Tag Archives: Sprint

Sprint and UE Backhaul equals a Magic Box

May 8, 2017 Wade Leave a comment

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This is very exciting to me, Sprint unveils something that only needs power to provide small cell coverage. Did you hear me? I did NOT miss the backhaul. They have a box, apparently made by Airspan, that is the small cell providing enough coverage for a 30,000-square foot building and to cover a hundred feet outside.

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While all your installers might not like this, it does sound awesome, just to plug it in and it works. How cool is that? They say they will give it to qualifying customers, not sure what that means just yet.

How does it work? Well, from a high level, they probably use that larger amount of 2.5GHz TDD as backhaul. I think it’s pretty cool, and to be honest, I can’t believe that Sprint is first to market with this. This could be a game changer. I believe this is what Sprint wanted to do with the Mobilities partnership on a larger scale. Too bad Mobilities plan didn’t work, in fact, they made it harder on the wireless industry to deploy. That is another story.

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Sprint is deploying 2.5GHz nationwide, trying to mirror what they have. So far, it adds TDD data only, no voice. As far as I know Sprint did NOT deploy VoLTE yet. Not sure why except for their dire financial situation and poor planning.

The forward channel is probably 3G for the voice, (NO VoLTE), and maybe 2.5GHz or their FDD-LTE channels.

They really have a sweet setup, and they are finally using the 2.5GHz spectrum for more than a bargaining chip to merge with someone. Way to go Sprint!

Here it is “The 5G Deployment Plan” available in PDF, Kindle, and Paperback!

Airspan made this product, great job! Seriously, WOW! You guys may be able to leapfrog some other small cell vendors out there in no time. Make sure you keep on top of it to work out any bugs there may be in it.

Let’s review:

UE backhaul using the 2.5GHz spectrum, they have about 204MHz of spectrum, but I would imagine they have only deployed half of that.
The 2.5GHz spectrum can only handle data, no voice because they have no VoLTE now.
Using carrier aggregation, they can make all their 2.5GHz carriers look like one big pipe, probably around 120MHz of spectrum give or take.
They already tested a throughput of 700Mbps of throughput successfully. In theory, they could have 7 customers that could do 100Mbps simultaneously on one sector. How cool is that?
The drawback? Sprint itself does not have national coverage! Oh no, they rely on partners to use the spectrum the best they can, remember that Sprint is a member of the CCA and relies on their partners, who may or may not be up to the latest rev or be utilizing all the spectrum. They are partners, not owned by Sprint, so tier 3 and 4 cities may not have this option.

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Sprint is trying to use MIMO, which was tested, but not rolled out everywhere. This will open new bandwidth, but it will cost money to roll out, the one thing that Sprint does not have.
I have the links to the articles below, and they say the magic box can extend the signal outside the building to, up to 100 meters outside and cover 30,000 square feet inside. I would imagine all line of site.
This is an Airspan box, based on the article below and according to Dr. John Saw’s blog, the link is below.
Sprint appears to be rolling out 2.5GHz everywhere, which is a great thing if you have Sprint, the LTE data should be awesome!
Sprint says the box is free to qualifying customers, which is, “If a customer no longer wants the Sprint Magic Box at their location, Sprint will make arrangements for the customer to return the device at no cost. Sprint may charge up to $140 to a Sprint customer’s service account if the device is not returned.” What is a qualifying customer?
Sprint speed note, “Signal and speeds based on optimal conditions for most Sprint devices.”

Is this the real deal? Most articles are very skeptical of Sprint. In my opinion, they made some bonehead decisions in the past (purchase of Nextel, Xohm, Clearwire, Next-Generation Network, no VoLTE) Not to mention they have a heavy debt, and they dropped to #4. (The much more confident carrier T-Mobile blew by them this year showing no signs of slowing down! One thing I must give John Legere, he walks the talk.) Can Sprint do the Sprint bounce back? Their track record is not so impressive. I personally hope they turn it around to look great once again. Will it happen? I believe it all depends on the leadership and great ideas. This may be the first step. I think the technical leadership must be there and prove they can do it. Good luck Sprint!

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Resources:

I guess that Airspan built the product from the Airdensity or the Airvelocity, the information links are below. I should admit, it looks like a great product.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

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Hubble Foundation helps the families of climbers in a time of need and beyond with financial support and counseling!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

What would happen if Sprint and T-Mobile Merged?

December 18, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Are you curious about the merger and what it will bring? Do you want look into the future and see what could happen? This report covers the future and the past to give you a history as well as makes some predictions on a potential merger. If it does happen, would they downsize? Would they strike a blow to Verizon and AT&T? Would they improve financially? Would Sprint finally set a plan in place to sunset CDMA? Only one way to find out!

This is a report by Wade Sarver and the opinion of the writer. This blog is a partial of the full report. The full report can be purchased as a PDF on Gumroad or Sellfy.

Summary

We all know that Softbank wants to merge Sprint and T-Mobile. We all saw that Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son met with USA president-elect Donald Trump. We also know that the FCC under President Obama did not like mergers between major carriers. Let’s go in-depth to cover what would happen is the merger happens. This report will cover not only how the carriers and their technology will play together, but the trickle-down effect to the OEMs, service vendors, and tower companies will be affected. I have included links to resources for you to verify the history and facts while the speculation of what will happen is just that, speculation based on my experience in the industry.

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Meeting between Softbank Owner and the USA president-elect:

I am sure most of you saw Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son meet with President-Elect Donald Trump. One thing that Masayoshi Son has seen is an opportunity to merge T-Mobile and Sprint. This has been a goal of his and I think that he has seen T-Mobile as a key to getting Sprint out of the slump it’s been in. Let’s look at the meeting and then what it means.

Mr. Son has been frustrated with the prior administration’s FCC and SEC in the USA mainly because he thought that merging the 2 carriers would make a lot of sense. Guess what, it does for so many reasons, but the implications are more than just financial. Not everything about the merger will be good, I will explain below. For now, let’s look at what this meeting means.

Mr. Son and President-Elect Trump are both going to look at growth of business in the USA. Sprint, while Wells Fargo keeps telling us how Sprint is bouncing back and the future is so bright we gotta wear shades, I don’t see it that way. Sprint has done the bare minimum on the network. However, what they have done has greatly improved their network for the least amount of money.

Back to the meeting, Masayoshi Son has offered to put $50B into the USA, not all of it is his money. He is raising $100B from investors around the world. From what CNBC says most of the money comes from Saudi Arabia, to invest. Trump obviously expects to see $50B of this come to America, and it appears that Son agreed to this.

Resources:

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/06/trump-says-softbank-will-invest-50-billion-in-the-us-aiming-to-create-50000-jobs.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2016/12/08/after-trump-meeting-softbank-billionaire-masayoshi-son-gains-2-billion-becomes-japans-richest/#1b549a3614ac

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-06/softbank-s-son-said-to-plan-meeting-with-trump-in-new-york

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2016/12/06/trump-claims-japans-richest-tech-billionaire-will-invest-50-billion-in-u-s-business/#7f4502c875f5

http://www.wsj.com/articles/softbank-investors-cheer-ceos-meeting-with-trump-1481095552

Did they try to merge before?

I was told that just prior to the AT&T attempted takeover of T-Mobile US in 2011 that Sprint had planned to merge with T-Mobile. Mentioned by CNN here and TMONEWS here. I believe that it was more than a rumor. From what the insiders said the rumors had some basis to them. It would have made sense and one more thing that was obvious is when AT&T attempted to take over T-Mobile US Sprint came out publicly and did all that they could to stop it. More on that below.

Then in 2014 they talked about merging again. It was Softbank pushing for this after their recent takeover of Sprint. They were really excited to become a major competitor in the USA. It looked like Softbank was willing to pay $32B for T-Mobile US, roughly $40/share. In this case, T-Mobile US CFO mentioned the merger first in 2013 stating that the merger would make sense to compete against the larger AT&T and Verizon. Remember that T-Mobile was growing quickly now. To add more confusion, Dish Network was making a play for Sprint and Clearwire. Sprint-owned most Clearwire at that time. Clearwire had the 2.5GHz spectrum at that time and was operating it on Wi-MAX. Dish failed and Softbank won, if you want to call it that. Sprint had massive debt.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

In 2014 Sprint/Softbank gave up their quest for T-Mobile US because the FCC and the DoJ pushed back hard. While o the business side, the agreement seems to be moving ahead, the FCC had other plans. They did all that they could, like creating rules to block the merger of this kind. And this is the legacy of the Obama administration’s FCC.

