SPRINT MID-MICHIGAN (north of flint, up to mackinaw city) READ!!!

[eckler2co23]

Just had an hour long conversation with " CLEARWIRE " (The company handling Sprint's 4G/WiMax 4G service). and basically... well eff it... I'll post the whole darn thing for you guys. LONG LIVE OPEN SOURCE!!! ...



Hello Mr. ______. Please wait while we find a CLEAR specialist to help you.
You are an existing customer with a Tech Support question.
You have been connected to Keli T.
Keli T: Hi, my name is Keli. Thank you for chatting with Clear! I will be more than happy to help you today.
Keli T: So that I may assist you, may I please get the 10 digit phone number associated with the account?
Mr. ______: Hello Keli. How are you this morning?
Mr. ______: 989-***-*0*4 Sprint Premier Gold Customer
Keli T: Great! Thank you. Can you give me a moment while I bring up that account?
Mr. ______: HTC EVO 4G phone if you need that as well for whatever reason
Mr. ______: sure will
Keli T: Thanks. Can you allow me a few moments?
Mr. ______: sure
Keli T: Do you have an account with Clear?
Mr. ______: No, I am a Sprint customer, and they told me to get ahold of clear for the questions they "couldn't" answer...
Keli T: Would you like me to transfer you to our Activations Department? They can answer all of your questions about becoming a new Clear customer and any current promotions that we might be having. Would this be ok?
Mr. ______: this is "Clearwire" Mobile WiMax 4G service provider "sistered" with sprint, correct?
Mr. ______: Therefore, I am a Clear customer as well, corrrect?
Keli T: Are you referring to the dual mode device that is 3G.4G?
Mr. ______: yes...
Mr. ______: all I want to know...
Keli T: You are not automatically a Clear customer, but I will be happy to assist as much as possible
Mr. ______: is when Saginaw, MI and surrounding tri-city area's are going to be given 4G/WiMax capabilities... sprint told me to get in contact with you guys. Which brings me here.
Mr. ______: I pay $10 extra a month for 4G service...
Keli T: Okay, so have you had the device activated with Clear?
Mr. ______: and have been paying such extra fee's for over a year... and I am going to switch to verizon within the hour, and cancel my contract with sprint, hence with Clear as well... if I do not receive an sufficient answer to this question
Mr. ______: I have a SPRINT CELL PHONE...
Keli T: We do not have you listed as a customer
Mr. ______: Clearwire is the company I am speaking with currently, correct? the same Clearwire company handling SPRINT'S 4G network towers? Correct?
Mr. ______: Really?
Mr. ______: Maybe that is because Sprint does not have 4G in Saginaw, MI yet... therefore they didn't register my account through Clearwire (you), yet....
Mr. ______: I'm guessing
Keli T: No, I was not able to locate your information. If you pay Sprint to use Clear's 4G network then that is between you and Sprint.
Mr. ______: .....would I be correct?
Keli T: That is correct.
Keli T: I looked you up by your first and last name as well as your phone number
Mr. ______: correct. I understand that. But they told me to contact Clearwire for further answers they could not presently give me, because of legal reasons
Mr. ______: the account is in my mother's name. Christine Eckler
Keli T: Thanks. Can you allow me a few moments?
Mr. ______: yes. sure
Keli T: Thank you
Mr. ______: account number is ********
Keli T: We do not have you listed as a customer with Clear under her name either.
Keli T: You will need to contact Sprint for further assistance. Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?
Mr. ______: Yes. You can tell me when Clearwire will have towers up in the Saginaw, Mi area.....
Keli T: I do not have that information but I will be happy to check the coverage and then put you in our system to let you know when we do?
Mr. ______: there's towers in the Upper penninsula.. where hardly anybody lives....towers in detroit in the ghetto... and grand rapids... but nothing in saginaw... and I want to know... (very frustrated) when saginaw, Mi is going to get 4g services...
Mr. ______: I asked sprint, and they directed me to here...
Mr. ______: which is why I am talking with you currently
Keli T: I can check coverage for you. What is the street address and ZIP where you plan to use our service?
