Sbc and at&t came to be when ma bell was forced to split due to monopoly.
Gobbling up the missing prices of ma bell and some small stragglers is creating another monopoly.
Just like the cable companies in many areas. There is only one and they raise there prices almost every other month. Only competition its satellite that forces you to sign contacts.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
This is why I'm glad the Tmobile merger was stopped or else things would've only gotten worse. The Government actually needs to break up Verizon and AT&T now since they are too big as it is and doing price fixing with each other.
NIKKG said:
This is why I'm glad the Tmobile merger was stopped or else things would've only gotten worse. The Government actually needs to break up Verizon and AT&T now since they are too big as it is and doing price fixing with each other.
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However, that does not really address the basic issue here -- as data usage grows with more people using more wireless devices, the available spectrum/band-width (as it exists now) probably will not be able to keep up with the demand.
Economics 101: when demand exceeds supply, prices go up. Increasing the number of companies selling wireless service will not necessarily increase the amount of bandwidth available.
My point, is that the government, which ultimately controls wireless frequencies, has not acted in a timely manner to address the issue (with the exception of stopping a company that wanted to add more bandwidth).
..
Very interesting article
Australia is just as bad with a lazy government. This NBN (National Broadband Network) appears to be nothing more than a spin from the Labor government, which can be an example of people who use lots of data suffering at the hands of lazy morons who really have no excuse for it.
---------- Post added at 02:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:31 PM ----------
I feel sorry for those on AT&T's old unlimited plan who are getting throttled.
Capping plans appears to only benefit the carrier as they make millions off those who go over the capped amount.
I used 2GB in a two days on Telstra's 4G network.
So AT&T tries to buy T-mobile for $35 BILLION, but cant afford to upgrade their network. What a bunch of ****.
How can I see if Im getting throttled? I can do a speed test and get a good speed, but browsing is slow.
Telstra is looking to shaping customer when they go over their limit in a couple of months. This was announced last year. As per existing solution it will Text you when you are near the cap. I beleive that once you are capped you can purchase once off topups.
So examples are:
$49 Plan gives 1G for month, with $450 for Voice SMS
$59 gives 1.5G with $550 for Voice (free SMS /MMS)
etc
Once the shapping solution is deployed you can:
1. Not spend any more and manage to how much data you have for the month.
2. Purchase a once off data top up .
$10 = 1 Gig
$20 = 2 Gig
etc
3. Move to a offer that provide more data each month
Once implemented there will no longer be bill shock. You can then choose eactly how much you spend on data.
so when will they do this for home internet.. haha
In Australia Fixed broadband for Telstra has been capped for several years for consumer plans. So no bill shock possible on Fixed data.
As per previous post need to wait a couple more months until this capping is available for Mobiles. Then bill shock will be removed for fixed.
I don't beleive any smart long term techo believes Bill shock generates revenue it just drives loyal customers away, that might choose to use them for the next 30 years.
Related
THIS SUCKS!
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/20/atandt-agrees-to-buy-t-mobile-from-deutsche-telekom/
Welcome to AT&T Wireless...
All I can say is F_*$
I hate AT&T! I used to have both At&t and T-mobile and I left the death star because of their terrible customer service! Now I have to go to Sprint or Verizon..most likely Verizon because of their coverage. However its going to cost me almost Double. Again all I can say is ****!
I just put a 32gb memory card in my HD7, this super sucks.
I was thinking to myself, sh!t! AT&T sucks! I then realized, well the monstrous GSM network would be pretty cool. I just hope they don't mess with the unlimited data plan, or the attractive prices. I use my phone a lot, and unfortunately some of us have to stay on 3G data at all times because we can't all afford home internet for WiFi (where I live it is NOT affordable). I also enjoy my 85 dollar phone bill, a considerable drop from the $120/mo. AT&T or Verizon charge.
sirandrew said:
Welcome to AT&T Wireless...
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I believe it's "AT&T Mobility" **** I have a bad feeling about this.
Luisraul924 said:
I believe it's "AT&T Mobility" **** I have a bad feeling about this.
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LOL - Indeed... there goes my rate plan out the window.
I have been here before.
I was with what was the Original At&t Wireless, they sold out to Cingular, and they sold out again and back to the At&t nameplate. So I was on a great plan and had been on a great plan for many years. At&t started turning off services on my plan. Every time I would call they would just say..."well you are on a legacy plan and we don't support that anymore. You need to sign up for a new plan at twice the cost if you want those features."And I am not talking about major stuff, call forwarding, paging, voice mail, etc. I see this coming again for all of us T-Mobile customers that have been with them for sometime. I was an originally a voicestream customer and now I will switch carriers, most likely to Verizon, if I am going to pay that much for service I will go where I get the best coverage. I know the drawbacks of both but I refuse to ever give At&t another penny after the way they treated me the last time I was a customer. It's sad to see a company that takes care of its customers like T-Mobile not be able to keep up in this Monopolistic world. Just another example of what deregulation has brought to the USA. We will be down to three major carriers with this merger and I will bet it will be two soon. So much for competition and lower prices.
