T-Mobile and Metro PCS

[KlineAJ]

They are merging and will of course get approved. Time to jump on what will still be the fourth largest carrier but a bigger network.

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[ZachA]

I don't get how this would work isn't Metro PCS a CDMA carrier and T-Mobile a GSM carrier.

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[KlineAJ]

They would be sharing the same spectrum since they are on the same band.

 

[ZachA]

So this would let them have better coverage.

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[mech1164]

For the time being they are to be run as separate networks. They will be merged next year with the CDMA part being phased out. Current customers of Metro will be eventually upgraded to LTE/GSM next year. As to how fast that's another story.

 

[Andrew Martonik]

For the time being they are to be run as separate networks. They will be merged next year with the CDMA part being phased out. Current customers of Metro will be eventually upgraded to LTE/GSM next year. As to how fast that's another story.

They'll likely just offer a free cheap handset to any current MetroPCS customer, with good incentives and deals on higher end handsets if they return their current MetroPCS phone.

 

[font1975]

I don't get how this would work isn't Metro PCS a CDMA carrier and T-Mobile a GSM carrier.

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Actually, this works VERY WELL. No company is keeping their current GSM/CDMA networks. They will all be going to full LTE (meaning voice&data) sooner or later. And one PCMag article suggested that MetroPCS was planning this already: dump their CDMA and just run on LTE. So T-Mo and MetroPCS being two different networks is inconsequential.

Both T-Mo and MPCS have plans to go LTE. MPCS and T-Mo's spectrum sounds like it's next to each other in the AWS band. So now that they've combined, that gives them a lot of bandwidth for their LTE network. (CNET had an article stating that it is 50MHz wide, with 20MHz used for upload and 20MHz for download. Which the experts mentioned in the article say this amount of spectrum gives substantial capacity. I'm not a radio expert, so I have to assume this isn't too far off.)

Given that LTE is the future for the new T-moPCS company, I don't think they'll waste time "combining" networks. About the only thing I could see is that new MetroPCS phones would be GSM to work off of T-Mo's network. And, if needed, offering free upgrades/discounts to get current users to switch. The CEO has stated 2015 as a target of moving people off of CDMA.

Sure, there will be lots of customers complaining. But change is inevitable, no matter which carrier you're currently on. I survived the Cingular/AT&T conversion back in the late 90's / early 2000's. Other than getting several letters in the mail saying I must upgrade, it really was not a big deal. I barely remember the process, so it must've been non-eventful.