Mr. ______: No. That's not what I am saying. If I am not told, right now, at BARE MINIMUM.... RIGHT NOW.... when Clearwire is going to PUT UP 4G TOWERS... IN SAGINAW, MI and the surrounding area.... right now... I am getting up and going to verizon and switching to their LTE 4G services already in Saginaw, MI....
Keli T: Only our Engineers have that information. I am not able to tell you when or if towers are going up in your area Mr. ______
Mr. ______: I have the "Got Clear" Android application on my Sprint HTC 4G!!!.... EVO... android phone... I can check the coverage on YOUR COMPANY'S ANDROID OFFICIAL APPLICATION MYSELF, miss Keli. There is no coverage... that is why I am talking to you...
Mr. ______: so you can tell me when I will have 4G service in my HOME... AREA... as I have been paying for 4G service... without recieving the service of 4G for that entire year...
Mr. ______: You can't ask an engineer... and save a 5 line unlimimted everything account... and keep the entire families account with your company?
Keli T: You are not coming up in my system at all. Just because you have our app on your Sprint phone doesn't mean you have service with Clear
Keli T: I cannot ask an Engineer anything as we do not have direct contact with any of them
Keli T: Thanks. Can you allow me a few moments?
Mr. ______: the android application... created by YOUR COMPANY... and UPLOADED TO THE ANDROID MARKET..... is the same coverage map you are going to check... the only reason I am contacting you this morning is for an educated.....advaced answer of future (NEAR FUTURE) plans to update YOUR COMPANY'S SERVICE AREA to my area...
Mr. ______: of course I will
Keli T: I cannot give you that information but I can enter you in our database. That is all I can do at this time
Mr. ______: please do so at this time then, if that is all you can do, then what is this support line for?!?! exxactly...
Mr. ______: to apologize to customers for not having any answers we need?
Mr. ______: and that's it?
Mr. ______: I mean, this is nothing personal, and please don't take it that way miss Keli, but paying for a years worth of 4G service...
Mr. ______: from your company....
Mr. ______: without getting it...
Mr. ______: whether it be directly or indirectly...
Keli T: One moment please
Mr. ______: is a little frustrating...
Mr. ______: and I can promise you this... I am nowhere near the only frautrated MICHIGAN CUSTOMER...
Keli T: I understand your frustration Mr.______. However, we are not given the information regarding towers, when they will go up and where they will go up.
Keli T: Would you like me to transfer you to our Activations Department? They can answer all of your questions about becoming a new Clear customer and any current promotions that we might be having. Would this be ok?
Mr. ______: Will they be able to answer the ONE AND ONLY QUESTION I HAVE?!?!?!
Keli T: Possibly
Mr. ______: thank you, please do so at this time. thanks for YOUR time miss Keli
Keli T: No problem!
Keli T has left the session.
One moment while I transfer you to a rep who can better assist you.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You have been connected to Layla.
Layla: Hi Mr. ______! Thanks for contacting CLEAR Sales. What product or service can I start for you today?
Mr. ______: Hello. How are you this morning Layla?
Layla: Great. How are you doing Mike?
Mr. ______: I already have service with your company, Layla. I have a Sprint HTC EVO 4G Android Cell Phone. I live in Saginaw, MI and have been paying for 4G data speeds for over a year now on five lines on my account with Sprint. Your company handles their 4G, which is why I'm guessing they sent me here to your website to answer this one question I have for you. Which is Layla... when will Saginaw, MI.... have 4G speeds on mobile broadband.... that is all I need to know. and if I do not get an answer... right now.... all I have to do is click my mouse literally one time, and I will be officially switched to Verizon Wireless, and an HTC Thunderbolt will be express shipped to my house within 48 hours, on THEIR 4G LTE network, which is already currently in Saginaw, Mi...
Mr. ______: this is not personal.... please don't take it as such, please understand my frustration. I have 5 lines on our account that I pay for an extra $10 a month (per line) a month... for 4G data...and for over a year now... I have NO 4G at home... or outside in the city either ...at all...