Yeah, this is pretty bad. Hopefully when the deal goes through next year they will let me out of my contract without penalty.
they will if they change your plan. t-mobile has a 3000 minute, unlimtied text and data family plan (limited time only) that's $10 cheaper than their 1500 family plan with the same features....mine kicks in 3/29 for 2 years...if it changes, i leave ETF free.
linky http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/...re-for-Families-3000-Talk-Text-Unlimited-Data
What does this ultimately mean for T-Mobile customers?
Will T-Mobile still keep their branding name?
there will still be t-mobile, but only in the u.k., no more t-mobile usa.
mr8820 said:
there will still be t-mobile, but only in the u.k., no more t-mobile usa.
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This is correct. It'll just be AT&T. I wonder, given Sprint's situation, if Verizon will pick them up as they are using the same cell technology as each other. It would be a massive duopoly. I'm not sure how that would affect the prices, it might drive prices lower faster given that they'll only mainly be looking at each other in terms of "scopin the comp out".
****ing sucks...
LMAO I still dont see what the big deal is aside from prices going up however
i dont see what the big issue is with At&t
aside from capping data and the 4g debacle.
I had them and they were pretty decent to me
Nothing will happen for a year. ATT primarily wants TMO's AWS spectrum and other assorted IP. THEN they'll assimilate everyone
carmeng4evr said:
LMAO I still dont see what the big deal is aside from prices going up however
i dont see what the big issue is with At&t
aside from capping data and the 4g debacle.
I had them and they were pretty decent to me
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Prices going up: If I bought the same services (but still less than what I'm getting from TMo) from AT&T it would cost me an extra $35 a month (from $119 to $154). That's $420 a year. That is a pretty significant difference.
The closest package I could get with both Verizon and Sprint is $188 a month. That's $828 more a year. With less competition, it's significantly more likely that AT&T will raise their prices to Verizon and Sprint's level as opposed to the other way around.
If this deal falls through, how are we supposed to feel about tmobile?
Sent from my 32GB HD7 using Board Express
when I hear the news feel sad........so...there isn't any cheap price anymore guys.
My friend works for T-Mobile as an engineer, he said expect T-Mobile to implement all the changes MUCH sooner than we expect. He said his division is already being broken up & relocated. Some are getting their walking papers. The T-Mobile employees aren't too happy about this either. Also confirmed that older phones like the HD2 will not be supported with 3G capabilities on at&t's network. But even though the deal won't be complete for a few months, they will start making most changes sooner, so the transition will move along smoother. Basically us that love T-Mobile & hate at&t are screwed.
So I wrote this letter to the Analysts, HR, and Regional Information Guy of AT&T because I couldn't find answers elsewhere and the CSR and their supervisors were jerks and could not give me a straight rational answer.
My coworker said that he's been on Tmobile for 8 years and he finally called the CSR and asked if Tmobile could do anything for them regarding lowering their bill and such. Out of loyalty, they gave him the new plan Tmobile has released.
I called AT&T and got a straighforward I could care less if you've stayed with us for 5 years+ and even pushed me to transferring to a cancellation agent. FYI she was a real pain, she kept cutting me off.
Dear Andy Morgan, Marty Richter and AT&T Analysts
I'm writing you this email in regards to recent conversations and changes made to ATT wireless.
First off, I'd like to say that I've been a long time customer of ATT Wireless for over 5 years and I would like to continue to be one however I am not pleased with the way the Customer Service answer their customers and how difficult it is to get straightforward and legitimate answers based on real research and not some opinionated or textbook based answer.
I'm a customer who has a family plan with 4 lines, which on average pays $180/month including regulatory fees for 700minutes, an unlimited data plan, an unlimited family data plan with mobile to mobile. I'm happy with these features however, I feel that the pricing on them is too high, especially with less features.
Competitors such as T-mobile, which has recently been acquired by AT&T offers the same features with more for less. A coworker of mine recently told me that he's on a family plan with unlimited everything for 4 lines at 2x49.99 +2x15= $130 before regulatory fees and roughly $160 after rounding up.
A CSR told me that because we are getting 30$/month unlimited texting with mobile to mobile, it's better than competitors. but if Tmobile offers unlimited talk, it shouldn't matter.
The $20 difference in my bill compared to my coworkers and the features that are offered really doesn't sound fair does it? AT&T Supervisor and CSR response "We don't price match and we do things our way"
I asked about data pricing, and their response was that it was tailored to their customers. I agree that not many people need more than 2GB/month of data, but the pricing for it is $25/month. Tmobile offers unlimited with a 2GB soft cap(reduced speeds post 2GB) for $20 a month, and with they unlimited everything plan, it would be far less. I understand that data is getting expensive especially because of the growing trends of smartphones however with all these supposed "network hauls" shouldn't the pricing lower? According to the NY Times article from a year ago, cellphone data is being used more than minutes and with that, shouldn't these data plans have a fair variety that can compete with competitors rather than charging $15 for 200MB, which isn't enough for most users and $25 for 2GB, which is more than competitors.
Unlimited Family Plan (first two lines):
The first two lines are $49.99/mo. each line, totaling $99.98 per month. Each of the first two lines includes:
Unlimited data: Up to 2 GB of high-speed data (for capable devices), then reduced speeds after that. If you use up your high-speed data, we will automatically reduce your speeds for the rest of your billing cycle—so you can still connect without overages.
Unlimited talk minutes
Unlimited text
New two-year agreement
Need more lines?
Add up to 3 lines.