Resources:

http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-report/a-year-courtship-t-mobile-who-wants-to-merge-uncarrier-and-why

http://www.wsj.com/articles/sprint-t-mobile-generally-agree-on-merger-terms-1401919219

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/no-takeover-but-plenty-of-taunts/

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/05/sprint-and-softbank-said-to-abandon-bid-for-t-mobile-us/

Would merger create jobs inside the new company?

Honestly, I doubt the merger will bring more jobs to the US. If Son plans to invest in other businesses or startups, then I can see 50K jobs coming from $50B. In fact, is he just gave $1M to each of those 50K people, they would be on the way to massive job creation in the US, but I don’t see that happening.

Before I start, let it be known that both Sprint and T-Mobile workers that I know work very hard and very long hours. They go the extra mile for their respective companies. I hate to see anyone lose a job they love. I can’t believe how hard and dedicated many of these workers are, even when they disagree with the mother company, they still do all that they can to ensure success. Trust me, they don’t always like the policies or even what they do, but they all want to see success.

Here is what I see from the merger as far as workers go. First the initial talks and the teams it would take to make the merger happen would be large, so the first year would be massive. Why? Because of the due diligence on the financial side and the technical side. It takes a lot of time and money to make these mergers happen.

There would probably be independent firms that would investigate the complete holdings and inventories and salaries of both sides. Something that Masayoshi Son probably did when he acquired Sprint. Also, T-Mobile would ask for over $2B up front, much like they did with AT&T. That money proved to be a great asset for T-Mobile. That Legere is always thinking! I believe that the due diligence that Son did for Sprint still missed quite a bit. There were things that we suspect he missed. I doubt he will make that mistake with T-Mobile US unless he wants them so badly he is willing to overlook some problems. Again, he should have learned something from Sprint, he’s an exceptionally smart guy or he wouldn’t be where he is.

Then after the merger would take place they would try to see what efficiencies could happen. This would mean to remove duplication. To translate, that means layoffs. Consolidation means that one side or the other or both will be downsizing and the teams will start to combine and work together.

I see the sales teams and the customer service teams scaling back first, then the project management teams, the finally the engineering teams. Unfortunately, the legacy systems are very different. You are going to be maintaining GSM and CDMA systems. Luckily moving forward, you have LTE which should merge quickly. I would think the technical teams will be one of the last to downsize.

Sprint is no stranger to layoffs, http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2016/05/03/claure-worst-sprint-layoffs-finished.html, http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/technology/article74725997.html, http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article56191755.html.

Interested in the full report? For a fee, it can be downloaded in PDF format from Gumroad or Sellfy by following one of these links. The full Table of Contents listed below for you to see what is covered in your report.

https://gum.co/sOkRY

https://sellfy.com/p/6PIm/

Summary 1
Meeting between Softbank Owner and the USA president-elect 2
Did they try to merge before? 3
What’s different now? 4
Would merger create jobs inside the new company? 4
Does Technology Matter? 5
How would it affect the vendors? The trickle-down effect? 6
The major OEMs: 6
Service companies? 7
Contractor workload Timeline: 7
Tower companies? 8
Resources: 8
Leadership, who will lead the new company? 9
Why wouldn’t T-Mobile Take over Sprint? 9
History of the AT&T T-Mobile merger. 9
Consolidation: 10
The Core: 10
The RAN: 10
Would we see growth in the USA? 11
Would it be better to compete with AT&T and Verizon Wireless? 11
Would they innovate? If so, when? 11
How would this effect smaller contractors? 12
How would it affect the smaller contractors? Good or bad, growth or consolidation? 13
Who would lead the company? Legere or Claure? Has Claure really proven himself? 13
Is Sprint financially strong enough to take anyone over? It seems they are leveraged heavily. 13
What about the CCA losing 2 of their largest members? 13
What about all the smaller carriers? We would continue to see them get swallowed up and disappear? 13
What about Sprint’s and T-Mobile’s partners? 13
Would this be the hurt the smaller contractors across telecom? 14
About the author: 14

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

A Tale of Two Carriers, T-Mobile burns past Sprint

August 24, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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You have all heard about the race for #3 and the drop to #4. T-Mobile is the solid #3 while Sprint is the solid #4. T-Mobile seems to be heading forward while Sprint seems to be falling hard. Sprint has so much debt while T-Mobile is building the dense network that Sprint talked about. You know about the race, but let’s look at how they got here and where they appear to be headed. Not only in coverage and the network, but in general.

Sprint cried WOLF one too many times!

First, you have Sprint, who is the carrier who cried wolf only to sit back and do nothing. By wolf, I mean Next Generation Network, (NGN)! Here was their chance to build the new network that would be the building block for LTE with an amazing LTE backbone that would deploy a mix of small cells and smaller macro sites to densify coverage. Then it was called the densification project, where they would put smaller sites everywhere. While they are working on this to put sites closer to the people, it has less to do with technology and more to do with getting off towers to save money.

Maybe by wolf you thought it was the 70,000 small cell roll-out, again, another made up story to drive prices down so that they can save money on those few hundred deployments. Then the partnership with Mobilitie to roll out sites in Right of Way, (ROW), as a CLEC, (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier), a lot like Softbank did in Japan. How is that going? I hear not so well and slow. If anything, it set the rest of the carriers back on any deployments as municipalities appear to be very angry. So angry that they’re changing the rules where they can so it can’t happen again. It seems like Sprint is running with scissors and falling repeatedly. They create quite a buzz! However, I feel like they rev the engine to impress everyone at the starting line, but when it comes time to race, they put it in gear and the car stalls, going nowhere. Maybe they are looking at it like a marathon, thinking they have more time, but do they?

I will give Sprint credit for creativity. They still seem to be determined to get out of as many large tower company leases that they can with the densification deployment where they will install poles in “Right of Way” areas. We’ll see what happens but the tower owners don’t appear to be worried. I would guess because they have those iron-clad leases to hold Sprint in for 8 to 10 years. Let’s face it, they are in no hurry. Good thing for Sprint the rest of the carriers see that it actually is a good idea to lower lease rates. I already hear AT&T and Verizon are looking into lease reduction. Not good for American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBC. However, it’s hard to leave the big tower boys for 3 reasons: 1) iron clad 10 year leases with no out clause, 2) they bought all of the carriers towers and own many more, 3) where else will the carriers go. Let’s face it, townships, cities, and municipalities made it easy for the large tower companies to take over with all the restrictions on new towers, but I digress, let’s get back on topic.

Sprint has real problems, which Bloomberg lays out, that means heavy debt. So what is Softbank doing? Maybe they want Sprint to figure it out themselves, perhaps because they could not buy T-Mobile, or may Sprint was in worse shape than expected. Maybe they plan to let Sprint o go into bankruptcy to rebuild, which I hope never happens. I give them credit, they did a lot of creative financing to get by this year’s (2016) debt, which looks to be $4B, yes, four billion dollars. If Marcelo Claure can pull this off, then he deserves a bonus, of course there won’t be one because it went to pay the debt, am I right? Congratulations to Sprint, they may be #4 in the network, reliability, and coverage, but they are #1 in debt, that’s a reason to celebrate, right, #1 in something!

This is a carrier who appears to be on the decline, no matter how cheap they sell airtime they just can’t catch up. It is going to be hard to catch up with no money and running the network on a shoestring budget. I know I sound negative hear, but I really hope Sprint turns it around for the sake of the industry. Hey, they could become a paging company, they can run the network much more cost effectively that this LTE network, just a thought. They have plenty of 2.5GHz spectrum which they need to roll out and make money on, if not in their network, then lease it or sell it, let’s see it work for you, not flounder.

I will give Sprint credit, they are doing all that they can with what they have. However, the limitations that are holding them back will cost them more money in the near future. They are slow, if not last, to move to VoLTE, that means that they need to maintain the CDMA network past 2020, which will cost them more money to run a network that is more expensive to maintain and may be “end of life”, (EOL), by 2020 if not before. It costs more money to maintain multiple technologies, especially end of life technologies. CDMA specifically because the equipment is usually made specific to each carrier, it’s hard to buy equipment like that off of Ebay!

What about T-Mobile?

Then you have T-Mobile, who not only is investing, and improving the network but they are also becoming a threat to #2 in an amazing way. They are pushing out LTE and improving speeds and they have an amazing marketing machine. If they could tap dance then they would be a triple threat! I am sure Legere can dance, but he is waiting for the right time, like when they pass AT&T to become #2.

