Sprint turns on nationwide HD Voice, adds LTE in 28 new markets, unveils Galaxy S5 Sport, more

[Shawn Knight]

Sprint held a media event earlier today in Chicago in which the wireless provider announced a bevy of network enhancements as well as a new exclusive smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy S5 Sport.

For starters, Sprint launched 4G LTE service in 28 new markets today including Cleveland, San Jose and Seattle. More importantly, however, is the fact that they now offer LTE in 474 total markets covering roughly 225 million people.

Sprint has also flipped the switch on HD Voice calling, a feature that improves the quality and audio range of 2G voice calls. To experience the improved call quality, both you and the person you’re talking to will need to have an HD-compatible device and you’ll both need to be on an HD-enabled network.

At present, 28 postpaid and 33 prepaid smartphones fall into this category with Sprint estimating that 16 million customers are already using compatible handsets.

The Galaxy S5 Sport, meanwhile, is pretty much an S5 Active designed for Sprint’s own network. The device will carry some additional fitness-inspired applications and will be available in red and blue color schemes.

Last but not least, Sprint brought attention to a satisfaction guarantee in which new customers can walk away from a contract if they aren’t entirely satisfied with their service after 30 days. The carrier will refund the cost of their device and waive all service and activation charges. It doesn’t sound quite as appealing as T-Mobile’s new Test Drive but it’s better than blindly jumping into bed with a new provider.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/57202-sprint-turns-on-nationwide-hd-voice-adds-lte-in-28-new-markets-unveils-galaxy-s5-sport-more.html

 

[Jimbo Jacks]

As a previous Sprint customer, I dislike their company for false advertising. I used to have a GS2 connected with them at a time where 4G was very popular. Being a 4G phone however, I was never able to acquire 4G signal in the city and outskirts of Miami, FL contrary to what they were advertising at the time.

I would like to point out that I was given good customer service as I was able to break out of a contract for one of my lines. Nonetheless to broaden my distaste of their brand, I wasn't able to take neither my GS2 nor iPhone to another carrier due to their technology. I believe they were on a GSM network which functions without a SIM card therefor leaving me with 2 unusable phones.

 

[misor]

wow.

HD Voice calling, a feature that improves the quality and audio range of 2G voice calls.

is sprint the first to offer this so-called HD voice service in the USA or anywhere else in the world?

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

As a previous Sprint customer, I dislike their company for false advertising. I used to have a GS2 connected with them at a time where 4G was very popular. Being a 4G phone however, I was never able to acquire 4G signal in the city and outskirts of Miami, FL contrary to what they were advertising at the time.

I would like to point out that I was given good customer service as I was able to break out of a contract for one of my lines. Nonetheless to broaden my distaste of their brand, I wasn't able to take neither my GS2 nor iPhone to another carrier due to their technology. I believe they were on a GSM network which functions without a SIM card therefor leaving me with 2 unusable phones.

I hear ya... my first smartphone was the HTC Evo 4G - great phone, but Sprint advertised 4G, the phone said 4G and only after I bought the phone did I find out that Sprint didn't have a 4G network in milwaukee. I wasn't too mad because just getting the internet on my phone was cool for me at the time, but it didn't take long before I realized that I was stuck on the only cell network in the country whose speed is measured in kbps instead of mbps. 'Slow as molasses in January' as my grandpa would say.

I dropped them as soon as my 2 years were up. At least their coverage was good, but the speed was terrible.

They've been playing catch-up ever since. They were doing great early in the cell age because of their call clarity and phone selection (remember the Motorola Razr?), but their network wasn't upgraded fast enough to keep up with smartphones and data plans. They always had 'unlimited data' but that's because no one could possibly abuse it. It was like the 'all you can drink/open bar' where all they serve is Busch Light.

Good luck, Sprint... hopefully this will help stop your trend of losing like $2 billion a year.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

wow.

HD Voice calling, a feature that improves the quality and audio range of 2G voice calls.

is sprint the first to offer this so-called HD voice service in the USA or anywhere else in the world?

You'd think in an age where you can ask your phone for directions and have it respond, they'd have the ability to hear the difference between 'b' 'c' 'd' and 't' in a conversation without having to say 'c - as in clarity'.

 

[smvim]

>> leaving me with 2 unusable phones.
Don't want to sound like I'm defending Sprint but you need to be aware there's not a lot services available, at least here in the U.S., where you can just switch to a different carrier and still keep whichever phone you had previously. Sprint and Verizon are primarily CDMA while AT&T and T-Mobile are primarily CDMA. While in places like the E.U. it's often just a matter a buying a new SIM card as you travel from one country to another, here in America we're not so lucky. Each carrier has tight control over their own 'fiefdoms' and any government oversight to protect consumers is squelched by Big Telecom lobbyists so vendor lock-in is simply common practice. So dump on Sprint for its penchant on exploiting its own customers but as for your old phones you're going to find the other carriers aren't more or less accommodating.
If I were you, I'd look at going with a MVNO. On average their customer service ratings are much better and you'll pay less per month for the same or more services. Ting, Credo, Republic Wireless, Consumer Cellular, etc. are all good options to look into.

 

[Jimbo Jacks]

I hear ya... my first smartphone was the HTC Evo 4G - great phone, but Sprint advertised 4G, the phone said 4G and only after I bought the phone did I find out that Sprint didn't have a 4G network in milwaukee. I wasn't too mad because just getting the internet on my phone was cool for me at the time, but it didn't take long before I realized that I was stuck on the only cell network in the country whose speed is measured in kbps instead of mbps. 'Slow as molasses in January' as my grandpa would say.

