Sprint came within a whisker of acquiring MetroPCS last weekend. We can talk about the one that got away, but we wonder even more what the future now looks like for Cricket. Many of us thought MetroPCS and Cricket were partners just made for each other, and they have complimentary networks. Where one has spectrum, the other doesn't, they both use CDMA, and they have a similar prepaid business model.
So now we know MetroPCS would rather cavort with the likes of Sprint, what's to become of Cricket? The Top 2 probably can't take over such a large network, so you need to follow the money...but it looks like nobody has any. Unless a outside suitor like Dish comes forward, it looks more than ever like MetroPCS and Cricket will need to shack up and at least take advantages of what synergies they can. We may have a couple that just can't get along, but it's what happens when you're left crying at the alter.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Plateau Transaction Clarified
As we reported, Verizon is purchasing a portion of Plateau Wireless of New Mexico, but the sale will not affect Plateau customers in Curry, Roosevelt or Quay counties. Plateau CEO Tom Phelps said Saturday that Verizon is purchasing the southeast New Mexico quadrant, which includes portions of Roswell, Carlsbad, Artesia, and Hobbs and Ruidoso. Wireless infrastructure in Eddy, Chaves and Lea counties are part of the purchase. Additionally, the wireless communications network in part of Lincoln County is included.
Phelps said the sale won’t affect customers in Clovis, Portales, Tucumcari or portions of west Texas. Phelps said selling a piece of the business gives Plateau more cash to invest in upgrading services such as high-speed wireless. The purchase includes Plateau Wireless' Cellular customers, and related operations just in the southeastern New Mexico market.
Some wireless users in the remaining Plateau areas wondered if they will still have wireless service in the affected areas since they have incompatible technology. There has been no announcement yet about whether or how long GSM service will be maintained. The subject may be addressed by the FCC, whose approval is expected this summer. How long can an even smaller Plateau survive?
Phelps said the sale won’t affect customers in Clovis, Portales, Tucumcari or portions of west Texas. Phelps said selling a piece of the business gives Plateau more cash to invest in upgrading services such as high-speed wireless. The purchase includes Plateau Wireless' Cellular customers, and related operations just in the southeastern New Mexico market.
Some wireless users in the remaining Plateau areas wondered if they will still have wireless service in the affected areas since they have incompatible technology. There has been no announcement yet about whether or how long GSM service will be maintained. The subject may be addressed by the FCC, whose approval is expected this summer. How long can an even smaller Plateau survive?
Friday, February 17, 2012
Plateau Wireless Gives Up!
It's understandable when a small wireless carrier sells out to one the Big 4, but it's troubling when it happens to the wireless arm of a rural wireline co-op. They're the ones who are supposed to operate with the best interests of their members. Today, Plateau Wireless of New Mexico agreed to sell their cellular network and customers to Verizon Wireless. It really is the new economic reality for small telecoms, but it seems so short-sighted. The future is wireless, and now it looks like Plateau has mortgaged away their future. Those wireless channels could have been used for more than just phone calls. No matter. Money talks.
The good news is that life will probably get better for Plateau customers. While Plateau offers a wide variety of plans, most of them are overpriced. When Verizon takes over, everybody gets a new CDMA phone and a chance to upgrade to the iPhone. Previous Verizon conversions from GSM to CDMA have gone smoothly and we expect this one to be, too. Plateau was a real champion of the rural wireless user, even keeping analog operating because so few farmers could afford to convert their wireless sprinkler controls over to digital.
We wish Plateau's main parent, The ENMR Telephone Cooperative, well. We hope they'll still have some customers left to co-operate with. Most of us may have cut the cord.
The good news is that life will probably get better for Plateau customers. While Plateau offers a wide variety of plans, most of them are overpriced. When Verizon takes over, everybody gets a new CDMA phone and a chance to upgrade to the iPhone. Previous Verizon conversions from GSM to CDMA have gone smoothly and we expect this one to be, too. Plateau was a real champion of the rural wireless user, even keeping analog operating because so few farmers could afford to convert their wireless sprinkler controls over to digital.
We wish Plateau's main parent, The ENMR Telephone Cooperative, well. We hope they'll still have some customers left to co-operate with. Most of us may have cut the cord.
Friday, February 3, 2012
The PrePaid iPhone!
