4G shocker! T-Mobile USA boss talked to LTE wholesaler earlier this year
By Chris Ziegler 
posted May 5th 2010 1:19AM
posted May 5th 2010 1:19AM
Clearwire isn't the only American company building a carrier-independent (if you can call majority ownership by Sprint "carrier-independent") 4G network, you see -- and it would certainly behoove T-Mobile to investigate options that let it stay on a more GSM-aligned path for its next-gen network than WiMAX would, right? That might be where Harbinger Capital Partners comes into play, a group that recently bought up a bunch of satellite and terrestrial spectrum with the intention of creating a wholesale LTE network into which companies -- companies like T-Mobile, for instance -- could buy. Indeed, Financial Times is saying that T-Mobile USA chief Robert Dotson chatted with Harbinger recently about partnership opportunities, seemingly right around the same time that he talked to Clearwire. Clearly, it'd seem that T-Mobile's US division needs to decide very, very quickly how it's going to handle the 4G transition, lest it get caught behind the very same 8-ball it found itself battling in the 3G race; then again, pushing 21Mbps HSPA+ as aggressively as it has been the last few months might just keep it going for another few years. Fast data is fast data, after all.
please god let this happen
@epicsurge
Ok
i'll be damned..
@epicsurge
Maybe they should work on their "3G" first.
mother****ers
@TonyMontana2367 Agreed!!!
@epicsurge
actually...if this means what i think it means, and that you'll have yet another cell ''frequency'' to worry about when you unlock your phone, i couldn't be more against it. in my dream world, when you unlock your att or tmobile phone (lets not get into sprint or verizon and cdma vs gsm) you'd be able to take it to any carrier you want. think about it, you have a kick ass phone, but att/tmobes/sprint/vzw are doing your dirty...what do you do, you unlock it and just take it to the next carrier. no worrying about compatibility. it just works. but then again, thats a dream world, and we're going to be many many many years away from anything like this being even remotely possible.
@epicsurge
Clear, skyterra: hey! We do stuff...
Robert Dotson: o, realli?
Clear, skyterra: yea...
Robert Dotson: well lets have a threesome, you know, cuz it gives us options ;-)
Consumers: PARTY AT T-MOBILE'S PLACE, bring ur video cameras!!!! (Yes, Engadget's invited...they've got the site)
@ac2913
That wasn't minutely funny. Apologies, my friend.
@ac2913
I'm embarrassed for you.
hell yes let this happen.. i knew switching from att to tmobile was a good idea. ;)
I don't understand this stuff fully.
is T-Mobile being forced to diverge further from the other carriers by avoiding WiMax?
@theylive
AT&T and Verizon are both deploying LTE networks. Sprint is the only of the big four to go the WiMax route.
@theylive You mean the other carriers are smart enough to see that WiMax is going to be a failure, plus they have a pending lawsuits for poor service
I barely get stable 3g connection in my area. Why don't ya work to make 3g better before going into other thing?
@cdf74dc9 maybe by adding 4g to the 3g areas, edge would be 3g? lol
@cdf74dc9 Its my understanding that for 4G lte to cover an area, 3G must be present as a groundwork layer of sorts, so laying 4G would be killing 2 birds with one stone? This info is from the lte/4G page of wikipedia, so take with a grain of salt
How long until T-mobile finishes rolling out their 2g network? Seriously, their network map for voice coverage looks like its from the mid 90's.
@joequin
That's what I was just thinking, unless you're dead smack in the middle of a major metropolitan area u get nothing from Tmobile!
@joequin
but when its good its good.
4mbps download when I tether my android phone to my laptop
Its different everywhere. Where i live, T-mobile has incredible service and i get 3G almost everywhere, but Sprint and AT&T are absolutely abysmal
@Karate Tortoise See, now I've seen the exact opposite with AT&T. I've gotten better coverage and have had a better experience with them than I have seen with everyone else I know on the other three. I always have signal where my friends and family don't (except my parents' house in the LA hills, where nobody gets signal in the house but (barely) Sprint).
I don't see how T-Mobile has the money to expand their 3G network, upgrade to HSPA+ and deploy 4G.
I think they should forget the 4G for now.
Heck my G1 is just now showing an HSPA connection after Cyanogen's new rom. The G1 is incapable of connecting to HSPA+ (considered 3.5G) and T-Mobile is not expected to have a phone out that will until the 3rd quarter of this year; the Huawei U8800. Meaning that right now the only thing that can even use the HSPA+ network is the T-Mobile webConnect Rocket, a wireless usb modem (or shall I say router?).
My G1 was a dream but it's getting old and I plan on buying a phone at the end of the year. I'd like to stay on T-Mobile so I'll probably buy an HSPA+ capable phone. Maybe by the holiday of 2011 T-Mobile will have a 4G phone, but I don't really care about 20+mbit/s, my 25mbit/sec FiOS is great for home use though. For a phone I'd settle for a solid 1+mbit/s everywhere in my county.
So if you want a 4G phone you shouldn't be on T-Mobile.
If your fine with 3.5G, buy an HSPA+ capable phone sometime later in the year, and you can stay on T-Mobile.