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Here is where that company not only put their money where John Legere’s mouth was, they showed up to the party with results! You heard me, they have an amazing marketing machine that pushed their message in your face they offered no contracts, they gave you a great price and some free”Binge-On” data. Then what did they do? They kicked the LTE deployment into high gear and pushed great performing LTE out to the public for their customers to see what a real network can do. They didn’t just upgrade their home city, like Sprint did in Kansas City, T-Mobile concentrated on the most of the urban areas to show that they can build a kick ass, dense network where the people are. What an amazing feat! They are now on par with Verizon, who we all have the perception is the best network. While Sprint was talking the talk, T-Mobile was walking the walk, showing the competition that it can be done without all of the hype.

Let’s not forget that T-Mobile was the first to really push Wi-Fi voice calls, and they made it work. The found ways to improve the in-home coverage with their Femto cells that they handed out to customers. They constantly look for ways to improve the network. Now, they do it as cheap as they can, they aren’t going to pay top dollar if they don’t have to, but they are continuing to make the push. While they don’t like the DAS model, they will live with it if they have to. You see, they realize that bandwidth and coverage are important. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to build out the rural areas yet, I guess they don’t see a big pay back at this time.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

If T-Mobile can come from #4 with such a push that they can become #3, why can’t they become #2? This is the perfect time to do it because AT&T seems more worried about their DirecTV purchase than they do about improving the network on a nationwide basis. That’s OK, they figure their good enough and will probably maintain the LTE network until 5G comes out. I am thinking that T-Mobile could push for #2, but they would have to build more rural sites. I am not sure what their goal is right now except to improve the network and have bragging rights on speed. Maybe that is enough, to make Verizon look over their shoulder and to catch AT&T watching TV while T-Mobile pushed ahead quickly and impressively.

TOWER CLIMBING: AN INTRODUCTION (The book about getting started as a tower climber)

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

T-Mobile wants to sunset 3G quickly, they want VoLTE to be the voice of choice, they want data to rule. They understand how expensive it is to maintain legacy hardware and a legacy network that will soon be EOL. The sooner they can be all LTE, they can shut down the 2G and 3G networks, then they will be saving more money.I would bet Sprint engineers want to do this, but budgets won’t allow it so they still deploying 3G. That is my opinion. 3G vendors will capitalize on maintaining older products like they have done in the past.

You may think that I favor T-Mobile, but the facts are the facts. T-Mobile is moving ahead and making things happen. They are improving and they make good decisions. I wish them well and I hope they make a serious run for #2. It appears that with Legere at the helm, that may be possible.

To sum it up:

I actually thought Sprint was going to build the NGN network. I thought that they would move ahead and be a leader in the industry. Look how wrong I was! T-Mobile is really the carrier to watch, they really want the #1 spot which is giving them the momentum to push into #2. I hope they can do it because we all love the underdog, right? Their timing is great because they are catching AT&T watching TV instead of the wireless network and the only money Sprint is spending is on new commercials. Another thing to give T-Mobile is that they know how to make viral videos, which is free advertising, again, Legere’s marketing is amazing. I am becoming a fan of this guy.

Good luck T-Mobile, this industry needs a good shake up. You passed Sprint with flying colors, now it’s time for a real test. Can you do it? Can you spearhead right through AT&T into the #2 position? I don’t know but I am rooting for you to push them hard. Good luck!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Wireless Carriers State of Affairs Commentary

August 2, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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The carriers seem to be very slow this year on growth, at least wireless network growth. Oh sure, if you talk to them they are growing by leaps and bounds. But if you are in deployment, you are either busy or really slow. It seems like more of the same old work.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have the work that we see and I am grateful for it. I just don’t see much work outside of the carriers like before. The utilities seem to be satisfied with what they have and public safety is still holding their breath for a LTE system that could serve them outside of the carriers. You know, like what we all thought FirstNet would do. They apparently will be the government’s first MVNO. All that spectrum and we might as well wait for the 5G networks to roll out. Way to go FirstNet, you’re LTE system will be deployed along with the latest 5G system. Maybe you want to start the RFP process over again. (Sorry, just frustrated to see something so promising turn out to be late and “business as usual”!)

So where are we with the carriers. Well, Verizon is rolling with the normal growth that we all expect from the # 1 network. They appear to be adding towers and rolling out CRAN/oDAS with the intent to get the biggest bang they can with the spectrum they have. All this while working on a standard for 5G, I mean a real standard, not just lip service. Verizon rolls on with their plan to be the biggest and best. While all the other carriers say they are good enough, Verizon appears to dominate with coverage and reliability, at least that’s what I see.

AT&T seems to be in a hold pattern for wireless. I see them planning a lot but just doing what they have to. I really can’t believe it but from my perspective, they seem to be sending the message that Verizon is the best and we’re good enough. They have a great network and are clearly #2, but the whole DirecTV merger seems to have them more worried about bundling packages than improving the network. They add where they absolutely have to, but other than that, their good enough, right?

Then there is T-Mobile, the #3 carrier who seems to be pretty motivated to catch up to AT&T. This is their big chance with AT&T resting on its current network. I see T-Mobile doing more to roll out and densify the LTE system. They also have a pretty amazing marketing system, seriously, that John Legere looks like a genius from my vantage point. They continue to pump money into the network with improvements, densification, and wireless improvements. They may not catch up to Verizon anytime soon but WOW! They really are pushing the envelope and this is the perfect time to leave #4 in the dust.

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Sprint is the #4 carrier and with the effort they’re putting into expand, it is no surprise to me. They have more spending cuts and are tighter with their money that the Scrooge was before Christmas! I feel bad for the people working there to be buried under all of that debt. I will say one thing, financially they seem to be pulling ahead. However, where will they be in 3 years when they have the only operational CDMA system, and not for nostalgia reasons but because they have to support voice in some way. They should be rolling out VoLTE soon, but will it be too late? If Verizon were smart they would sunset CDMA as soon as possible so that anyone who roams onto their system needs to have VoLTE.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

So what about the tower owners like American Tower, Crown Castle, and SBA? They play a huge part in this. The leases they have and the assets that they have will make them a serious partner in this because the carriers need to pay them a lot of money each month. They have pretty solid leases where companies can’t get out of them no matter what. They tie the carriers into long-term leases. All of this has made them really strong and a good long-term investment. However, some companies, like Sprint are going to do all that they can to reduce the number of leases with their move to roll out the new network on monopoles. I have to admit it’s a cool idea to save money. But let me ask you, what will is cost up front to do this? Is it worth it? Can they really save money by doing this? Will the municipalities and townships allow this? There is more to this than just saving the OpEx, the CapEx may not be worth it. Especially if they have no cash or high debt. Remember how much it costs to move a site? The tower owners know! They bank on that being an issue for the carriers when they set their rates. These guys are smart!

However, this makes it a ripe market for new companies to come in an offer better rates or maybe a disruptor to make a difference in the tower market. If someone could get a few key towers built then they would be ahead of the game, or would they? I have to tell you I personally have been in touch with several companies that wanted to build new towers and when they reached out to the carriers to see if there was interest, guess what the carriers said, N-O as in no. So why build it if they won’t come? So the carriers are shooting themselves in the foot, and I would bet it’s because they just don’t want to deal with the one-off towers. Then they complain about tower lease prices. OK carriers, then make a difference and move ahead with the smaller guys or stop complaining!

TOWER CLIMBING: AN INTRODUCTION (The book about getting started as a tower climber)

Let’s look at one more thing. The new FAA ruling requiring a 50’ tower to have lights in a residential area? Article found here, http://wirelessestimator.com/articles/2016/new-faa-rules-will-require-some-50-to-200-foot-towers-to-be-marked/ in case you don’t believe me. Painting is OK, I get that, but what if they require beacons? I know that the FAA should have one of these beacons near their house, they just made all neighborhood hate having any tower near them because they feel a plane that is 50’ off of the ground should be able to see the pole ahead of them. This is probably for the drones they expect to see but seriously, is the FAA smoking crack? If a drone can’t see the tower, then what? They should watch where they are going. They should not be flying at night. And if a plane is 50’ off of the ground in a residential neighborhood, like mine, I am going to be calling 911 and looking for a crash, seriously.