I noted a recent rumor about a prepaid iPhone, or more accurately, a SIM that you can stick in any AT&T, T-Mobile or unlocked GSM iPhone. The rumor is that American Movil, parent company of TracFone, Net10 and Straight Talk, will offer a prepaid SIM for Straight Talk's regular plans which include their $45 Unlimited Talk, Text and Web. Unlimited? Well, yes, for the time being. Who knows what will transpire if this approaches reality. T-Mobile and AT&T might object to any Unlimited users on their networks, but stranger things have happened.
You might want to grab (or hold on to) an old iPhone. It might become your new, less expensive friend.
You might want to grab (or hold on to) an old iPhone. It might become your new, less expensive friend.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Can Sprint's Broadband Get Better?
Sprint has been hot and cold with their relationship with Clearwire, the wholesale 4G broadband network that has been providing almost all of Sprint's 4G coverage. Sprint recently stated they will now start using their own network for 4G LTE coverage instead of Clear's WIMAX 4G network. That transition will probably will be slow to roll out. Sprint actually issued their own 4G Coverage Map which is identical to Clear's Map.
Sprint will will probably use as much of their legacy 1900MHz PCS spectrum as possible for their own flavor of 4G service, which is slightly better than Clear's higher, 2500MHz spectrum. Sprint's broadband will also reflect coverage more like their voice network, which may or may not cause problems for current users.
We can't help but think this situation will change again. Clear may convert to LTE, and Clear and Sprint may need each other strictly from an economic standpoint. Neither one of them can afford a new network, especially as an overlay, and there are other clouds on the horizon such as the potential failure of Lightsquared...or a potential competitor with the new Dish broadband network. Both events may force Clear and Sprint to play nice(r). After all, Sprint has invested lotsa Million$ in Clear that they probably can't get back.
As usual, nothing is certain and there's also always a chance of any one company not doing the smart thing. Would you be surprised if AT&T bought Clear? We expected Cricket and MetroPCS to tie up long ago. Just because they haven't doesn't mean it's still not the best course of action. The only Smart they may know, is their Smart Phones.
Sprint will will probably use as much of their legacy 1900MHz PCS spectrum as possible for their own flavor of 4G service, which is slightly better than Clear's higher, 2500MHz spectrum. Sprint's broadband will also reflect coverage more like their voice network, which may or may not cause problems for current users.
We can't help but think this situation will change again. Clear may convert to LTE, and Clear and Sprint may need each other strictly from an economic standpoint. Neither one of them can afford a new network, especially as an overlay, and there are other clouds on the horizon such as the potential failure of Lightsquared...or a potential competitor with the new Dish broadband network. Both events may force Clear and Sprint to play nice(r). After all, Sprint has invested lotsa Million$ in Clear that they probably can't get back.
As usual, nothing is certain and there's also always a chance of any one company not doing the smart thing. Would you be surprised if AT&T bought Clear? We expected Cricket and MetroPCS to tie up long ago. Just because they haven't doesn't mean it's still not the best course of action. The only Smart they may know, is their Smart Phones.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Finding Customer Service
In doing research for one of our newer web pages, How to Get Cheaper Wireless Service, I noticed that many of the suggestions for cutting your wireless bill involves communicating with your cellular carrier...even having them help find more economical solutions for your wireless account. We found that may be difficult with several wireless carriers, even some of the large ones.
Take MetroPCS. They try to handle all of your concerns either online or by an automated voice response system. They claim, "To keep prices low..." they limit the number of humans who can help you. This requires a different approach to finding your best deal, mostly through online resources. I tried to get some quirky questions answered at a local MetroPCS store, only to get a puzzled look from the store's solitary, big-eyed, female, uh...sales clerk.
There are several other wireless companies who have similar challenges, some of which result from having too few, or too inexperienced representatives. We would expect this kind of "bargain" service from prepaid companies, but some of them do a respectable job. As usual, though, it depends on how lucky you are when you spin the customer service roulette wheel.
In the most extreme cases, the best strategy is to start over...disconnect your service and establish a new account. That might be too drastic if it means you lose your current phone number. In that case, you might go even more extreme and "port" your number to an entirely different carrier, and then port back. Extreme could be the new normal.
