I wonder the same thing sometimes... I, too have been with Nextel for a great many years and this merge only has helped customers on the Sprint side (adopting free inc plans) of things. If this is the only way for Sprint to keep Nextel's ARPU the highest in the industry by a long-shot is by nickel & diming them, then I'm out... And if I hear one more person ask me why they can't PTT me while I'm on Nextel iDEN and they are on Sprint's ReadyLink, I'm gonna' throw up!

sounds like your like me cuz i like nextel iden and ima nextel customer and i say f sprint nextel nextel nextel nextel nextel 4 life lol

😲 that's exactly how 2 pac died 😡 just couldn't let that damn death row go 👿 👿 👿

🙂 My answer, yes! I subscribed to Nextel three years ago and had a shared minute plan with 400 anytime minutes, 500 DC minutes (local only), free long distance & roaming with free N&W's starting at 9:00p.m. Now, for the same cost I'm getting UNLIMITED DC (nationwide), N&W's starting at 7:00 p.m., text messaging, plus greater coverage in my area than when I started out. I recently got 100 bonus minutes for me and my wife as well. When I call CS, I never wait more than a couple of minutes on the phone, my bill each month has never been wrong, and Nextel's coverage map is much more accurate and honest compared to other carriers who claim you'll have coverage almost everywhere (which is never the case). I don't have problems with dropped calls...
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Actually Nextel probably wont get any worse then it is now with the problem with capacity that has to deal with the consensus plan, but they wont get any better.

Actually, Sprintnextel has purchased Velocita wireless, a paging network with uses the SMR band, to help imrove capacity, as well as adding new sites in many areas, Florida, Boston, to name a few. Sprint plans now on keeping the IDEN network operational until 2012.

Yes, I know about that whole purchase of that company acquiring a lot of SMR frequency however it isn’t enough with what is going on with capacity mainly it has to deal with the consensus plan re-banding situation. In fact, Sprint is actually filing reports with the FCC asking them permission to use 900 MHz right now going onto six or so months and they mentioned it was pertinent to do so because of the capacity issues.

It hasn’t helped and that is evident of what is going on with the network and with the net ads signing up. (Or lack there of) Even Boost is starting to have some capacity issues.

They are keeping Nextel opened until 2012, but it will probably be a lot less than that as they ease the natural phase out of the IDEN netwo...
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nextel18 said:
Yes, I know about that whole purchase of that company acquiring a lot of SMR frequency however it isn’t enough with what is going on with capacity mainly it has to deal with the consensus plan re-banding situation. In fact, Sprint is actually filing reports with the FCC asking them permission to use 900 MHz right now going onto six or so months and they mentioned it was pertinent to do so because of the capacity issues.

It hasn’t helped and that is evident of what is going on with the network and with the net ads signing up. (Or lack there of) Even Boost is starting to have some capacity issues.

They are keeping Nextel opened until 2012, but it will probably be a lot less than that as they ease the

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The reason why they are extending the life of it is to allow for a “reasonable” timeframe for a good death and transition for customers from IDEN to CDMA. That is the whole point. After Qchat in 2008, it will take probably 2+ years to bring them over, so they want to just make sure. They also have to think of what they are going to do with Boost.

Qchat was tested many times especially over REV A a year or so ago and it was extremely good. I saw it myself and same with my contacts. It will be fast. Already it is 1.5 seconds on the set up and nil on the intra. Very fast and we have 2 years to go. Usage and demands? Of course, but Sprint has a very very good network with capacity- so not a worry there.

Face it my friend, IDEN is dead. ...
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nextel18 said:
The reason why they are extending the life of it is to allow for a “reasonable” timeframe for a good death and transition for customers from IDEN to CDMA. That is the whole point. After Qchat in 2008, it will take probably 2+ years to bring them over, so they want to just make sure. They also have to think of what they are going to do with Boost.

Qchat was tested many times especially over REV A a year or so ago and it was extremely good. I saw it myself and same with my contacts. It will be fast. Already it is 1.5 seconds on the set up and nil on the intra. Very fast and we have 2 years to go. Usage and demands? Of course, but Sprint has a very very good network with capacity- so not a worry there.

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Well, I mentioned to you why they are prolonging the life. They do not want to force customers so they are easing them over first with the dual mode and then with Qchat.

Yes, but when you have Barry at the helm when he promises he delivers. Sprint and Nextel have always been clever at technology and plus when you are dealing with Qualcomm, they all have great reputations of being the best at testing a product and delivering them. Believe me, this will work or else Nextel would not have exclusivity towards it and be paying money in order for that to happen far before it was even ready for a 2008 launch.