To digress even more, this is probably because of another report I read, https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2010/May/Met_tower_Power_Point_St._Cloud.pdf. Why do I bring this up? If you look at this PDF, you see that all of the towers are in the middle of a field where the land is very flat. This is a case to put lights on smaller tower when there is absolutely nothing around. Again, for planes flying under 200 feet AGL, like the ultralight (which should be higher than 200’ and not fly over developments) and drones. I think to mandate this nationwide is a bit extreme and they just added a lot of work for approvals for new towers. The way I see it this will stunt tower growth even more, giving the leverage to the large tower companies, so for them it might be a pain to retrofit the towers, but the bigger picture is that they just put another nail in the coffin of startups.

If you though NIMBY was an issue before, get ready for a new line of complaints when people realize they will have to live with a beacon flash outside their window all night long. People complain about street lamps near them, can you imagine a beacon flashing outside of their window.

On the other hand, this should be a good thing for the small cell industry because they generally go on lower poles and could be put anywhere. So now the small cell will literally be right outside their window, at eye level.

All of this makes the tower owners even more powerful and gives them amazing control over the carrier’s destiny.

I have to admit, I am really impressed with Crown Castles investment into the small cell arena and the way that they advanced a single small cell site into multiple small cell and oDAS sites. This really makes them look like they are preparing for the future. They got the fiber and they have the assets. They also seem to have a good plan which puts them in a favorable position. If the carriers want to move away from these leases, then they should not have sold their towers, which they did to pay for the spectrum, right? How is that working out? The old saying, rob Peter to pay Paul, is coming back to haunt them. To be fair, I would have done the same thing, they got a great influx of money, they were able to reduce staff, and they gave them to companies that do tower leasing for a living. Now they need to pay the rent for the rest of their time on the tower.

So let me know what you think, email wade4wireless@gmail.com when you think of something to say!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Can Sprint Get Back to Good?

May 31, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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Commentary and my opinions!

Can Sprint get back to #3? Boy, Sprint keeps telling us how great their network is, then they make announcements that they are going to put the minimal amount of money into the network. Trust me, if you are a Sprint vendor, you feel the pinch. They aren’t just driving the prices down, they just say “no, we really don’t need to expand or upgrade or improve” to most of the vendors out there. That’s OK because apparently they have a $10 Billion bond debt due in a few years. So why is it that all of the other carriers seem to be making money but Sprint can’t seem to do it? I was listening to RCR’s Martha DeGrasse talking to Iain Gillot about the Sprint situation. Sprint is really in trouble. Can Marcelo Claure make the difference? Can Softbank pull them back to #3? Can anyone help Sprint get out of debt? Does anyone know where all the money went?

So Sprint is pulling back the spend, no kidding. Did anyone bid on the NGN offer over a year ago? I worked it and what a waste of time. Holidays and weekends spent to make that company happy and they didn’t do anything really. I know that they are doing a little, very little.

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So let’s look at what they are doing. They are removing the Clearwire Huawei gear and replacing it with 2.5G LTE gear, it’s about time. They are only doing this because they have to. It is part of the budget. The one thing I don’t see from Sprint is anything to do with VoLTE or SDN or anything to really bring the network to a LTE only network. I guess they are really counting on CDMA for voice will through 2020, it’s crazy that they have no money and yet they expect to maintain a legacy network. Way to go Sprint, well thought out. Spend less now so you can maintain legacy discontinued equipment 3 years from now. Good move genius! I guess if you don’t have the money to get new tires for your car, you hope it stays on the road until you have the money. Good luck with that!

So even though Sprint has a smaller workforce that the other guys and they seem to have a heavy management structure, I guess they can turn the ship around. I really hope so because it you look at T-Mobile; they seem to be making all the right moves. They are advancing their network, building out VoLTE, LTE, densifying, everything they need to do to sunset CDMA, saving them more money I the near future, and they have a great system. Verizon, which goes without saying, is not only doing all of this but they are building a network that is 5G capable, densifying, building out VoLTE, improving their services, and making it the shining example. Then you have AT&T who did put a lot of time and money into the network and continues to advance, but they think that they have plenty of coverage for now in most markets. They have been working on different deals but that means that they just haven’t been investing in the network the way I think they should be. Can they get back on track? Who knows, maybe they think their fine. Let Verizon lead the way.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS showing you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute.

Let’s play the “What if” game about bankruptcy!

What if Sprint declared bankruptcy? For one, Legere at T-Mobile would have a field day with a string of new commercials! For the industry it would be a major hit. All the stock prices would go down. Softbank might look really bad, but then they could re-organize the debt and manage it better. Would Softbank be able to keep its hold on Sprint? I think so, but they know it would be difficult and it may create more problems that solve them. They are already falling behind the technology race, (VoLTE and SDN) compared to the others who are racing to sunset CDMA. I don’t see them doing this until that $10B in debt comes due around 2020, and it would be a last resort, but it may save them.

Let’s play the “What if” game about a takeover!

We are pretty sure that the FCC and SEC in the USA would not let that happen unless Sprint would go into bankruptcy, but even then it seems more like Sprint mismanaged the money rather that a competition issue, so it may not happen even then. The government would really have to “pity” Sprint to make that happen. So who would take them over? When listening to Iain Gillot with Martha DeGrasse on RCR, it would have to be someone like Vodaphone. But wait! Softbank already took them over, and look how that’s going! So the takeover already happened, but was it the wrong partner? We all thought that Softbank would put money into Sprint, well, it doesn’t look at way. They are making Sprint think about every dime they spend, something that they should have been doing long before this. Let’s remember that Sprint was already taken over and it doesn’t seem to be pushing them ahead except for the fact they really seem to be making some good financial moves. They are working to get out of debt. So maybe Softbank is making the right moves. I just want them to move ahead with the network, but if you don’t have the money, you start positioning yourself to be more fiscally responsive, which Sprint does appear to be doing right now. Maybe Sprint needs to make these moves to save themselves.

The Network is Falling Behind

Yes, the network is falling behind but Sprint is trying to build the company back up. They are making moves that will help them get the money to do something again. People are looking at Network Vision like it was a failure, but they have a large network built the best way they could at that time. I could go into what they did wrong, but what’s the point. Now they are trying to build around what they have and move ahead. Unfortunately, it will put them behind all the big boys. They don’t seem to care. I think Sprint is so bad off financially that they need to make moves like this. All their previous moves put them here. Do you know that in 2018 they will have a 2015 network? Does that bother anyone? I know you think that the older network would be cheaper to run, but it’s really not, the LTE network is much cheaper to run that a combo LTE and CDMA costs more money to maintain and grow. It’s really better to sunset the older network to save on maintenance costs.

Comparisons:

Hey, we all see T-Mobile moving ahead quickly with LTE, and Verizon is always pushing ahead. AT&T has been spending money on other parts of the business, but they know they will have to keep pushing and all of those carriers see that VoLTE and NFV play an important role in sun setting CDMA. They all know that the sooner CDMA/GSM goes away the less money they have to spend to maintain an older system. They also know that LTE is a common system, soon becoming a commodity. It will be cheaper to build, easier to expand, and OEM interchangeable. The OEMs don’t like that but they understand that its part of progress.

All those companies should have everything in place for 5G. Sprint on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be moving anywhere with advancing the network for 5G, and I think it will hurt them. They think the network is good enough. I get it, financially they are trouble and they want to get back to good. Apparently they feel that to get back to good the network has to stay where it is, so that in 2020 they will have a 2015 network. This shows that the vision for the network is to maintain. I understand they have a small cell plan, and it may take hold in 2017 at the earliest. This will put them behind the rest.

What’s Next?

I hope they get back to good, seriously. Once that happens they can improve their network and become a leader again, but for now they just seem content to be #4. They have to realize that T-Mobile is building out their LTE network to be one of the best, densifying and moving to VoLTE, so they can sunset CDMA and start to decommission the old system. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all want to do this because the savings will be huge! LTE is already a commodity and the OEMs can already work in each other’s networks, so they will continue to drive down the costs of equipment. They created the turf system to drive vendors down, but they also see a decline in quality, (you made your bed, now lie in it).

One thing to think about, by the time Sprint builds out their NGN or small cell deployment or whatever they do, it looks like it will be too late to be cutting edge, in fact, they will deploy so far behind that catch up may not happen. It would be a complete replacement to get back to where the competition is. But hey, who cares, marketing will save them. If you can’t be the best be the cheapest, right, wasn’t that the original plan? By the way, how is that working out?