Get unlimited data and text, plus 500 talk minutes and unlimited nights and weekends (up to 2 GB of full-speed data per line). All this for just $15/mo. per line.
Now, on with Text messaging, according to Engadget, AT&T will be ending the $10 for 1000 text message deal. This was confirmed by an AT&T agent. How is it that you guys could end this messaging plan especially leaving customers to get the unlimited plan? According to a wireless network analysts, the consumers send an average of 664 text messages a month. With that, the average American Teen sends an average of 3339 text messages a month. Shouldn't there be variety? Not everybody text messages, and if the new implementations and pricing are tailored.
I understand that AT&T has more resources as well as more funding and is working on their HSPA+ network and LTE coming this year Q4 and because of that, require more funding to get these networks up. But, how is it that Tmobile, a smaller company can increase the coverage of their HSPA+ network to over 40 locations nationwide already, when our HSPA+ only goes up to half of what Tmobile has. I understand the backhaul as well as the need for capital to expand the network, however the ratio of benefits to price isn't exactly one to one on AT&Ts network. In 2010, a filing by AT&T regarding its SEC filing "On a reported basis, our fourth-quarter 2010 revenues were $31.4 billion, up $653 million from the fourth-quarter 2009 and full-year 2010 revenues were $124.3 billion", $31.8 billion from AT&T Mobility generated roughly 25% of the revenue AT&T made in 2010/ and how much of that revenue is being used to expand the network? Tmobile, a smaller company in the US, generated a revenue of $21.347billion and has yet been able to offer better pricing as well as stronger data networks than AT&T
Verizon, another competitor that has similar pricing to your own is able to get their LTE network to more than half of the nation's population already. The crazy thing is LTE is a GSM based technology and they're on a CDMA based network.
To my understanding, with more money, you could do more things and it'll cost a lot more, but how is it that Tmobile, the smaller company has done more things for its customer with a smaller client base than AT&T and Verizon with a larger client base do more for its customers than AT&T. It doesn't make sense to me.
AT&T supervisors and CSRs have told me that the plans that AT&T offers is tailored to customers and yet they choose to take away choices. One Supervisor said "we can't please everybody" and that's true because you can't, but it's much better to have variety than have no choices at all. Every area has a different need, such as New York vs Montana. The demand for data is higher in one area than the other and the demographics are different.
Rather than catering to a biased statistic with outliers, try to cater to a smaller demographic and you'll see more results.
AT&T CSRs are horrible too as I asked these questions and expected straightforward answers, my previous CSR told me "AT&T can charge whatever we want" and that was most arrogant and honest answer I received all day. This CSR was more than happy to get rid of me and transfer me to a Cancellation rep. So much for mutualistic loyalty and customer care.
The fact that AT&T has bought T-Mobile and decided to do away with customer support exemplifies the need for two separate GSM companies. You guys have no competition and therefore can implement unfair business to your customers.
Give me some answers as to why the prices are so high and why there is less to be offered to the customers. Cater to the customers needs and work with them to benefit their needs, not push a plan hope and hope the majority will do nothing and go along with it. Without the customers, there is no AT&T.
Sincerely, ********, an Angry Customer
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It's not a grammatically correct nor is it a formal letter, but I was too busy being mad and linking citations.
I feel like I should contact the BBB or the FCC. AT&T will further neglect its customers and create plans that are aimed to make money and not to fit the general consumer. They think it tailors to the general consumer, but if they want to tailor to the majority of people, variety should be kept and they should give people the choice to choose what kind of plans that fit them.
I called the company Steel in the Air today to inquire about pricing of towers but they have yet to get back to me.
http://www.steelintheair.com/Municipalities-Building-Your-Own-Cell-Tower.html
According to their website, it costs generally 100-150k to build a tower. And I know there's much more that goes into this, but I don't know how much because AT&T CSR don't have this information in their manuals.
I hope I don't offend any AT&T lovers or AT&T employees but what that CSR said to me today really pisses me off, especially the way the supervisor who said they tailor to the customer.
I'm posting this on XDA because I wanna share with the members my experience with AT&T and reasons why we should boycott them, report them, and overall just dislike them.
I'm stuck on a two year contract with 4 lines, 3 upgradeable and 1 nonupgradeable lines and currently looking for a clause in my contract that will help me get out, because clearly AT&T doesn't care about pleasing their customers.
Um.. your kind of going to be screwed - TMobile is going to be swallowed by AT&T
I'd suggest just switching your provider as soon as your contract is up.
But.. please keep us updated if you get a positive response.
That sucks man. Keep us posted.
File with the FCC. It's the ONLY WAY you will get an answer.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App
Babydoll25 said:
File with the FCC. It's the ONLY WAY you will get an answer.
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+1. (There is a ten char limit, so a simple +1 wont do it seems!)
What??? that seems stupid!!! In the UK the networks will normally price match. Have you tried asking for the PAC code?
Is it possable to unlock my sprint HTC to be used on straight talk (AT&T) SIM?
If possable could would I be able to get LTE or HSPA+ data?
Currently I'm only able to get 3G speed on my HTC One as sprint has no LTE in Vegas.
AT&T LTE is everywhere here in Vegas & has service at my house. I only get one bar if service at my house with sprint.
Please let me know if it's possible.
salsa88 said:
Is it possable to unlock my sprint HTC to be used on straight talk (AT&T) SIM?