Mr. ______: that's $### .... for a service I have yet to recieve
Mr. ______: ...### USD
Mr. ______: six hundred
Layla: I understand, we let Sprint use our 4G towers but we don't handle any of there business, but I will be happy to see if we have a tower in your area. And I do not take it personal, I know how it is to be frustrated with a cell phone company trust me I have T-Mobile.. Lol But let me see if I can find a tower in your area.
Mr. ______: my cousin has t-mobile... and their currently merging with At&T... and I'll tell you.. after that merger...
Mr. ______: I'd consider ATTTmobile...
Layla: Yes that's what I'm thinking about doing already haha.
Mr. ______: I have the sprint android market "GOT CLEAR" android app from your company...
Mr. ______: with the coverage map.. there is no Clearwire 4G service towers... in that app on THAT coverage map ....yet
Mr. ______: see...
Layla: Yes we do not have a tower in your area. The closest on is in Flint.
Mr. ______: lol
Mr. ______: I know that...
Mr. ______: and it's not even BEST clear...
Mr. ______: it's only the outside clear
Mr. ______: that is no good...
Layla: That is true, we dont have much of a market there yet
Mr. ______: Do you guys HAVE ANY... NEAR and I MEAN NEARRRR FUTURE PLANS OF installing tower(s) in Saginaw, MI?
Mr. ______: it's flint... flint's worthless...
Mr. ______: it's ghetto and nothing else.. not that 45% of saginaw is much better...
Mr. ______: but I'm more towards FRANKENMUTH, so I can say so...
Mr. ______: flint's like a mini detroit...
Mr. ______: lol
Layla: You know what to be honest with you, I would switch to verizon because I havent heard of any plans of setting up a new market, and if your already paying that much you minus well go with verizon they are basically the same price
Layla: haha Mini detroit.
Mr. ______: that's one of the reasons why probably my frustrations are soo high...
Mr. ______: well, it is...
Layla: Yes I understand, at least Sprint offers 4G, because I recently found out t-mobile and At&t lie about having it
Layla: Plus Verizon is much faster then 4G
Mr. ______: and that's an official answer, miss layla... your engineers have zero plans of 4G data for Sprint in the near future...?
Mr. ______: I know...
Layla: Yes we just opened a market in LA so we wont be building for a while
Mr. ______: well huffington post just reported sprint signed a 15 year, $twenty billion USD contract with sprint for a LTE 4G network...
Mike Eckler: what's "A WHILE" to be considered?... ball park it for me...
Layla: Like at least 2 years
Mr. ______: a year... a month... three months?
Mr. ______: wow...
Mr. ______: really..?!?!?
Layla: Yes, that's why I said if you are looking for 4G or better, I would go with Verizon
Mr. ______: sprint signed that contract with "LIGHTSQUARED" excuse me
Layla: I don't know anything about Sprint, all we know is that they are allowed to use our towers for internet on the phones
Mr. ______: Gotcha.wow....
Mr. ______: so basically... lol
Mr. ______: sprint is your guys'.... " BUTLERS " ... We'll say to keep it "clean"
Mr. ______: ?
Layla: Lol we are partnered with them, but we don't partner in business just tower usage
Mr. ______: and they're just leeching off of your company.. cause they're in 3rd place... right now..
Mr. ______: and basically can't afford their own 4G, well until the lightsquared contract...?
Mr. ______: awesome
Layla: Lol yes basically I guess you can say that
Mr. ______: yes.. I understand business and wireless networking contractual situations
Layla: Yes so we only set up Internet and home phone plans, no cell phone anything.. Lol
Mr. ______: wow....
Mr. ______: so absolutely no Sprint towers in Saginaw, Mi in the foreseeable future from Clearwire for your guys' "WiMax" 4G service towers, correct? at least two years you said? correct?
Mr. ______: nor the surrounding areas (flint doesn't count .... EVER)
Mr. ______: lol
Layla: There are probably Sprint towers, but no Clearwire towers.. Lol yes and that is ball park range
Mr. ______: wow. okay.... that is all I needed to hear... I am sorry to hear that...
Mr. ______: thanks for the information/your time. Have a great day
Layla: Not a problem, you have a great day as well
Thank you for visiting clear.com. You may now close this window.
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