Listen, I am rooting for Sprint, I hope all the carriers succeed and grow, seriously. Sprint needs to become a major competitor. they won’t do it by sitting still. Standing still means you are falling behind, and that is never good in this industry. You know, they could always sell pagers, maybe that is going to be their niche, pagers, not phones.

Can they do it?

I hope so!

Feedback? Email me, wade4wireless@gmail.com.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention.

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The Business of Sprint Densification

January 28, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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In the past 2 weeks we all are reading about Sprint. I have to tell you, it’s like a soap opera listening to these guys. Here is a company that appears to have real problems. They had an earnings call and the fact that they said “the sky is not falling” was such good news their stock went up. All this after a Re/Code blog post sent stocks downward, (American Tower, Crown Castle, and Sprint) by stating the plan of Sprint. The power of blogging when a blog post can send stocks spiraling down and make a mediocre earnings call look great.

So what am I talking about? Let’s review what was said on the call, what I hear from contractors and PMs, and all the articles out there. I include the articles so that you know I am not making this up.

First off, Sprint did gain subscribers and the churn is down. Good news, not great news, but it’s not bad but not as good as any of the competition and even past calls. I mean Sprint is offering ½ off anyone else’s contract price, but they expect to keep the people well after the contract is up. Good luck with that but if someone came to you because you’re cheap, do you think they will stay because they like you or do you think they will continue to be cheap? Let’s look at it this way, if Wal-Mart shoppers found a cheaper place to shop, would they continue to go to Wal-Mart? What do you think?

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Let’s talk more good news, Sprint is bragging about the fast network they have, article found here, where Nielson Mobile Performance states Sprint is faster than the other big carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. How is this so? Crowd source data says so, that’s how. So this is Sprints LTE download speeds according to crowd source information.

Then, how will Sprint improve the network? They have a plan that will do several things. First off, the densification with small cells and mini-macro sites will grow the network.

What is a macro mini or a mini macro? This could be either a single cell eNodeB, meaning just one BTS on a pole, probably with an Omni antenna but they would point it towards the area where they need the coverage. There are 2 ways to handle this so let me cover them both. It could be something like Nokia has, they are making an all in one station which is more like a large small cell, pretty awesome! This is an all in one unit. Or, the likely way Sprint will probably go because they don’t want to buy anything new, take an eNodeB that they already have in stock or from a macro site. They would deploy a single eNodeB with the smaller BBU cabinet about 5 feet off the ground and the radio head would probably be on the top of the pole. Then the antenna with the desired coverage. I believe that Sprint will go this way so that they can use what they have in stock and equipment they can rip off of existing macro sites to deploy. It seems they would rather pay the installers and integrators rather than buy new equipment. The site should have batteries so they may have to install a battery cable, which would be heavy and sit on the ground with about 4 hours of backup.

What about backhaul? Sprint does admit that they are going to get creative with the backhaul of the small cells and mini-macro sites. I read an article, found here, about how Sprint plans to use anything for backhaul. This makes sense to be and here is why. Microwave is one option, and with the removal of Clearwire they should have a ton of Dragonwave gear lying around. They can still use microwave on these poles, although it’s more to install and if they pay normal rent that would cost more, it has very little maintenance cost compared to the monthly recurring OpEx you have with fiber. It would make sense in the long run but you can’t throw in anywhere. You need to have line of site or at least near line of site to connect the sites. Then you need to go to a site that has fiber backhaul. As you add more sites going back to the fiber site you need to add capacity back to the core. Mr. John Saw also mentioned the 2.5GHz UE Relay for backhaul. This is cheap and easy to install and the small cells may come with the UE Relay box already installed. This is cheap and easy to install but the sites they go to need to have the added capacity. The other drawback is growth. If the small cell gets loaded then the UE backhaul may limit the backhaul speeds. Also, you need to dedicate that valuable spectrum of 2.5GHz for backhaul. So while it’s pretty cheap up front, it has a huge downside in the long run using the 2.5GHz spectrum, but I get it, Sprint is doing this build as cheap as possible.

Did you really think I wouldn’t talk about the reallocation of sites from the towers to the poles? I read an article by Ken Schmidt, found here on LinkedIn, that helps to clarify that Sprint can’t move from the towers overnight. Instead, I see them doing the densification where they build out the poles for a lot less rent. How will they save money doing this? Well, if it was one to one it would make sense. But you have to figure that it takes about 30 small cells or mini macros to cover what one full-blown macro site would do. So leaving macro altogether would be like deploying a Wi-Fi only system with spot coverage, not a reliable mobile network. It will take a HetNet to become a reliable network. Now, they are using Mobilitie to roll out and this makes sense because they are doing all that they can to bypass the tower companies. They are also doing the best that they can to use Right-of-Way, RoW, to save money. Let me explain RoW, if you can have Right-of-Way access on a pole you can install it for very little rent annually, even lower than going on a pole with the utility which is much lower than going with a traditional tower site owner. RoW is not free, you need to apply for permits and install a new pole and run power and figure out backhaul and pay for the installation. Make sure the neighbors are happy! Neighbors include not only the residents and businesses nearby but the city or municipality that will need to live with this new pole. Make sure it runs quietly and look beautiful. Everyone is looking and the locals are listening. San Francisco did a good job explaining this here. They would also like to install in light poles because that would be where the people are at, in malls, strip malls, arenas, etc. To see more on this here is a good explanation.

Something to think about, to put in a mini macro you would probably want height to get above clutter, maybe over 80 feet high. The reality is that most cities and municipalities will not allow this due to pole height restrictions, especially in RoW locations. So that could be a major problem with the RF design.

What about the network support? Currently Ericsson Management Services (EMS) handles this. Their contract will be up some time this year. They already have the RFP out there for a replacement but it is not clear who will win. My bet is the lowest bidder. If Sprint goes with someone new there will be a transitional period and they may need to retain some of the Ericsson people that can help guide the transition to make it painless.

Did I mention that they are almost done with the layoff of 2,500 (mostly customer care) people? According to them this is 7% of the workforce, and then they plan to hire back 1,300 people, guessing about 4% of the workforce, mostly RF engineers and sales people. This will save money, lose the customer service people and gain some sales and engineering talent. I find this interesting but it’s a well needed shift ion talent. Sprints engineers are really overworked. I also think that Sprint knows that if the sales people don’t sell then they will be replaced quickly. They are saving money doing this.

I know that everyone is looking not only at Sprint but also at Softbank for what they are doing. Let’s face it, they are really running the show for the network expansion based on what they learned in Japan. Is this innovation or insanity? We will see, but I have to admit, it’s really shaking up the industry. We need to shake up the industry once in a while. I thought that the deceased LightSquared might do that but they just went away, so sad. Will there be innovation with FirstNet? Maybe if Rivada can build the network but if the carriers win the bid it will just be another expansion, no innovation.

I have been talking to some contractors and Sprint is still doing some 2.5GHz growth, it is not dead. Mobilitie is handling the densification project. They are learning along the way but they have some very qualified people. As long as they can focus and be willing to pivot then they should do fine. They have already started. The one thing they need to very aware of is the permitting and planning done by the cities will change as they do the build. Trust me, the larger cities are keeping a close eye on the deployment so that they can learn and adjust the rules quickly to avoid problems in their city. They have already learned from the ExtaNet and Crown Castle deployments. This could be something that Mobilitie should look at and learn from.

I wish Sprint the best of luck. They are really shaking up the industry. They gave me a lot to talk about. Thank you Sprint, we all have so much to write about and talk about!

Last thing, there was an article that there is still Huawei gear in the Sprint network. Let’s clarify, it’s on the Clearwire network. Sprint is trying to take down the Clearwire network but they can’t because there is a court order making them keep it up in some areas.

If you’re interested in why some see this as network suicide, read Iain Gillott’s article in RCR, found here, and he lays it out step by step.

Earnings call recorded here and transcript here.

My last Sprint post is here.

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Will Sprint Shine or Fade?

January 18, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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I believe most of you see that Sprint has been an interesting story, but the real question is will they shine or fade. Sprint has made a lot of moves only to see their subscriber base shrink. They have done a so-so job marketing and their network has some ups but mostly remains the same. They have made it clear that they only want to grow if someone else pays for it and that they don’t want to spend any money if possible.

So what is Sprint’s next move? Well, there are several, let’s cover the ones that concern the company’s network.