If possable could would I be able to get LTE or HSPA+ data?
Currently I'm only able to get 3G speed on my HTC One as sprint has no LTE in Vegas.
AT&T LTE is everywhere here in Vegas & has service at my house. I only get one bar if service at my house with sprint.
Please let me know if it's possible.
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It is not possible.
Also, even if somehow the phone could be unlocked for AT&T use, it would likely perform very poorly as a smartphone because it doesn't support any of AT&T's LTE bands, nor UMTS/HSPA+ 850 which is also a very important band with AT&T.
Plus, I don't believe that AT&T allows LTE use on any of the third party MVNOs that use it.
myphone12345 said:
It is not possible.
Also, even if somehow the phone could be unlocked for AT&T use, it would likely perform very poorly as a smartphone because it doesn't support any of AT&T's LTE bands, nor UMTS/HSPA+ 850 which is also a very important band with AT&T.
Plus, I don't believe that AT&T allows LTE use on any of the third party MVNOs that use it.
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Thank you great info.
my last question is would I be able to switch to MetroPcs
They offer unlimited LTE in las Vegas
salsa88 said:
Thank you great info.
my last question is would I be able to switch to MetroPcs
They offer unlimited LTE in las Vegas
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I believe I have seen someone say they were able to flash their ONE to Metro PCS. Don't know how, but that should be possible.
salsa88 said:
Thank you great info.
my last question is would I be able to switch to MetroPcs
They offer unlimited LTE in las Vegas
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Metro's LTE band is in the 1700MHz (AWS) band which is not supported by the Sprint HTC One.
---------- Post added at 10:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:00 PM ----------
undrgrndchemist said:
I believe I have seen someone say they were able to flash their ONE to Metro PCS. Don't know how, but that should be possible.
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Yes but only with slow CDMA 3G (which will be going away eventually anyway as part of the TMO merger).
Hmm looks like my options of LTE on my HTC one is not looking very good..
any options to get LTE on my HTC One?
salsa88 said:
Hmm looks like my options of LTE on my HTC one is not looking very good..
any options to get LTE on my HTC One?
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No lte in Vegas? Up until a certain point, not let in los Angeles as well while places in the middle on Arkansas has it.
I don't understand how Sprint prioritizes their markets
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
finalhit said:
No lte in Vegas? Up until a certain point, not let in los Angeles as well while places in the middle on Arkansas has it.
I don't understand how Sprint prioritizes their markets
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2
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It's not hard to understand, actually, so long as you look at it from Sprint's market perspective and not from the "why don't I have it?" perspective. Not to ding you or anything, but people are very good at rationalizing reasons they've been wronged, especially when money (the $10/mo surcharge) is involved.
Sprint is targeting areas with relatively low LTE deployment/development, which usually means more out of the way areas and suburbs because until/unless the Softbank merger goes through, they don't really have the capital or spectrum to compete with AT&T or Verizon in LTE buildout. They've been using their money (very wisely, I might add) in retiring their IDEN equipment so that they can refarm spectrum, but until then, they're going to concentrate on markets they can bring LTE to cheaply and semi-exclusively, so as to snag those customers.
Rirere said:
It's not hard to understand, actually, so long as you look at it from Sprint's market perspective and not from the "why don't I have it?" perspective. Not to ding you or anything, but people are very good at rationalizing reasons they've been wronged, especially when money (the $10/mo surcharge) is involved.
Sprint is targeting areas with relatively low LTE deployment/development, which usually means more out of the way areas and suburbs because until/unless the Softbank merger goes through, they don't really have the capital or spectrum to compete with AT&T or Verizon in LTE buildout. They've been using their money (very wisely, I might add) in retiring their IDEN equipment so that they can refarm spectrum, but until then, they're going to concentrate on markets they can bring LTE to cheaply and semi-exclusively, so as to snag those customers.
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Not sure much much of this makes sense. There's basically 4 carriers and Verizon and AT&T has launched in most of them so I don't known what you mean by semi-exclusively. Being third in a 4 man race is nothing special.
There is a reason smaller markets are cheap...it's because they are small. It's not necessarily the best move to invest in the cheapest market...especially if it's as you say, at the cost of larger markets.
I doubt Sprint is retiring it's iden network without immediate plans to replace it. This is like throwing out your hammer in anticipation of buying another one next year.
I don't know why Sprint does what it's does but a lot of what you said seems to be wild conjecture
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4 Beta
finalhit said:
Not sure much much of this makes sense. There's basically 4 carriers and Verizon and AT&T has launched in most of them so I don't known what you mean by semi-exclusively. Being third in a 4 man race is nothing special.
There is a reason smaller markets are cheap...it's because they are small. It's not necessarily the best move to invest in the cheapest market...especially if it's as you say, at the cost of larger markets.
I doubt Sprint is retiring it's iden network without immediate plans to replace it. This is like throwing out your hammer in anticipation of buying another one next year.
I don't know why Sprint does what it's does but a lot of what you said seems to be wild conjecture
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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No offense, but a lot of what you're saying betrays both unfamiliarity with basic economics and technology.
