Dan Hesse: Sprint will eventually shutdown iDEN network

Nextel is garbage. Nuff said.

Took them long enough

Now they can focus on one crappy service vs. two…

‘One thing is certain, when Sprint does decide to drop the ax on their iDEN network, there will be plenty of local and state municipalities looking for another wireless provider.’

Maybe those local and state municipalities can all get white iPhones (4)?

Wait, people still have sprint?

No Chris, the 3rd largest carrier doesn’t have anybody with them. That’s the joke. The bigger joke is that before the Nextel deal, and AT&T iphone deal, Sprint and AT&T were neck to neck. Crazy world, right?

And this news I’ve stated a few times already on this blog, and now it’s news.

With a loss of almost a billion dollars in the quarter much larger than Wall St forecast it is only a matter of time till the whole network is shut down.Way to go Dan you sure to how to make the sharholders happy.

This would be a great time for Verizon to start pushing Push To Talk again.

The funny thing is, people keep saying “Sprint’s the worst provider out there.” Really? I left AT&T because my calls were dropping more than connecting. I tried Verizon, but they cripple their handsets. When I learned that Sprint signed roaming agreements with Verizon in most markets, I made the switch and haven’t looked by. $69.99/month for 450 mins and unlimited everything else including any mobile on any network… who else offers this? Please raise your hands if your provider offers this. I get full signal everywhere and never had a dropped call. Just saying…

Spring CDMA offers ready link services that does the same thing as chirping with IDEN except its a data service instead of a voice service. get ready link and a data plan and you are set

Also if i remeber correctly readylink can connect to iDEN ptt services as well.

Sprextel doesn’t even own a single cell tower — AND ITS A CELL PHONE COMPANY!!!!!

They need to just shut Sprint down and split the $7 left over among the shareholders.

“Readylink” is old news. Sprint canned it almost two years ago. It just couldn’t compete with Direct Connect on Nextel. This was before the merger, SPrint tried to offer a “similar product” and failed just as Verizon did. And more people are on Nextel than you may realize. I know first hand that many “first responders” rely on “DC”. I don’t know about you, but if I am in a crisis situation…. I want the guys trying to save my hide to have DC with Nextel. Not “may or may not connect PTT with Verizon

“One thing is certain, when Sprint does decide to drop the ax on their iDEN network, there will be plenty of local and state municipalities looking for another wireless provider.”

and go with whom? Who is running a real PTT service?

and is it open or only with that carrier? would there be an organized effort of every government agency, contractor, etc. to use the same company that has some imitated PTT service?

iDEN will eventually be sold to the U.S. Government.

But the FCC, and Democrats wont allow it…

So in the end, no one will be able to use it…

Even when they do shut it down they will replicate it over CDMA. Toss a few cheap, free, motos at uncle Sam, and life goes on.

I worked as a Tier 2 Nextel advisor and F1 is on the money. First of all, no matter how positive anyone’s experiences have been with PTT, the iDEN network is crippling Sprint. First of all, it is not upgradeable. Second of all, the data speeds blow ass because of the nature of the technology. Third of all, the iDEN network is not really nationwide. It is hard to expand coverage. So clearly, this product is in need of serious improvement, not just in terms of features and performance, but also scalability. I mean how embarrassing is it for one of your core products to be a full two generations of network technology BEHIND your other core product? It’s great that iDEN has given you guys lots of positive experiences but there’s still a greater overall good achieved when it drops dead.

And speaking of dropping dead, Sprint isn’t too far behind from doing just that. Once again, being allergic to choosing worldwide standards is nothing new for them. Choosing wimax over lte will haunt them and switching from iDEN to CDMA seems like a stupid move too. The EVO has taken them out of their coma but I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why their plans are so well priced. It’s like Pepsi and Oatey-O’s always being on sale. Not many people want them. Their stuff is “priced to move”. Sprint is and will always be a JV carrier, unless they get bought by Verizon. Sprint has no one but themselves to blame. They botched the Nextel merger and they’ve been consistently behind in phone selection, exclusive handsets, customer service, subscriber churn, and brand promotion. Sprint ruined Nextel but that isn’t saying much. It’s like two ugly people got together and made ugly kids. Not that surprising.

this guy on the picture has very bad hair implants… OK Sprint is going through hard times but come on!

leave it to the CEO to point out their obvious albatross

it looks like there is a new tower location going up in Port Lavaca ,hopefully a sprint tower , we really ned the help for our new Virgin mobile aircard customers. PLEASE LET IT BE A SPRINT TOWER.

I have Sprint and Virgin Mobile , i love the signal CDMA that is.

iDen is one of the reasons the compnay canned 8000 employees in 2009 and shifted all of network services to Erricson as contractors. And now, even they are getting the boot. iDen was a big drain on resources and moral. We could never come to a meet point dealing with our iDen brothers. Translations, provissioning, even the switch techs (I was one too). Always bumping heads. No wonder so many left. The writing is on the wall, once iDen is gone, Sprint will follow. To be eaten alive by Comcast (if they are smart) or Verizon. Sorry Dan, you had your chance and from the looks of the stock and the moral of what’s left of the switch guys, you can only try to bring that horse back to live so many times when you need to call it. And yes, I’m still a Sprint customer X6 (no bitterness here). You still get more bang for your buck but it’s what’s under the covers thats gonna get ya. You might have fixed customer service but those network guys dont give a crap about the network any more nore does those no english speaking NOC people overseas. Good Luck.

