Home › News ›

Sprint Has Closed 9,600 iDEN Towers

Jul 26, 2012, 7:49 AM by Eric M. Zeman

Sprint today provided an update on its Network Vision project as part of its second quarter financial report. Sprint said that it has completed the deactivation of 9,600 iDEN cell sites across the country, and is ahead of schedule for its planned transition away from iDEN to CDMA-based voice/data services. However, Sprint reported that as customers leave its iDEN network, it is only recapturing 60% of them with Sprint services. This means 40% of iDEN customers not only ditch their iDEN service, but are switching to other carriers when they do. Sprint expects its iDEN network will be fully deactivated no later than June 30, 2013. It previously targeted June 30, 2013 as the "earliest" it would shut down iDEN. Further, the company has made solid progress in switching to multi-modal cell towers and base stations. Sprint has gained the necessary permits and leases for nearly 14,000 cell sites and has already begun construction on 6,300 sites. Sprint says that 2,000 multi-modal cell sites are already operational and performing as expected with respect to coverage and speed. Sprint believes it will have 12,000 of these cell sites operational by the end of the year, and the bulk of its Network Vision project completed by the end of 2013.

Related

Nokia Brings New Affordable Phones to T-Mobile, Boost

Aug 31, 2022
HMD Global this week finally launched its Nokia G400 5G with T-Mobile. Way back in January, the company announced that the launch was planned for the second quarter of the year.

Apple Previews Major New Accessibility Features for iOS

May 17, 2023
Apple today previewed several new accessibility features that are coming to iPhone and iPad later this year. The major new features address those with speech, cognitive, and vision disabilities.

Dish Finally Launches its Own 5G Network

May 5, 2022
Dish has officially launched its own, from-scratch 5G network for paying customers in Las Vegas. Unlike its existing Boost-branded service, the new network currently operates under the Project Genesis brand.

Dish Launches "Project Genesis" Standalone 5G Network in 120+ Cities

Jun 14, 2022
Dish has finally launched its own, from-scratch 5G Standalone (SA) network in "120+ Cities" spanning the US. The launch comes just hours before the FCC's deadline for the company to launch service covering 20% of the country.

Cellular Service Coming to NYC Subway Tunnels

Aug 1, 2022
New York's MTA has announced a ten-year plan to expand cellular service to all 418 miles of subway tunnels in New York City. The project is a partnership with Transit Wireless, which already provides cellular and Wi-Fi service at all 281 underground stations .

more news about:

Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

DMZ

Aug 3, 2012, 7:37 AM

NexTel was Doomed ...

... the moment they merged with Sprint. Now, all those iDEN phones will have to be replaced over the coming months. I can see a lot of those users jumping to other carriers like Verizon now that Verizon has Push-to-Talk technology.

hooker13

Jul 26, 2012, 7:47 PM

If it only went the other way

If it only went the other way! If Nextel took over Sprint and put more money into the IDen system. 95% of my co-workers & friends used Nextel's 2-way most everyday. Worked great 99% of the time and worked great on 9/11. I feel all of myFriends & co-works would have their Nextel today. But once Sprint took over Nextel service went down the tubes. Now only 2 of my friends and co-workers have Sprint/Nextel phones and are about ready to switch to Verizon, of course pay a little more each month and almost no dead spots.

Jarahawk

So the fact that iden was a dead end tech with no evolutionary path means nothing to you?

...

Jarahawk

What would the world be like if Sprint had not bought Nextel? Nextel would have gone bankrupt and maybe Sprint would have been a much stronger company. They would not have been sued by all those affiliates. Maybe they would have had the good sens...
(continues)

...

jrfdsf

Jul 29, 2012, 9:26 PM

Some of Us Will Miss iDEN

I for one will. ☹️

Really Sprint, did America need yet another CDMA network? IDEN offered the consumer something totally different. A pairing of Nextel and Flarion 4G would have stood out as unique.

Some on this forum have labeled IDEN as a failing technology--really? The last few disasters we have experienced in this country only prove the superiority of this system. Nextel worked when nothing else did.

The Nextel forum is all but dead--only a few faithfuls frequent it anymore. I also understand that about half of the IDEN subscriber base is leaving with the transition. Why would any company make a move that would cause millions of loyal, high-end customers to seek service elsewhere?

gloopey1

The reason some folks have labeled Nextel as a failing technology is because it is. Nobody outside of the workplace uses PTT anymore...everyone texts. Ever tried texting on a Nextel? It's no fun at all.

Besides, Sprint isn't getting rid of the serv...
(continues)

Page 1 of 1