Sprint is targeting areas where they can build out coverage cheaply, and with towers close to markets that, if they have service at all, are from more distant towers provided by AT&T and Verizon. Cost of tower rent and leasing is key, because if you try to build out a larger market, you will not only be behind two major competitors, but spend a significant amount of money to still be behind. It's harder to break into a market where other carriers have devoted a significant amount of resources to, as opposed to one that's more on the margins.
"At the cost of larger markets" also betrays a fixation on longterm, endgame planning. Sprint, right now, is investing a significant amount of money in IDEN teardown and LTE buildout. They have limited cash reserves as a result of both, and until/if the Softbank merger goes through, they're not really looking in a cash infusion anytime soon. They need to get more people and more plans in the door, and the way to expand reach is to target less-solidified markets. Once they have those, they can try for the cities.
It's your comment on IDEN that really has me baffled. Did you even do a cursory search as to what IDEN is? IDEN is older network technology that used to power Nextel's network, and after the Sprint/Nextel merger, Sprint continued to maintain an entirely separate telephony system that, at most, provided patchy extended coverage for its CDMA devices. Meanwhile, the old IDEN equipment continues to hog spectrum that Sprint needs to build out its coverage.
The silliest thing about all of this is your last point: "why would they shut this down without planning to replace it?" Sprint's entire current network is meant to be a replacement for IDEN...and the IDEN shutdown isn't exactly new news. Sprint (http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-rel...-network-on-schedule-to-shut-down-june-30.htm) has been planning this for almost the last year and a half.
That info is seriously one Google search away.
Rirere said:
No offense, but a lot of what you're saying betrays both unfamiliarity with basic economics and technology.
Sprint is targeting areas where they can build out coverage cheaply, and with towers close to markets that, if they have service at all, are from more distant towers provided by AT&T and Verizon. Cost of tower rent and leasing is key, because if you try to build out a larger market, you will not only be behind two major competitors, but spend a significant amount of money to still be behind. It's harder to break into a market where other carriers have devoted a significant amount of resources to, as opposed to one that's more on the margins.
"At the cost of larger markets" also betrays a fixation on longterm, endgame planning. Sprint, right now, is investing a significant amount of money in IDEN teardown and LTE buildout. They have limited cash reserves as a result of both, and until/if the Softbank merger goes through, they're not really looking in a cash infusion anytime soon. They need to get more people and more plans in the door, and the way to expand reach is to target less-solidified markets. Once they have those, they can try for the cities.
It's your comment on IDEN that really has me baffled. Did you even do a cursory search as to what IDEN is? IDEN is older network technology that used to power Nextel's network, and after the Sprint/Nextel merger, Sprint continued to maintain an entirely separate telephony system that, at most, provided patchy extended coverage for its CDMA devices. Meanwhile, the old IDEN equipment continues to hog spectrum that Sprint needs to build out its coverage.
The silliest thing about all of this is your last point: "why would they shut this down without planning to replace it?" Sprint's entire current network is meant to be a replacement for IDEN...and the IDEN shutdown isn't exactly new news. Sprint (http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-rel...-network-on-schedule-to-shut-down-june-30.htm) has been planning this for almost the last year and a half.
That info is seriously one Google search away.
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No offence but your statements betrays the facts, and misrepresents what I actually said.
Sprint already have towers in L.A. metro area. In fact L.A. has lte now...before the merger. Spirit has towers in Vegas, and is deploying lte there now... so there goes your theory?
Sprint is not new to these markets. They already have infrastructure here. The cost/benefit ratio in deploying in these markets makes much more business sense.
I know about IDEN. Notice my statement "tear it down without replacing it immediately"...my point was, they DO intend to replace it. An act they have committed to..Not contingent on a merger that may or may not happen. Sprint has been planning on doing this before the merger was even an option. A simple Google search would tell you this.
Not so sure why you act so all knowing. You're as oblivious to sprints plans as me or anyone else.
I apologize for betraying my unfamiliarity with both basic technology and economics.
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---------- Post added at 09:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 AM ----------
Further research shows that Sprint does not launch lte in markets until it's his a certain percentage of deployment (50ish). So larger markets take longer to deploy
So there you go.
Again, my apologies for betraying my unfamiliarity with both technology and basic economics.
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http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/9/2...-potential-sprint-merger-the-logical-ultimate
Interesting idea. I personally favor more competition, not less. But a merger like this with the direction both T-Mobile and sprint has been going, this could really benefit us in the long run
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I wonder if instead of a merger it would be an acquisition on Softbanks part. They definitely have the cash to do it and that would make logical sense.
No! We need more players, not fewer! Sprint will have enough capital to become competitive in the next three years.
Please, the odds of the SEC ever allowing any of the big four to merge are practically 0.
/IAAL
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I'm game as long they switch to gsm
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-Cupper- said:
I wonder if instead of a merger it would be an acquisition on Softbanks part. They definitely have the cash to do it and that would make logical sense.
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I read an article starting that soft bank had to borrow a lot of the money just to make the acquisition.
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gobaers said:
No! We need more players, not fewer! Sprint will have enough capital to become competitive in the next three years.
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Where did you get that information? Because if that is true, it would make a lot of sense for T-Mobile to hitch it's wagon to Sprint. If the FTC would even allow it.
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Sprint has enough issues of their own at this point, and they have the failed Nextel merger still in many of the executives memories. It may happen, but I don't think it'll have any legitimate consideration till 5-7 years from now, likely when 5G networks come around and LTE Advance has matured.