What about the network? That’s what I am interested in. Sprint’s optimization effort really seems to be paying off. They have been making inroads by improving their Rootmetrics scores. For instance, in Austin they were #1 in download speed and tied for #1 in performance, reliability, and calls, per this article. That’s not all. They also got #1 in DC for call performance and network reliability. So Sprint is improving their network as they wind down their optimization effort this year. Now they should start growing their network. It seems like they have trouble doing both.

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So Sprint has handed over the densification project to Mobilitie, who has started growing the network. It appears that they already started with applications being filed in Salem City, Ma, found here. Mobilitie is taking on the task of building and financing the network for Sprint. What a deal for Sprint. I hope Mobilitie has good financing, which I am sure they do. So it appears that Sprint will finally move ahead growing their network. They are finding ways to do it without supporting any of the traditional players in the ecosystem.

How will they do this? Two things come to mind. Sprint announced that they plan to cut over $1B from the budget by running away from tower companies. They really want to get out of their leases with American Tower and Crown Castle, according to this article in ReCode, they intend to get out of those leases and find a cheaper way to do this. Well, let’s look at this, chances are good that they signed long-term leases with this guys so they will have to wait until the lease is up to make a cost-effective move. I know that American Tower leases are tough and binding so Sprint would pay now or pay later, so why be in a hurry. Also, to move will cost money, so will they really move? Does that make sense? It would in the long haul of they can save enough money on the monthly recurring, the OpEx would really go down. However, I think that Sprint is too savvy for that, I think they will let the densification happen on Mobilitie’s dime then start to decommission the macro sites where they can. For one thing, if you talk to anyone at Sprint you realize they have no money to spend except on hiring presidents. The infrastructure needs to limp along for a while longer. So I don’t see any reason for ATC or CC to worry about this immediately.

What else does ReCode bring up? The expensive and horrible contracts that Sprint is in for backhaul. They mention how Sprint is relying on AT&T and Verizon for fiber connections, most of which are probably antiquated anyway. According to the article they spend over $1Billion a year on this. Now, they plan to use microwave again, back to the future? Microwave was quite common but let’s look at this. They still need fiber at the sites to get it back to the core, right? Sprint also should look at expansion, will they pick a microwave vendor that can grow with them? It’s not necessarily the vendor’s limitations. They need to pay more to rent extra space on the tower to add the dishes, they need to make sure that the licensed spectrum is enough for 100Mbps or more of backhaul. Then, the site they are sending it to has to expand to support multiple sites instead of just one. All of this and there needs to be line of site for the link to work properly. Sure, you could go NLOS, near line of site or no line of site technology, but it may not give you the bandwidth you really want from a site. Their maintenance costs might be higher because if they have weather related issues it will mean more dispatches. It will still be cheaper than paying the monthly OpEx for fiber. They have to really think it through, but they have really smart engineers, I am sure that they are very confident that all the pieces will fall into place, right?

So, you may have asked about using in-band for backhaul. I know that this is a major thing with the small cells and mini macro sites because Sprint put it in their RFPs. This is something that Sprint has expressed an interest in using their licensed 2.5GHz spectrum for backhaul. They have plenty of it but will they do this today and stunt the growth for tomorrow? I find it interesting that a company whose CFO said that the chunks of 600MHz spectrum are not enough, article found here, would use the 2.5GHz spectrum for backhaul. It doesn’t make sense to me because he won’t participate in the 600MHz auction because it’s not enough spectrum. They decide not to get some spectrum, in these days of aggregation, and opt for no spectrum. No wonder John LeGere makes fun of these guys. Sprint has plenty of 2.5GHz spectrum to grow but they are slowly rolling it out. They also appear to keep the 3G network up and running for voice for some time while all the other carriers are moving to VoLTE to sunset 3G. On the bright side Sprint should be able to buy used 3G equipment to maintain their system for voice.

They need to be aligned. Marcello Claure has been hiring regional presidents. Very regional and specific, like Johan Chung for Northern California and Nevada, Jim Mills for Illinois and Wisconsin, Conrad Hunter for New England region, and Karen Paletta for New York and Philly Tri-State regions. For more go to their Newsroom site here. Will this pay off? How will they structure this? They have technical VPs that run each region so will these presidents run everything or just sales and marketing? Will they put all of the technical personnel under the same umbrella? I doubt it but I find it interesting to have a president of the South, Jaime Jones, and then a specific president of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, Brian S Miller. That’s a lot of presidents. So if a customer wants to speak to the president, the Sprint rep can say, which one?

So, will Sprint survive or should they merge with T-Mobile? Maybe a cable company (Comcast) should take them over. It would make sense and they definitely need to grow but the heavy debt load that Sprint has really makes them an ugly target, what a shame. One thing I have learned over the past several months is that Sprint appears to be in trouble, financially. They appear to be bleeding subscribers but I think that’s because T-Mobile is growing their network and aggressively rolling out and their marketing campaign is changing the industry. Good for T-Mobile.

How did Sprint get here, I really don’t know, but if you call PNC Bank maybe they will connect you to Dan Hesse who sits on the board there now, maybe he has some answers.

It takes money and a good plan to run a network like this. It is not an easy thing. There are 3 carriers who appear to be doing it right and one who consistently struggles, why is that? I hope that Marcelo Claure and Softbank can turn Sprint around. It may be painful and maybe they can be disrupting enough to be a game changer. We’ll see.

I really want Sprint to succeed and become healthy again, sooner than later, but they really need to start moving in a positive direction soon. Maybe they already are and I just don’t see it.

By the way, the carriers need to free the small cells! Find out more by clicking here.

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2016 WD4Cast

January 11, 2016 Wade Leave a comment

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The 2016 Wireless Deployment Forecast Edition!

OK, so I thought it would be nice to see where we think the deployment industry will go in 2016. So I look at this as the Wireless Deployment Forecast, WD4Cast. What is happening with small cells, DAS, the carriers, FirstNet, and the deployment industry? I give you my views here, from a high level of course and this is my perspective. Keep in mind this is an educated guess based on what I see today. I sure don’t believe much of what AT&T says after they completely killed deployment in 2015, remember that? I am sure that MasTec does because they had to lay off a slew of people and watch their training facility fill with cobwebs.

The Wireless Deployment Handbook, LTE Small Cells, CRAN, and DAS edition.

600MHz Auction. I may bring up the 600 MHz in this but if the auction is this year then the carriers won’t have much until next year. They will wait for the OEMs to have a radio head before they can do much. Each carrier will have their own specifications. So I see 600MHz happening in 2017 but they may prepare for it in 2016. However, the broadcasters will have their hands full with the changes that are to come. Will they just decommission and retire? Will they move to a new band? Will they just merge with another carrier and share the digital channels. Let’s face it, more broadcast channels didn’t need the new channels that they got when they went digital, so why not share? It makes sense to me but I really don’t know what the FCC implications would be. It sounds like a great idea if a broadcaster could lease out the other channels they have for over the air, OTA, coverage. Or they could split the maintenance and lease costs with the new partner. Just a few suggestions.

Deployment will increase this year. We all expect so much but the carriers don’t want to spend more than they have to because they want to see an increase in revenue. While AT&T says that, look at the DirecTV acquisition, they want to grow new sources of revenue, so they stopped the wireless growth for a year. They also want to come up with a better way to deploy. They originally thought that they could put a car on top of a tower, or at least the equivalent of the weight of a car, but they had to rethink that. So maybe they are trying to figure out how to deploy properly. Whereas Verizon and T-Mobile decided to build more sites over the past 2 year and it seems to be working very well. They are getting the biggest bang for each dollar they spend on spectrum, how cool is that? By building more sites they can shrink the cell coverage, alleviate the loading, and improve customer experience. What a concept! Now that they figured it out maybe the other carriers will follow suit.

Let’s talk FirstNet. If you’re on a team that responds to RFPs, then you will be busy for most of 2016 with FirstNet because they will have everyone responding to the RFP coming out very soon. Other than that we won’t see any work from that until maybe mid 2017. The site acquisition teams and the site engineering teams may see it before that. In fact, if AT&T does respond to the offer like they said they would, then it will be all the AT&T contractors that will get the work because, in my opinion, AT&T is in the best position to win it. Remember that the FirstNet build is more than deployment. They need billing systems, device distribution, and more. They got nothing and need all the systems to be in place so that they can cover all public safety entities in the USA. Not something that most companies can do but a carrier is already setup to do this.