The capacity, and speed here are not the issues. It is all about how they market that technology.

Reply to both forum postings: First, I would say the biggest reason Nextel got the rights to QChat several years ago was because they knew if they didn't another company like Verizon would, and then with VZW already having a huge national footprint with the addition of a decent PTT, they could potentially put Nextel out of business. It's like when big oil companies buy up patents for gasoline saving devices.They never have any intentions of marketing the ideas, they own them so no one else can. I don't think it's a mere coincidence that Nextel's churn rate went way up post merger.The Sprint name has not been good for Nextel, even though Sprint has worked very hard at improving rate plans, phones and coverage for Nextel. You're right about th...
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So as you stated and I have Qchat is a huge threat to anyone who has obtained that key product and that is why I mentioned to you that it will bode well for Sprint going into the future as it will allow for more attractive products and applications for the push to talk user on the CDMA network.

Well, Verizon already has a bigger footprint especially capacity wise than Nextel and their push to talk was horrible, but that is beside the point. They should have never even launched that service and it with the companies now.

Well Sprint is good in some business segments but mainly strong in the consumer segment while Nextel is good in the business segment and not as good as in the consumer segment, however, that has changed with Boost Mob...
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nextel18 said:
So as you stated and I have Qchat is a huge threat to anyone who has obtained that key product and that is why I mentioned to you that it will bode well for Sprint going into the future as it will allow for more attractive products and applications for the push to talk user on the CDMA network.

Well, Verizon already has a bigger footprint especially capacity wise than Nextel and their push to talk was horrible, but that is beside the point. They should have never even launched that service and it with the companies now.

Well Sprint is good in some business segments but mainly strong in the consumer segment while Nextel is good in the business segment and not as good as in the consumer segment, howev

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Very true. 🙂

But why would they build new towers if they are just going to shut them down???

Well we discussed why they are prolonging the life of IDEN is to ease customers to switch from IDEN to CDMA and offer them the current and correct services for them. They want to make sure the dual mode type devices and Qchat to work properly in order for those customers to switch. Also, is to think what they are going to do with IDEN. There have been talks about selling the IDEN assets to the government and with using IDEN for just push to talk centric customers.

I would not say that IDEN is the only thing making Sprint money because don’t forget MVNO’s (who use the CDMA network), data who uses the CDMA network are also contributing a lot to the bottom line. Boost, which is on IDEN, is making Sprint money but their subscriber levels ar...
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Well put...I couldn't agree more. Why "fix" something that isn't broken?

What is not broken?

I mean to say iDEN isn't broken. Everyone says it's old, outdated, no good anymore, etc. Well, yes, there may be some capacity issues with Nextel's network, but putting that aside, I'd have to say iDEN is much more reliable than CDMA.....from my own personal experience, of course. I had both Alltel and Verizon before I signed up with Nextel, and they both sucked on voice quality, sometimes even in town. With Nextel, as long as I have service, and even with zero bars of signal, calls are always crystal clear. There are even areas around here where I have great service on Nextel and my friends on Verizon have little service or nothing at all.

I'm not some Nextel fanboy or anything along that line, but -and I know you don't do this, nex...
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bkw212007 said:
I mean to say iDEN isn't broken. Everyone says it's old, outdated, no good anymore, etc. Well, yes, there may be some capacity issues with Nextel's network, but putting that aside, I'd have to say iDEN is much more reliable than CDMA.....from my own personal experience, of course. I had both Alltel and Verizon before I signed up with Nextel, and they both sucked on voice quality, sometimes even in town. With Nextel, as long as I have service, and even with zero bars of signal, calls are always crystal clear. There are even areas around here where I have great service on Nextel and my friends on Verizon have little service or nothing at all.

I'm not some Nextel fanboy or anything along that line, bu

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Some capacity issues? Ha-ha. There are a ton of capacity issues out there. Starting from the 6:1 on the interconnect until the consensus plan capacity issues have grown from some areas to most areas.

I am not saying that IDEN is worthless, but the plans that Sprint has does not really include IDEN so why spend the $2B+ on that side?

IDEN is good with voice and push to talk and that is it.

I see their long term plans don't include it but after reading their press releases their short term plans do. They have increases the nextel network in over a dozens area throughout the country. And are not done.

Yea that is true, but the capacity issues will not go away unless they will be successful with the dual mode devices.