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When the T-mobile/AT&T deal fell through, the wording from the FCC was something to the effect of that if they allowed any less than 4 major, nationwide carriers, they would be crossing a threshold into a duopoly/oligopoly type of deal, and that having 4 carriers was a threshold they were not willing to cross.
Therefore, I don't think that this will happen, both because of the effort that would be needed to make the networks compatible (completely dismantling one network, save maybe LTE assets and refarming spectrum for one or the other basically) as well as the legal and regulatory issues.
Also, more competition is almost always best.
Rumors are rumors, people honestly exaggerate things that turn out to be nothing.
Remember when Dish was going to buy Sprint? Exactly.
A few random thoughts from someone who has worked for carriers for 20 years and seen all the mergers first hand on the AT&T side and is now with Sprint...
1) FCC/Justice would probably only consider further consolidation of the wireless sector on a big scale if it was a Sprint/TMO merger.
2) With Softbank behind Sprint such a deal would be possible. I recall last week a news article about Japanese government investing a few $billion more in Softbank (sorry no link but read it somewhere). Could this be why, perhaps.
3) TMO needs to do a deal more than Sprint needs to do a deal. Reason being is spectrum. As the demand for more bandwidth increases the ability to manage that demand will come down to who has the most spectrum to cram packets of data through. Of all the US carriers who is best positioned with the most spectrum of any carrier, Sprint. Who among the four is in the weakest position, TMO.
4) The uncarrier looks attractive to consumers at the moment because of the offers on phones, data plans, etc. The problem is that the long term health of the company doesn't look good because they don't have the spectrum resources to manage the data needs as we get to 2015 and beyond. This means slower speeds, more blocking, etc.
5) Sprint would likely be doing simply what AT&T tried to do when they made a play to buy TMO a couple years ago. Buy a customer base. Simply put buy the customers so you're bigger and closer to the top two. However I really don't think they need to do this.
6) Someone mentioned GSM. Sprint won't change their network to GSM, if a merger were to happen they'd most likely be required to continue operating TMOs GSM network until 2016ish but by that time all the major players will be using VoLTE so there would be no need for the traditional GSM or CDMA networks as they exist today.
Lastly my opinion is that while Sprint could do this deal I really don't think they should. I think a much more likely scenario would be to buy smaller carriers like US Cellular among others because TMO has too much bureaucracy and would require massive job cuts to make TMO fit into the Sprint model and that would be bad press that Sprint wouldn't want to go through nor get distracted by.
In the end buy smaller players that fit easily into your model, stay the course on building a better and bigger network, and then leverage the massive spectrum holdings you have into a customer friendly model that gives you a network equal in size to the top two but better because you have more spectrum to operate with giving you the ability to move data faster than your competitors. Consolidation will have to happen eventually and while consumer advocates are generally against it there is no way around it without completely reworking wireless spectrum and the FCC can't/won't do that so as the thirst for data increases the need for spectrum will as well and small players just won't be able to survive so we'll likely end up with two or three carriers eventually...
Verizon and AT&T need TMO to survive so that there are four players in the market and both of them can continue to buy up small fish to correct their spectrum deficiencies. If TMO gets bought or dies out (a more likely scenario) then VZN/ATT will be stuck, they have no path to grow, they have no merger path, they have huge bureaucracies choking them making overhead high and they start bleeding customers....
MG
If that happened, our phone can use T-mobile sim and work, nice.
I hope this does happen. Tmo's LTE Band 4 is pretty fast. I hit 30-50MBps here in Socal on my Nexus 4. I can barely get 15mbs on Sprint with my One. So i guess Band 4 is definitely better here in Socal
babymatteo said:
I hope this does happen. Tmo's LTE Band 4 is pretty fast. I hit 30-50MBps here in Socal on my Nexus 4. I can barely get 15mbs on Sprint with my One. So i guess Band 4 is definitely better here in Socal
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Where are you in Socal? I'm in north OC and any time I connect to LTE I'm still pulling in kilobytes at a time or straight up getting connection errors.
I'm starting to think it's my ROM, but I'm praying it's not.
Fadakar said:
Where are you in Socal? I'm in north OC and any time I connect to LTE I'm still pulling in kilobytes at a time or straight up getting connection errors.
I'm starting to think it's my ROM, but I'm praying it's not.
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I had good lte a few weeks ago in La Verne but now the tower is all wack. No 3g or lte at all anymore, worthless
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moregadget said:
1) FCC/Justice would probably only consider further consolidation of the wireless sector on a big scale if it was a Sprint/TMO merger.
2) With Softbank behind Sprint such a deal would be possible. I recall last week a news article about Japanese government investing a few $billion more in Softbank (sorry no link but read it somewhere). Could this be why, perhaps.
Lastly my opinion is that while Sprint could do this deal I really don't think they should. I think a much more likely scenario would be to buy smaller carriers like US Cellular among others because TMO has too much bureaucracy and would require massive job cuts to make TMO fit into the Sprint model and that would be bad press that Sprint wouldn't want to go through nor get distracted by.
MG
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Sprint has purchased US Cellular.
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intrlude said:
Sprint has purchased US Cellular.
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Actually they haven't...
They have purchased some US Cellular assets in some parts of country but not the whole company.