Verizon Wireless has been building with a steady plan, and I see them ramping up a bit in 2016 just because they will have more spectrum to deploy. “They won some in the previous auction and the equipment should be ready. One thing that all of the carriers will want to do is put as much in one radio head as possible to save on the tower rent. They don’t want to overload the tower but more importantly they want to cram as much as they can into a radio head. They want to see if one antenna can handle this and 600MHz so that they can add weight but no more units to the tower. Don’t worry, if you are working for them you will be replacing what they have and they will need to do structural on the tower for the additional weight. It will be more work on the tower connecting up more fiber, maybe, and more RF cables from the radio head to the antennas. Maybe even replacing the antennas.

AT&T will finally do some more field work. What choice do they have? They need to start growing again so that they can deploy the new spectrum. Deploy, deploy, deploy! They will expand the tower sites. I do believe they will develop a small cell or CRAN plan as well. While they said it was too expensive, Verizon helped drive the costs down because of their cutting edge thinking. AT&T just wanted to take over DirecTV, they didn’t have time to be creative. However, another plus with AT&T is that they plan to deploy the Wireless Local Loop, WLL, for broadband connectivity. This is awesome if they actually do it because t will compete with the cable companies for access to homes, if they can make it work! It is a big demand to offer that much wireless broadband to a home for video. Just because T-Mobile USA offers free video streaming doesn’t mean AT&T will.

T-Mobile is still growing and seeing the rewards of more customers, they well deserve them because they have been adding more sites and more spectrum! Way to go T-Mobile! I appreciate all the work you’re doing and I see you doing more, maybe 20% more in 2016. I hope so anyway because you have the opportunity to compete with the big boys and leave Sprint in the dust. This is great that you are deploying. T-Mobile USA has done some great things in 2015, with the growth of the system and the distribution of small cells to the home, the femto cells, and the marketing that they have in place to really propel their growth by leaps and bounds. I really have to give a lot of credit to Legere for all that he has done to grow and put his foot on Sprint. I would say that AT&T and Verizon see a real competitor in T-Mobile, a real threat.

Sprint may actually start the densification that they talked about for years. We all know Sprint. They will find the most cost-effective, (cheapest), way to do it. They went through a learning process, a bunch of RFPs to vendors, to eliminate any normal way of doing it and then they threw it in the lap of Mobilitie to make it happen. Good luck Sprint, the deployment teams will be happy for the work as long as they make money and don’t do it for free or at a loss. Remember, they want to earn a living, not work for nothing. Now, to be fair, Sprint isn’t actually doing the deployment management, it is actually Mobilitie who is making this happen. From what I hear Mobilitie is already moving ahead and laying out the plan for densification. They are working to deploy the mini macro, which is really a single sector cell site. That single sector will probably be an Omni antenna. It appears as though Sprint will deploy in-band backhaul where possible so they don’t have to run fiber anywhere or mount a panel, so this will maintain a low profile site, in theory. I am curious to see how that goes and if that 2.5GHz spectrum is more valuable as backhaul than fronthaul. If you were an investor and saw that spectrum as backhaul like 5.8GHz, how would you feel about it? Mobilitie is making a move and should have a lot of work for deployment teams this year. It appears their plan is innovative, or cheap depending on your perspective, by deploying on non tower company owned sites and using as much existing equipment taken from inventory and macro sites. Again, this is merely an observation, not sure if they will actually deploy this way.

LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS. I love the HetNet! I will start with the outdoor deployments. I really think that this year, if the carriers deploy they will rely on deploying small cells and oDAS around town because, as Verizon has shown, this is the best way to utilize the spectrum that you already have. I think that T-Mobile will follow suit because they are smart and they intend to densify the heavily populated areas. I know that we all talk about the Sprint densification plan but all the carriers are doing this, they just call it a Het Net system, (Heterogeneous Network). The Het Net is where you deploy multiple Macro, small cell, and DAS. I would also include Wi-Fi and LTE-U in this network. Throw it all in there and you have a Het Net system. I am really excited about the 3.5GHz spectrum that the FCC will open up to LTE because of the new opportunities. If the FCC opens this up and gives out the spectrum it will be a beautiful thing when we can deploy on the lightly licensed spectrum for fronthaul and backhaul. WOW, it is really going to help smaller businesses deploy small cell as a service, (SCAAS), and I can’t wait!

By the way, Carriers need to Free the Small Cells!

Let’s look inside, indoor coverage. If you look around you will see that most people rely on Wi-Fi for most everything but voice. Am I right? There are still issues with handing off the call to Wi-Fi. I know we expected carrier Wi-Fi to pick up the slack but the only company I saw to make inroads on this was T-Mobile who did a great job with Wi-Fi calling, but it still doesn’t hand off to LTE very well, at least that is what I am told. So how will we improve indoor coverage? I know we will rely on DAS and Wi-Fi, but the carriers don’t want to pay for any more indoor coverage that doesn’t have a payback, I get it. What we need is to put small cells and Wi-Fi and LTE-U in as many buildings as we can. Who will pay? The landlords and the businesses in the buildings. Who will deploy? The deployment teams doing small cell and DAS

That’s all for this week, be smart, be safe, and pay attention.

I hope this helps, for more get the eBook! Find out where to get the eBook here.

By the way, the carriers need to free the small cells! Find out more by clicking here.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

How to Finance DAS Systems

December 28, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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What if I gave you a way to remove an obstacle in deploying DAS systems? When selling DAS, usually the price can be in the way, even though you offer your best price, you may need a way to help the customer pay for it. Maybe this will help you move ahead in your next DAS deployment. You all know that the carriers are not crazy about smaller shared DAS venues any more. T-Mobile made this very clear with their recent statements that they don’t want to pay for DAS systems. They are tired of paying for these systems and getting a limited return. They are not alone because Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint were already headed in that direction. Small cells are going to help drive the cost of DAS systems down and now that LTE is taking over, the new systems will be all digital. It also looks like they will be a mix of Wi-Fi and LTE-U. Here is a way to help the enterprise and real estate companies pay for the systems.

By the way, the carriers need to free the small cells!

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Before you start to panic, the large venues, like stadiums, will continue to be paid for by the carriers using a combination of LTE and Wi-Fi for content delivery. As you know everyone is using their phones and tablets to see the replays and the extended coverage at these games. The NFL gets it because they offer enhanced services in most stadiums for the people who pay to see these games. They want you to appreciate the game by seeing it live and seeing every possible angle on your device. That is really cool!

Back to the smaller venues. I just watched a presentation that Iain Gillott of IGR put together to show that most users of smart phone rely on it indoors. I would say in an enterprise environment. He sells the report here if you’re interested. This is a growing area of concern but the carriers no longer want to pay for any DAS systems. So the business or building owner will need to pick a carrier and then install. Now Wi-Fi makes it easy, if you install Wi-Fi then you offer them a data solution. But what if they need to make a call or if there is an emergency and 911 becomes an issue. If there is no voice coverage in the building then the problems compound. Many work places no longer rely on landlines, so the wireless coverage is crucial!

Voice still matters! If someone collapses do you text someone for help? Just like public safety coverage in large buildings. The first responders need to stay in touch with their crews on every floor, whether it’s the roof or the basement, everywhere in between is a critical area when there is an emergency. Lately there have been many emergencies here in the US such as fires, bombings, and shootings. What about a medical emergency? If you have a heart attack you want to make sure they can do what they can on the scene so you are stable for the ride to the hospital. That’s how I see it. First responders need to have seamless coverage.

Get your copy of the Wireless Deployment Handbook eBook that covers professional carrier end to end deployment of LTE small cells, CRAN, and DAS to show you the proper way to plan for deployment then execute, planning and action without the mistakes.

So I see the need for DAS and not just for the carriers but for public safety’s first responders. This is becoming a requirement in most cities. I am sure that building owners will push back because of the additional cost, but when someone dies in their building they may see the need. I have an example of an ordinance for Riverside, California, which has requirements for public safety radio coverage in buildings of excess of 50,000 square feet here. City of Irvine, Ca, here. Seattle, Washington, here.

First off, I would recommend that the carriers let go of their hold on the front end, it could be a small cell or the BTS, I wrote about it here, but they need to come up with a system to allow DAS to get installed so they stop being the bottle neck of the process. They say that they don’t want to pay then they won’t let anyone else install the system. Well, which is it Verizon and AT&T? Make up your mind to let the public do this so they can help your coverage. Public safety groups are so happy when someone offers to put in a system for them. They don’t push back, they say thank you!