Take MetroPCS. They try to handle all of your concerns either online or by an automated voice response system. They claim, "To keep prices low..." they limit the number of humans who can help you. This requires a different approach to finding your best deal, mostly through online resources. I tried to get some quirky questions answered at a local MetroPCS store, only to get a puzzled look from the store's solitary, big-eyed, female, uh...sales clerk.
There are several other wireless companies who have similar challenges, some of which result from having too few, or too inexperienced representatives. We would expect this kind of "bargain" service from prepaid companies, but some of them do a respectable job. As usual, though, it depends on how lucky you are when you spin the customer service roulette wheel.
In the most extreme cases, the best strategy is to start over...disconnect your service and establish a new account. That might be too drastic if it means you lose your current phone number. In that case, you might go even more extreme and "port" your number to an entirely different carrier, and then port back. Extreme could be the new normal.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Phones from Wal-Mart
We have recommended for years to stop by a 'brick & mortar' store to play with the wireless phones you might be interested in, then shop online for them to get the best deal. Now, we can turn that around. Ours is one of the few sites that offer online phones that are supposed to be "only" available at stores like Wal-Mart. For years we have been offering Straight Talk phones on our online shopping pages, something the other retailers say can't be done. Now, we can also offer Wal-Mart Family Mobile phones online!
Wal-Mart has several phones you can handle in the store, including the iPhone, and now you can order all of the phones available in the store, right here, online. Family Mobile recently began offering their Unlimited Talk & Text plan for only $45 a month, with the real benefit coming when you add additional family members at only $35 each. The whole family also gets to share 250 Mb of monthly data. We also like their cheap international calling rates at .05 per minute to 12 countries including Mexico and Canada. And, while you probably won't want to pay the high rates, Family Mobile phones also work while roaming in Canada, Mexico, Haiti & Dominican Republic. It's one of the those 'nice to have just in case' features.
With Straight Talk and Family Mobile available on our shopping pages, you can pick among your options even easier than ever. Family Mobile phones use the entire T-Mobile US networ
k, which has improved lately. Also, Straight Talk phones recently began offering you the choice of one of each of the top 4 networks, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, making their flavor of economical unlimited service even more tasty.
k, which has improved lately. Also, Straight Talk phones recently began offering you the choice of one of each of the top 4 networks, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, making their flavor of economical unlimited service even more tasty. Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Case for T-Mobile
Today at the CES, T-Mobile president and CEO, Philipp Humm, claimed T-Mobile is ready to upset the apple cart again. He revealed that they indeed have been working on their "Plan B" for several months. They came out of the failed deal with AT&T with more money, more spectrum, and more roaming agreements (hey, might that have been their objective all along?). T-Mobile also quietly upgraded a few hundred of their stores. Now they can put all of these things to good use, and consumers should benefit.
T-Mobile already offers a good product and several exclusive benefits including the choice of cheaper plans without extra fees for subsidized handsets, and without a contract. There's that great Prepaid plan and the pay-as-you-go broadband I used during the holidays. They also have enough spectrum to offer faster broadband for the next several years whether they choose HSPA or LTE. The T-Mobile staff should be a happy group now that their jobs aren't on the line. The only thing they don't have is the iPhone, and that may be coming.
T-Mobile could indeed be grooming their operation for another buyer, but they're also treating it like they may be stuck with it. We still haven't heard from the other communications players like cable or satellite who may be courting T-Mobile on the side. So, our view of T-Mobile is now more positive than ever. As the feds put it, the market needs a "disruptive" force in wireless. We hope we will be shaken, not stirred!
T-Mobile already offers a good product and several exclusive benefits including the choice of cheaper plans without extra fees for subsidized handsets, and without a contract. There's that great Prepaid plan and the pay-as-you-go broadband I used during the holidays. They also have enough spectrum to offer faster broadband for the next several years whether they choose HSPA or LTE. The T-Mobile staff should be a happy group now that their jobs aren't on the line. The only thing they don't have is the iPhone, and that may be coming.
T-Mobile could indeed be grooming their operation for another buyer, but they're also treating it like they may be stuck with it. We still haven't heard from the other communications players like cable or satellite who may be courting T-Mobile on the side. So, our view of T-Mobile is now more positive than ever. As the feds put it, the market needs a "disruptive" force in wireless. We hope we will be shaken, not stirred!
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