MG
Although I have been a very satisfied T-Mobile customer for the last 7 years, it appears and tech support confirms that the tower that I connect to at home is oversold and instead of the 16 to 20 megs down that I used to get, I am now getting 1.5 meg on a good day and it goes down to .3 meg on bad days. I can't live with that as I have little other access to Internet bandwidth in my neighborhood and it gets worse every week. I use the Internet for business. The only fix appears to be another tower. Not a quick fix.
So, If I make the switch, what happens? Although it may work out better in switching if I give Sprint my existing Nexus 6, I will be using a Nexus 6 with them. I read comments that I will lose simultaneous voice and data use because of their Spark network. Is that true? What LTE speeds should I expect? I also understand that I will lose tethering if I opt for the unlimited plan (I am actually leaning toward the 20 GB family plan which I understand that I can share with my data enabled devices.) I don't read any nice things about Sprint.
Any thoughts you can share would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.
Dont do it bro, sprint is horrible. Tell me if you find 25 people you know that love sprint more than T-Mobile. Sprint is a rotting company hiding behind sales gimmicks and ideas from T-Mobile. T-Mobile is still rolling out this year with Band 12 700Mhz and its LTE footprint roll out replacing old edge areas. More people complain about sprint way more than T-Mobile. So if you dont like T-Mobile, you might as well get shartrizon or AT$$$T. I would recommend calling T-Mobile to send a tech. to your area to fix the issue or report it for fixing.
ourtech said:
Although I have been a very satisfied T-Mobile customer for the last 7 years, it appears and tech support confirms that the tower that I connect to at home is oversold and instead of the 16 to 20 megs down that I used to get, I am now getting 1.5 meg on a good day and it goes down to .3 meg on bad days. I can't live with that as I have little other access to Internet bandwidth in my neighborhood and it gets worse every week. I use the Internet for business. The only fix appears to be another tower. Not a quick fix.
So, If I make the switch, what happens? Although it may work out better in switching if I give Sprint my existing Nexus 6, I will be using a Nexus 6 with them. I read comments that I will lose simultaneous voice and data use because of their Spark network. Is that true? What LTE speeds should I expect? I also understand that I will lose tethering if I opt for the unlimited plan (I am actually leaning toward the 20 GB family plan which I understand that I can share with my data enabled devices.) I don't read any nice things about Sprint.
Any thoughts you can share would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.
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Is Cricket Wireless an option? They are essentially AT&T with throttled LTE speeds of 8Mpbs down, no throttle up. I am paying $55/month for 20GB of LTE data. They no longer offer that plan, but have the same plan at 10GB of data.
chaunold said:
Dont do it bro, sprint is horrible. Tell me if you find 25 people you know that love sprint more than T-Mobile. Sprint is a rotting company hiding behind sales gimmicks and ideas from T-Mobile. T-Mobile is still rolling out this year with Band 12 700Mhz and its LTE footprint roll out replacing old edge areas. More people complain about sprint way more than T-Mobile. So if you dont like T-Mobile, you might as well get shartrizon or AT$$$T. I would recommend calling T-Mobile to send a tech. to your area to fix the issue or report it for fixing.
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See, that is my feeling as well. I can't find anyone that has nice things to say. As to AT&T or Verizon, wow does the cost jump. And to the point about getting a tech out there, been there, done that. T-Mobile is very aware of the problem. They have bee running tests for a while. Sadly, it is oversold. Not broken. Don't have too many options. There were some numbers from Verizon that weren't horrible, but I don't think Verizon pays ETFs.
Someone is selling a CricketWireless 20GB LTE plan on Howard Forums...I have had ZERO issues using Cricket with my Nexus 6...in fact I am loving it.
I have looked at Cricket. The problem is that I do exceed 10 GB in some months and there is no provision for tethering or tablets that I could see. One of those options would be necessary.
ourtech said:
See, that is my feeling as well. I can't find anyone that has nice things to say. As to AT&T or Verizon, wow does the cost jump. And to the point about getting a tech out there, been there, done that. T-Mobile is very aware of the problem. They have bee running tests for a while. Sadly, it is oversold. Not broken. Don't have too many options. There were some numbers from Verizon that weren't horrible, but I don't think Verizon pays ETFs.
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I had verizon wireless for 10 years and left them over a year ago for T-Mobile. I didn't regret anything. I didn't switch because of price because I could afford verizon, but their plans and phones suck and they are scam artists trying to rape every penny from you just like John Legere quoted. In my area and even in rural places in georgia I get pretty decent excellent coverage and service. At home I usually get from 80-112mbps down and 7-15mbps up. Verizon couldn't match that and hell, everyone I know that has sprint hate it and are jumping to T-Mobile because they get less than 1mbps and call quality sounds like pure ****. T-Mobile has nationwide VoLTE and WiFi calling and texting and the "Uncarrier" exclusives. I have unlimited data so I use it as my home internet since I have root for tethering unlimited data and its way faster than charters fastest speeds they deliver to my house lol. Sprint is also bad just like verizon because remember they are money hungry companies and they will lock u in contracts and can only use their cdma devices or select unlocked devices like the nexus 6. I heard verizon doesn't recognize the unlocked nexus 6, idk if that is true or not.