This is where Sentry Financial can help. They will finance the DAS system for creditworthy customers so that the installers and vendors get paid. Then the owner can make reasonable payments over time and it will be a write off for them all the same. See the win-win? The vendors all get paid, the building or business owner meets the requirements without all the upfront costs.

I had a conversation with Jenn Faber (jfaber@sentryfinancial.com ) of Sentry Financial Corporation, the director of business development, about financing these systems. I am interested because I plan to work with small cell and DAS side of the industry more and more. This is a segment that is booming. We just have to come up with ways to make it affordable.

So Jenn told me that financing is a great option for the larger DAS systems going in, why? Because it provides a model where the financing is taken care of ahead of time. Here are some questions I asked her.

What DAS systems would you finance?
1. All DAS systems for creditworthy end users. Financing may include passive or active equipment as well as design and installation.
Who would finance these systems? Would it be enterprise, building owners, government entities, utilities, small to medium businesses, installers, or who?
1. We will provide lease financing to all creditworthy end-users including enterprise, building owners, utilities and middle market companies (e.g., revenues >$50M and positive net income last 3 years, tangible net worth, and audited financials).
What price range would the DAS system be in?
1. Minimum project cost of $250,000, no maximum if the end-user’s credit supports the transaction.
What OEM do you see deployed the most often?
1. Primarily SOLiD, CommScope, TE Connectivity (now part of CommScope), Corning, and JMA in DAS.
Do you have a requirement for the integrators doing the DAS installation?
1. We typically work through the OEM or integrator partner and rely on their expertise for the installation. Nevertheless, the integrators must be experienced and reputable.
When financing, what would the payment terms be like for time, like 5 or 10 years?
1. For DAS the lease term generally ranges from 36 to 60 months depending on the business accounting, tax, and other objectives of the end-user. At the end of the lease term, the end-user had the option to: purchase the system, upgrade the system, or extend the lease term.
Do you work mostly with the DAS contractors or the end-user when finding the business?
1. We typically work through an OEM or integrator partner (DAS contractor) to enable them to offer the lease financing solution to the end-user customer. We have also worked directly with the end-user.
How would a potential customer go about getting financing with your group?
1. An OEM, integrator, or end-user may contact Sentry directly, information below. Sentry typically starts with a high level overview of the project, project costs, and financials of the end-user (3 full years and most recent interim financials). If the end-user is a public company, we can get their financials online. The creditworthiness of the end-user must support the transaction.

So there you have it, all you need to know about financing a DAS system. This is one more way you can deliver DAS to your customer, one less obstacle that the integrators have to contend with.

For more information about Sentry Financial Group contact the people below.

Jennifer Faber

Director, Business Development

(801) 303-1113

Bo White

Director, Business Development

(801) 303-1137

Scott Young

Chief Executive Officer

(801) 303-1111

So remember that wireless deployment will have challenges but here is a way for you to remove one of them.

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Sprint has a Small Cell Plan!

December 17, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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Sprint is showing signs of life in the deployment world, can you believe it? They seem to be moving ahead, mostly through Mobilitie! This is great news. I have been learning more and more on this and I thought I would share.

Sprint is pushing for a way to streamline and improve the small cell deployment process. Specifically outlined in a letter that Charles McKee sent to the FCC, letter found here, which discusses the meeting Sprint’s Marcel Claure and Vonya McCann had with the FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn, (who I am a fan of because she often speaks of tower workers safety). Sprint apparently shared their growth plans with the Commissioner. Mr. Claure expressed how important it would be for Sprint to cost effectively deploy the small cells without the costly delays that jurisdictions often incur by having ridiculously slow and complicated permitting processes.

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With Sprint’s massive job cuts are Mobilitie’s gain for the work. It looks like Sprint will rely on Mobilitie for the deployment. Mobilitie will boom this year when they take on the network expansion for Sprint, but they may not get paid for it until who knows when. Remember that Mobilitie will be doing the deployment work for Sprint with the small cells and mini macro deployments. Just a not, the mini macro may look like a small cell installation, but with way more power out, pay attention to that little fact! Another thing I am seeing is that Sprint & Mobilitie are looking to do as much as they can without getting the tower companies involved.

Log your time properly, get the logbook!

Sprint, (Mobilitie), has a process in place for deployment, but it’s all the outside factors that get in the way causing delays and raising costs. For example the easements, permitting, zoning, and problems running backhaul. Depending on which jurisdiction you’re deploying in, things could go well or things could move at a snail’s pace. Many jurisdictions slow down the small cell installation and also the fiber runs. I am still a fan of wireless backhaul, but that takes proper planning, one thing most people don’t want to take the time to do up front, just my opinion there.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is a reason some jurisdictions are cautious, most of them don’t do it to be jerks, they are just trying to understand what will be installed and what the repercussions will be. Most local jurisdictions don’t always want better coverage if there will be problems, I see both sides. In the past some carriers installed noisy and ugly sites causing the local residents to be up in arms. You need to have balance with aesthetics. You need to mutually respect each other’s opinions, right? Remember that the protests can lead to the removal of a site. Since there are so many jurisdictions to deal with, streamlining, (like Mr. Claure is asking the FCC to help with), makes sense but we need to show the local residents respect.

WDH = Wireless Deployment Handbook , end to end deployment.

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I am a fan of small cell deployment and Sprint is pushing for a way to improve this, I am on board! I believe they would qualify their mini macro as a small cell at this point to speed up the densification, if it happens. Let’s face it, we all want to deploy.

Let’s not overlook the fact that Mobilitie has been preparing to deploy by asking to install on poles and install new poles just like Crown Castle has been doing. I am told that they want to replace the existing poles with taller and stronger poles for the mini macro and small cells, (again like Crown Castle has been doing). They have already sent project notes of out to city offices, like the letter they sent to the California City of Ojai, document found here. The document clearly outlines a high level plan to deploy small cells.

I was conversing with a friend of mine, Omar Masry, AICP, City Planner of San Francisco, about this.

Per Omar, “The City of San Francisco has signed agreements to allow Mobilitie to potentially install their facilities on City owned steel light and transit poles (which hold up electric wires for buses and light rail). However, as of yet no design has been approved. T-Mobile and Verizon are actively collaborating with the City on the installation of Small Cells (technically C-RAN) on existing poles. The equipment primarily involves two Ericsson mRRUs (plus an external antenna for the Verizon nodes). One challenge involves the design of the mRRUs with cabling exiting out the bottom of the enclosure then rotating back before entering the pole. Staff requested 90 degree connectors but the carrier declined. However superflex cabling was used instead to reduce the gap between the bottom of the mRRU and the pole entry point to five inches. Preferably equipment manufactures would create a variant for steel pole installations with reduced cabling visibility through alternate port locations (e.g. rear). Another challenge with the Extenet-Verizon deployment was that the initial design proposal did not include required electronic gear (cabling and combiners). This required additional redesigns to shroud the equipment at the base of the external antenna; and ensure the design was compatible with the historic districts and streetscapes that characterize San Francisco. AT&T Mobility had previously submitted applications to attach wireless facilities to steel transit poles, however the design was not approved as it featured bulky equipment enclosures and antennas on steel poles in primarily historic residential areas. Staff looks forward to working with carriers on ensuring designs are compatible with the City’s streetscapes (without noisy cooling fans , flashing lights, and logos/decals typically associated with more challenging DAS nodes on some wooden poles), while providing robust and competitive broadband services. Photo Examples of these (and other) design challenges can be found at: http://www.slideshare.net/omarmasry/slides-from-a-wireless-cellular-design-panel ”

So it looks like Sprint may be moving ahead through Mobilitie. I am hoping they deploy this year sometime before it’s too late! Mobilitie is the densification deployment team for Sprint, remember that. They will be the team rolling everything out. The mini-macro deployment could be referred to as small cells because, quite frankly, it’s easier to work with, just like the CRAN deployment. Those working with Verizon and T-Mobile know it’s easier to just lump it all into the small cell category. There are plenty of signs that they may do something soon!

Deploy, deploy, deploy! You can never have enough wireless deployments, am I right? Macro, small cell, CRAN, and DAS all are part of this amazing HetNet world we live in! Let’s deploy!

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Summary

Meeting between Softbank Owner and the USA president-elect:

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Table of Contents:

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Sprint cried WOLF one too many times!

What about T-Mobile?

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Commentary and my opinions!

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Let’s play the “What if” game about bankruptcy!

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The Network is Falling Behind

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What’s Next?

Can they do it?

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