I dropped them as soon as my 2 years were up. At least their coverage was good, but the speed was terrible.

They've been playing catch-up ever since. They were doing great early in the cell age because of their call clarity and phone selection (remember the Motorola Razr?), but their network wasn't upgraded fast enough to keep up with smartphones and data plans. They always had 'unlimited data' but that's because no one could possibly abuse it. It was like the 'all you can drink/open bar' where all they serve is Busch Light.

Good luck, Sprint... hopefully this will help stop your trend of losing like $2 billion a year.

I am certainly skeptical about what they are promising customers. For one, any wireless service provider still tying customers down with contracts in todays age is enough to make a savvy consumer doubt their capabilities. Especially when there's competition offering the same service for less of your pay and not compromising you to a contract. Sprint has definitely been playing the catch up game for a while now due to how their network was set up and how long they've taken to even to upgrade their technology. For a company with a slogan as "The NOW Network", they've been stuck in the past for quite some time. Take a look at what this articles title is. Just now they are offering LTE connectivity to 28 new markets and the so called HD Voice adds clarity to 2G voice calls. This is not impressive to me as 2G should be history altogether.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

As a previous Sprint customer, I dislike their company for false advertising. I used to have a GS2 connected with them at a time where 4G was very popular. Being a 4G phone however, I was never able to acquire 4G signal in the city and outskirts of Miami, FL contrary to what they were advertising at the time.

I would like to point out that I was given good customer service as I was able to break out of a contract for one of my lines. Nonetheless to broaden my distaste of their brand, I wasn't able to take neither my GS2 nor iPhone to another carrier due to their technology. I believe they were on a GSM network which functions without a SIM card therefor leaving me with 2 unusable phones.

I hear ya... my first smartphone was the HTC Evo 4G - great phone, but Sprint advertised 4G, the phone said 4G and only after I bought the phone did I find out that Sprint didn't have a 4G network in milwaukee. I wasn't too mad because just getting the internet on my phone was cool for me at the time, but it didn't take long before I realized that I was stuck on the only cell network in the country whose speed is measured in kbps instead of mbps. 'Slow as molasses in January' as my grandpa would say.

I dropped them as soon as my 2 years were up. At least their coverage was good, but the speed was terrible.

They've been playing catch-up ever since. They were doing great early in the cell age because of their call clarity and phone selection (remember the Motorola Razr?), but their network wasn't upgraded fast enough to keep up with smartphones and data plans. They always had 'unlimited data' but that's because no one could possibly abuse it. It was like the 'all you can drink/open bar' where all they serve is Busch Light.

Good luck, Sprint... hopefully this will help stop your trend of losing like $2 billion a year.

You're lucky to be connected to a cell network whose speed is measured in Kbps. I think mine is still measured in bps but I'm not in the least bit concerned because I'm usually at home and have very little need for mobile data but I do have a fairly decent DSL connection so my phone runs on wi-fi 95% of the time. I can get by on 30Mb mobile data for 2 months. I'm kidding about bps speeds of course, 3G speeds are good enough for my needs.

 

[Jimbo Jacks]

You're lucky to be connected to a cell network whose speed is measured in Kbps. I think mine is still measured in bps but I'm not in the least bit concerned because I'm usually at home and have very little need for mobile data but I do have a fairly decent DSL connection so my phone runs on wi-fi 95% of the time. I can get by on 30Mb mobile data for 2 months. I'm kidding about bps speeds of course, 3G speeds are good enough for my needs.

I'm currently connected with T-Mobile and not a day goes by that I don't think about making the switch MetroPCS. They will save me money and I will have access to the same T-Mobile network. Their service isn't bad like it used to be and who doesn't like saving money. I'll make the switch in the near future.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I am certainly skeptical about what they are promising customers. For one, any wireless service provider still tying customers down with contracts in todays age is enough to make a savvy consumer doubt their capabilities. Especially when there's competition offering the same service for less of your pay and not compromising you to a contract. Sprint has definitely been playing the catch up game for a while now due to how their network was set up and how long they've taken to even to upgrade their technology. For a company with a slogan as "The NOW Network", they've been stuck in the past for quite some time. Take a look at what this articles title is. Just now they are offering LTE connectivity to 28 new markets and the so called HD Voice adds clarity to 2G voice calls. This is not impressive to me as 2G should be history altogether.

I don't think contracts are shady, or would make a customer doubt the service. It's a way to provide customers with $200 phones. It's hard to sign up customers for a monthly service if you require them to spend $600 for the hardware. The contract model allows far more people to have smartphones than otherwise would be able to afford them. The carriers win too because they get predictable cash flows for 2 years from that customer.

I think it's a good example of an industry finding a way to meet the demand of the public.

Now if only they could be truthful about 3G/4G speeds and coverage.

 

[Guest]

Sprint will be playing catch up for many more years. They already have 3 networks and can't keep any one running at peak for more than a month. I live outside of NYC, and for the last 2 months the service in central N.J. has been horrible to say it politely. The coverage varies from area to area, once good, then right to roaming, or no service at all. And that is just in a 2 square mile radius. Calling Sprint is useless as they tell the front line at customer care nothing, and have outsourced all their upgrade work. They can't even furnish you with a timeline as to when you might once again expect somewhat normal service. Management keeps the front line in the dark with that info, and that only infuriates the consumer even more. At least the CEO has been put out to pasture, and fresh blood brought in. Hopefully he will see to it this mess is straightened out. But the WSJ reports that they will be starting a price war this coming week. A little stupid I think, since the high level devices like mine they will be selling, will not work properly or even close to their potential once the consumer gets them home. Once again putting the cart before the horse, which Sprint is becoming a master of.