 

[NMherron]

Re: SPRINT MID-MICHIGAN (north of flint, up to mackinaw city) REA

There will be one tower in the Tri-City Area in the not too distant future. However, it'll likely be only one tower. And it will likely only be in Midland, Bay City or Saginaw...not all three.

How do I know, you ask? I figured out the riddle. Currently Clearwire is going around to all the 300+ FCC Cellular Market Areas (CMA's) in the country and installing one tower (or in a handful of cases two or three). The reason being is to protect their FCC licenses.

Sprint and Clearwire hold 150mhz of 2.5 GHz spectrum in every CMA in the US. It's worth several billion dollars. However, their licenses are up for renewal next year. It's hard to make the case for renewal if you don't even offer service. It's possible that the FCC would revoke their license in a CMA if they didn't offer service and put it up for auction. See the Sprint 4G/Clear CMA map below...

In this map you can see all 300+ CMA's. The ones in green show the CMA's that currently have at least one Sprint/Clear 4G tower in operation. I have been watching all year as this map gets more and more green. It's almost getting to the point I can predict where the service is going next.

As you can see in this map, the Tri-City Area still does not have any service. Thus, they will need to have one tower operating by the end of the year in this CMA. They seem to be focusing more on the northern U.S. right now, as they are likely trying to avoid installations in the winter. So it will likely go up this summer or early fall.

Unfortunately though, Midland, Saginaw and Bay City are all in one CMA. And they will likely put the one tower in the place with the least resistance. Whichever one is the cheapest and/or easiest one to deploy on. So it's not known where it's going to end up at this point.

There are 8 Lower Peninsula CMA's that will be getting a tower soon. Looks like they are going to be busy a little while in your neck of the woods. Stay tuned!

 

[eckler2co23]

Re: SPRINT MID-MICHIGAN (north of flint, up to mackinaw city) REA

Hey, it's pretty bad that that convo I posted was directly from the horse's mouth itself, and (no offense) but some guy that doesn't work for them, randomly comes along and MAY have "saved the day", thanks man. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to post this for me. A.C.E

 

[NMherron]

Re: SPRINT MID-MICHIGAN (north of flint, up to mackinaw city) REA

Hey, it's pretty bad that that convo I posted was directly from the horse's mouth itself, and (no offense) but some guy that doesn't work for them, randomly comes along and MAY have "saved the day", thanks man. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to post this for me. A.C.E

I had similar conversations with Sprint, and then with Clear after Sprint directed me to them. I was equally frustrated by the experience. I then read in a local paper that Clear was going to be in a city council meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico fighting to get a permit. I went to the meeting and cornered one of their attorneys. This is where a lot of information opened up to me.

Since that meeting I started reading a lot of websites, reading message boards and subscribing to feeds. I have become quite the wireless dork. It's really exciting to hear about all the things that are going on in the wireless industry and all the technology coming our way.

But in turn, I'm largely stuck in the dark ages waiting for Sprint to deliver the products to me. Millions of others are in my same boat.

Sprint in the long term looks very good with their Network Vision plan, their deal with LightSquared to deploy LTE (and possibly satellite data) as well as taking over the Nextel spectrum for more data capacity. By 2015, Sprint will be on equal or better footing than it's competitors, with or without Clear and WiMax.

But until then, it's going to be harder and harder not to jump ship to Verizon. I'm trying! But Sprint, do something. And sooner than later!

 

[tyrelian]

I completely know what you're going through, I lived in saginaw my whole life, recently I moved to tampa where I have 4g, I went home to visit and was suprised we still haven't gotten it

 

[NMherron]

Re: SPRINT MID-MICHIGAN (north of flint, up to mackinaw city) REA

I completely know what you're going through, I lived in saginaw my whole life, recently I moved to tampa where I have 4g, I went home to visit and was suprised we still haven't gotten it

Ahh, yet another Michigander that moved to Florida. I did that too, back in the 80's. But since have migrated out West. And other than living under this dark plume of smoke coming from the Los Alamos National Lab, I haven't regretted it. Although, we all should have a neat green plutonium glow soon. Android green?

 

[bfguns]

Re: SPRINT MID-MICHIGAN (north of flint, up to mackinaw city) REA

hey hey, Flint is not all ghetto. dont be knocking my hometown.