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I have been looking at Sprint and working with them is very hard. They originally said they wanted to lower the number of vendors, which makes sense because they have to manage each one. However now they seem to be working with more companies than ever. I am not sure what they plan to do. Softbank is calling the shots now. So what they are doing in Japan they will do here in the US, that’s the reality. All the companies they work with there will have a great advantage over here.
I was reading RCR magazine and Fiercewireless and then I read the Sprint Blog put out by Dr. Saw and they keep talking about the deployment and what they plan to do. All I can say is crap or get off the pot! Let’s get moving already! For crying out loud we have been hearing about this and seeing the RFPs for the last year, and yet I 
don’t see any movement that wasn’t already planned in 2013. I assume they are looking around for the best price but I would think they would want to start showing progress at some point. They have 120MHz of the 2.5GHz band, band 41, that anyone would be happy to have, but let’s go! Get moving! We have hundreds of crews looking for work and they want to make sure that they are keeping busy. I am glad that the Macro deployment is moving, slowly, but it is moving. I can’t believe the shareholders don’t notice this. Bandwidth is valuable and they are not deploying it to the best of their abilities. They seem to talk about it all the time but they still are just talking. That like talking about your new work truck while it sits in the garage and does nothing. Let’s get to work and build a great network! Let’s see if Softbank is as smart as they say they are!
I believe that Softbank is doing all that they can to make sure that the project takes off in an organized fashion. However, from the outside in it can look like paralysis by analysis. If Softbank did this before they should already have a plan, they just need to get the right contractors.
It looks like they will move ahead soon. I want to congratulate Airspan and Nokia for the win of the small cell & mini macro deployment for Sprint . Way to go! I wish you the best and think that the solution will be impressive and groundbreaking here in the USA. Also, Mobilitie got a big part of the offer and should be very happy with managing the offer. I believe they are also helping with the financing of the network. FYI – important note! Mobilitie is hiring!
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Whatever they build out they will need to make sure that they have a plan in place to optimize the network. That is the key to making sure it performs. They also need to understand that voice is still a key part of the network. Do they have a good migration path for VoLTE or will they just worry about data? I hear about all of that spectrum but they need to make sure they have a plan in place to offer a voice solution as well. Some of us still make phone calls on our mobile phones.
I really like the fact they plan to use small cells to the maximum efficiency they can. I hope it is a success. If they can move up in quality in some urban areas then they have a real shot at growth. Don’t get me wrong, I may criticize Sprint but I am hoping that they can improve. That will push all the carriers to improve. Their coverage will need to improve not only outdoors, but indoors as well. Remember that a majority of urban calls are made in the buildings.
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So good luck Sprint. Once you start to build then maybe we can look at what the plan really is instead of guessing what the network will look like.
http://newsroom.sprint.com/blogs/sprint-perspectives/blog-closing-the-gap-on-network-performance.htm
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