PS: Please make a true G1 successor by the end of the year. I want a snapdragon (or equivalent), camera w/ flash (and image stabilizer... pushing my luck), FM radio, big touch screen, big battery, 16gigabyte internal + micro sd expansion, and most importantly a 5 row keyboard with a number row (look at your 103+ keyboard, see how the numbers are not on the qwerty line, pay attention, gosh it's like talking to an engineer...lol)
Thanks internet, you know I love you
@SiXiam TMobile has operations in Europe, lots of cash!
@SiXiam
My G1 just started showing "H" today too! But it can't seem to keep it for very long. It switches back and forth between "H" and "3G" constantly. And I agree, I'd settle for a slower connection that didn't drop at all during my 25 mile one-way commute. I stream radio in the car via the G1 and right now I have three spots that ALWAYS drop on my way to work. Give me 1mbit 3G that works the whole way and I'd be happy!!!
My htc touch pro 2 has been showing H since I got it in march. I'm in waukegan if that makes any difference
@SiXiam buy a nexus one, problem solved.
@Jimi
My understanding is that HSDPA is sort of like an afterburner in that it will only kick in when you are downloading something. Once your download is complete, you switch back to 3G mode.
@stabbytheicepic
I take it you didn't read:
Nexus one is not an HSPA+ capable phone, isn't a slider, and has a small battery.
So instead of building their own cell network they're going to rent it out from someone else? Kinda like a MVNO except they're not renting it from a carrier?
It's a bit odd that a company with such a huge European presence doesn't do much in the US. They could really be huge here if they wanted to.
@Shadow08 They really COULD be Huge if they wanted to, they have all the Money behind them from their parent company. DO SOMETHING WITH THAT CASH GUYS! geez
@Shadow08
What do you mean by "doesn't do much"? Isn't t-mobile the 4th largest provider over there?
You need to consider that t-mobile is a multinational company, active in a dozen countries or so. I think it's wrong to expect that they follow the same strategy as AT&T and Verizon. They simply can't put all their effort and all their money into one market. I believe outsourcing the network might be the only way for them to keep up in the 4G race.
@SeeKo The fourth largest provider of four major providers. The rest (Cricket and MetroPCS) don't count because they piggy-back on the other carriers' networks, and others like Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile don't count because they are Sprint MVNOs. Regional carriers don't count, either.
@aschettler So that would make T-mobile the 3rd largest carrier (sprint has only 24 million customers on Sprints true networks)
@aschettler
I didn't want to play it up. But you said it. It's one of the major providers in a foreign market. Where are AT&T, Verizon and Sprint abroad?
@SeeKo
Yes, but if there's a good market available like in the US, why not pursue it? It's like saying LG, Samsung, and other Asian electronics companies should not worry about the US market because they're doing fine in Asia.
@Shadow08
I don't really follow this turned logic. T-Mobile is the only one in the group that actually IS pursuing exactly that. The other ones never left their homes.
But you have to mention that T-Mobile is the only company that plans to expand its service in several countries (US, Germany, UK). Sprint, At&t, etc. have never left the US.
@Trickymaster That's not really true. AT&T actually has holdings in providers overseas.
Also, remember that T-Mobile started overseas and worked its way here.
@aschettler
"Also, remember that T-Mobile started overseas and worked its way here."
Exactly. That's what we were saying in the first place. So what's your point? Still not enough effort, not enough success in your eyes? Now you're getting a nice 4G network. Don't know what there is to complain about.
I actually prey that AT&T has some changes but this is probably will never happen.
@kyphem I pray that AT&T buys up T-Mobile and incorporates it into their network.
@aschettler ugghhh No thanks! Att is T R A S H!
@aschettler
AT&T doesn't possess the amount of funds to do such a thing.
@WPCallDay glad you said it...lol. T-mobile is richer than people realize.
Rather Deutchshe(sp) Telekom
This is a good move on T-mobile's front. They have options and they have cash, lots of cash and it won't hurt them to spend it..
People hate T-mobile, Why? the phone line up? Be REAL! How many great, mined you, great phones are on the other larger networks, 3,4,5? T mobile being a smaller company, having 1 or 2 is acceptable. Customer Service is OUTSTANDING!
I went into the AT&T store to compare phones, and I saw a pleathora of the SAME phones with a tweak here and a tweak there difference, nothing really outstanding, accept the Blackberries and the iPhone.
I have the HD2, and I accept the flaws...I have an N900 and I accept the flaws, I also have the Blackberry Bold 9700, Great Phone...and I accept it's flaws as well. ALL of the phones, when I need 3g, I GOT it...
The nail in the coffin to widespread WiMax?
Verizon Wireless is a co-venture with Vodafone IIRC, the largest global carrier
@capnbob66
Not anymore. China Mobile rushed by Vodafone without even blinking. They gained 65 million new customers in the last year alone. Unreal!
but yeah their coverage sucks
Everyone forgets the main reason why T-mo was late to the 3g game... they were late because the spectrum they bid for was not abandoned by the government on time. If you want to blame someone blame the US 0f A. I think they will deploy this 4 gen tech a lot faster than at&t and Verizon. Not that they will come out first .. but when they deploy it, it will happen faster.. just like their 3g coverage is almost tied with at&t which makes me wonder what has at&t been doing?