But what are PTT users transferring to? I know Verizon has PTT but never hear good things about it.

Nextel has plans of upgrading it’s data network to suppose 3G speeds, but when Sprint took over, they kicked it to the bucket.

How true, nobody seems to remember that iden was a SMR service and not a cellular service when it came out.

You obviously do not have a job outside of an office environment. I work for a contractor and it would be INCREDIBLY tedious to call everyone when scheduling every day. Imagine having to contact your foreman/superintendant to round up manpower, your shop guys to fabricate materials, your fleet guys to deliver the materials and the office staff to put it on the physical schedule for each job…times 15 jobsites. Could you imagine doing that EVERY DAY by making calls? It would take hours. Direct connect gets the conversation done in the time it takes for you to punch in a phone number, hit SEND and wait for the call to connect.

We won’t even get into the fact that entire schedules can change on an hourly basis in construction.

It’s guys like you that kill productivity. I bet you have a government job.

Sorry MacMan, this is intended for ChocoTaco but there is no REPLY button in his comment. How is Direct Connect faster in actual use?

I had Nextel, and as I recall, to initiate a conversation you would scroll to the contact’s direct connect number, either hit the PTT and start talking, hit the PTT and wait to see if the calling party heard the double beep, or send an alert and wait for them to answer you back.

I don’t see where this is any quicker than dialing a call. You still have to select who to call with both methods (although you can use speed dial on standard calls, I don’t think you have that on DC), so no time or step savings there. In fact, using DC for anything other than starting a conversation with someone that is in a position to hear you and respond if you just hit the PTT and start talking, seems to require the same number of steps and waiting as dialing a traditional call.

Let’s not forget that if the party you are calling is already in a DC call, you get an error tone. No chance to leave a message. And, just because you get an error tone doesn’t mean they are on a call, it could just be network congestion, no way to know.

DC has a place, but I don’t understand how anyone can honestly say it is faster. Another point to consider; when you are in a DC call with someone that is either long winded or saying something you already know and you cannot interrupt. That costs you time too.

doesn’t HUD qualify anyone with a job and a 620 FICO score?

People are afraid of change… But there are other ways to communicate to groups other than DC nowadays.

The old timers might have a harder time adjusting but the younger construction crowd will adapt.

To clarify, PTT(Push To Talk) is different than Direct Connect that Nextel was based on. PTT is utilized through all of the central systems of the carrier’s network and infrastructure. Direct Connect is processed only by what is needed to reach point A-B. Thus defining “Direct Connect”. It is essentially eliminating the middle man. This means faster connect rates and generally more reliable. Meaning much more free from across the board network failures. The other communication platforms are not based on this. Deficiencies emerge trying to allocate or replicate Direct Connect technology. VZW has even tamed their stance on pushing their technology because it simply can’t compete. It sometimes takes up to ten seconds for connection or does not connect at all. Unacceptable in the cases of many that have relied on instant connection.

Society has begun to dictate emails and text messaging as the most convenient way to communicate. PTT has in many cases actually become annoying.

John B.

That was PRE-Mortgage crisis!

Well excuse us “poor” people for not having enough money to fly our private jets to the Verizon store for a damn cell phone service.

Really, there isn’t a cell phone available that is worth the money that Verizon or AT&T are charging per month, especially when you can get a similar (if not better) device for less per month with Sprint. And the coverage is practically the same, I used to be one of those brainwashed idiots that thought Verizon was the only cell phone service that works. Now I have an extra $50 per month in my pocket per month, more features and a better phone. And honestly, I had more dropped calls when I was on Verizon.

I have to disagree (kindly) Sprint has just as good of a selection but what Verizon and T-Mobile (Verizon particularly) do differently is advertise them in a way to make everybody want them. That is sole reason the “Droid” thing got as big as it is, and it’s the only reason Apple does as well as they do. They know how to market their product. If Sprint could come up with some kind of gimmick like Verizon or Apple, they could do it too. Especially with the Evo and Epic available, both are GREAT devices and play a big part of Sprint beginning to turn things around… and that was with little advertising behind the devices. They could have really knocked one out of the park if they took the time to come up with a solid marketing campaign.

Maybe a Direct Connect app is the next best option.

If you’re responding to someone on your fleet, you can just dial their unit number and then press your PTT button. So, let’s say their DirectConnect number is 111*222*1. You dial 1, press and hold your PTT button, and then talk. Most Nextel devices can also be programmed to, for example, contact a single person (say your dispatch, your supervisors, field support contact, etc.) if you press the PTT button without entering any numbers. And most also support PTT speed dial.

This was in response to Towerguy’s message above, specifically:

“How is Direct Connect faster in actual use? I had Nextel, and as I recall, to initiate a conversation you would scroll to the contact’s direct connect number, either hit the PTT and start talking…”

This is essentially how VZW’s PTT works, over EV-DO. It’s slow.

I’ll do one better.

How is DC faster in actual use? Here’s how:

How long will it take you to make a regular call (or even a conference call) in order to talk to say…4 or 5 different people at once? DC can do it within a second…and continue it for minutes, or hours! Try setting up your Verizon phone to do the same thing…or even AT&T. Good luck on that.