Link? And what about tablets or tethering? I need that data sometimes when I am out in the field and I have to remote into something. Yes, even my 6 inch screen is a little small. I don't see any plans for tablets.
ourtech said:
I have looked at Cricket. The problem is that I do exceed 10 GB in some months and there is no provision for tethering or tablets that I could see. One of those options would be necessary.
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Although tethering is not supported, it does work.
There also would be no issue popping in a Cricket SIM in a Nexus 9. I've considered selling my WiFi N9 and getting a LTE N9 with a 20GB Cricket SIM.
metaphz said:
Is Cricket Wireless an option? They are essentially AT&T with throttled LTE speeds of 8Mpbs down, no throttle up. I am paying $55/month for 20GB of LTE data. They no longer offer that plan, but have the same plan at 10GB of data.
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metaphz said:
Someone is selling a CricketWireless 20GB LTE plan on Howard Forums...I have had ZERO issues using Cricket with my Nexus 6...in fact I am loving it.
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From what I could see in the Howard forums, the 20 GB promo expired in April. Thanks though.
ourtech said:
From what I could see in the Howard forums, the 20 GB promo expired in April.
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It did expire, someone is selling their account.
ourtech said:
Link? And what about tablets or tethering? I need that data sometimes when I am out in the field and I have to remote into something. Yes, even my 6 inch screen is a little small. I don't see any plans for tablets.
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There is an app on the playstore if you have root called "WiFi Tether Router" which will work or if you want unlimited native tethering.
#1 in SQL lite go to /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db/global
#2 add " tether_dun required " and set the value to 0
#3 in your APN settings add " dun " to APN type and set your APN to IPv4 only since IPv6 doesnt support this.
Either use OpenSignal app or their site and zoom in on your neighborhood. They have a list of carriers with their average upload and download speed.
Personally I wouldn't use Sprint as OpenSignal and Rootmetrics has shown it is the slowest network across the country.
Get a AT&T GoPhone sim and try them out for a month. Walmart sells the sims. They now have rollover data on prepaid just like T-mobile. Plus they're not throttled like Cricket.
I wait for Callingmart to announce their monthly 10% off GoPhone refills on Twitter. Then refill each month saving me $6.
Just my 2¢ but I have been with Sprint for going on 8 years. Their service is great in my area (now) and their customer service has always been outstanding. While I do agree that they don't have the best coverage, they have come a long way in my time with them. You can get unlimited, TRULY unlimited data with them for a good price. They offer payment plans on the top devices and as I said, customer service has bent over backwards for me more than once. Choice is yours, OP, just do your homework and choose wisely.
I have no complaints with Sprint. They recently upgraded my area to LTE and its fast. Its really pointless to ask random people on the internet because they more than likely do not live in your state much less your city. Signal strength is the most important aspect of cell phone service and you wont find that answer here. I would find a coverage map and compare the carriers, make sure it is a legitimate coverage map and not advertising. I would also ask people in your area with Sprint so you can compare.
bob2300nx said:
I have no complaints with Sprint. They recently upgraded my area to LTE and its fast. Its really pointless to ask random people on the internet because they more than likely do not live in your state much less your city. Signal strength is the most important aspect of cell phone service and you wont find that answer here. I would find a coverage map and compare the carriers, make sure it is a legitimate coverage map and not advertising. I would also ask people in your area with Sprint so you can compare.
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To each his own. I have learned a lot from this, coverage map aside (I am in a Spark enabled area of moderate strength, the same as I am for T-Mobile and for that matter, likely AT&T, which tells me little that I didn't already know. It is a topology issue.) My question wasn't about coverage. It was about the experience. I have learned that, unlike T-Mobile, Sprint customer service is out of country, but some have had good experiences with the company. I have also received useful suggestions about alternatives. This has been very useful to me. Sprint could have the strongest signal in my area and still be a company to avoid like the plague.
Free data after you reach your limit, and free music service streaming
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ceo4eva said:
Free data after you reach your limit, and free music service streaming
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Good point. Hadn't thought about those. Thanks.
This morning my Speed Tests were decidedly better. At least 8 and as high as 12 meg. I haven't seen those numbers in months. So, (holding breath), perhaps my last call got something changed. I won't make changes unless I am sure there is no hope for change.
ourtech said:
To each his own. I have learned a lot from this, coverage map aside (I am in a Spark enabled area of moderate strength, the same as I am for T-Mobile and for that matter, likely AT&T, which tells me little that I didn't already know. It is a topology issue.) My question wasn't about coverage. It was about the experience. I have learned that, unlike T-Mobile, Sprint customer service is out of country, but some have had good experiences with the company. I have also received useful suggestions about alternatives. This has been very useful to me. Sprint could have the strongest signal in my area and still be a company to avoid like the plague.
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Other than calling to activate new phones, I have only had to call once in all my years with Sprint and I have no complaints on it. I don't generally need service, I pay my bill and use my phone lol. As far as overseas call centers, that's not entirely true; there is a Sprint call center in my city (along with a T-Mobile call center). To each their own.
I switched from Sprint to Verizon as my family plan 4 years ago, best decision of my life. Sprint will frustrate you beyond belief with their slow data, you won't even be able to load Google. I know you said the big 2 cost too much, so I'd stay with T-Mobile if I were you, avoid Sprint at all costs. I personally love Verizon, have 5 off contract smartphones with them, 15GB shared data, and pay $153+tax a month.