Where would Nextel be today if they didn't merge with Sprint?

[pyroscott]

Remember the old Sprint/Nextel “hybrid” phones? I had service everywhere with that thing!

 

Sent via Forum Runner on my jailbroken iOS 5.1 iPhone 4 

 

They were pretty nice. They should have pushed them even harder.

[WiWavelength]

Remember the old Sprint/Nextel “hybrid” phones? I had service everywhere with that thing!

 

...but not everywhere that Sprint had native + roaming coverage, as none of PowerSource handsets ever supported CDMA1X 850 roaming. I believe the reason for the omission was concern over intermodulation between iDEN 800 and CDMA1X 850 transmitters. Furthermore, the ic902 was the only PowerSource handset to support EV-DO; the others were all limited to 1X.

 

AJ

[gopher_otis]

I still have my ic803 somewhere.. Would I be able to use it as a backup phone?[/Quote]

 

Edit: Nevermind, stupid question! lol

And it could have possibly been

an ic502.

 

Sent via Forum Runner on my jailbroken iOS 5.1 iPhone 4 

Edited April 18, 2012 by gopher_otis

[pyroscott]

Can't remember what the number was, but I have an ic phone somewhere. I will have to dig it up. I don't know where the battery is though.

[jegillis]

DIdn't sprint pay something like 38 Billion for nextel? That would have been enough to buy every license for both the AWS and 700mhz auctions which brought in a total 33 billion

[ericdabbs]

DIdn't sprint pay something like 38 Billion for nextel? That would have been enough to buy every license for both the AWS and 700mhz auctions which brought in a total 33 billion

 

I believe Sprint paid 36 billion for Nextel. Keep in mind that the spectrum is done through auctions and if Sprint participated in them, they would not be able to buy up every license for both AWS and 700 Mhz. Im sure Verizon and AT&T would have loved to have done that and use their financial muscle to choke the competition of spectrum.

[jegillis]

While I understand that Sprint would not have gotten all of the spectrum Tmobile did get a substantial chunk of the AWS. Had sprint participated Im sure it would have gone for more but considering how much they paid for Nextel they likely would have been better off and had more spectrum.

[bigsnake49]

I believe Sprint paid 36 billion for Nextel. Keep in mind that the spectrum is done through auctions and if Sprint participated in them, they would not be able to buy up every license for both AWS and 700 Mhz. Im sure Verizon and AT&T would have loved to have done that and use their financial muscle to choke the competition of spectrum.

 

Well, they actually merged with them, but it's kind of funny money. It's not funny money to Sprint shareholders who lost their shirt. Spectrum money is real money that has to come out of cash or you have to borrow.

[irev210]

I believe Sprint paid 36 billion for Nextel. Keep in mind that the spectrum is done through auctions and if Sprint participated in them, they would not be able to buy up every license for both AWS and 700 Mhz. Im sure Verizon and AT&T would have loved to have done that and use their financial muscle to choke the competition of spectrum.

 

Not really, sprint didn't write a check for Nextel - they "merged".

 

Obviously more complicated then that, something we could spend hours talking about... but I don't want people thinking Sprint just had 36 billion they could have used for something else.

[marioc21]

Not really, sprint didn't write a check for Nextel - they "merged".

 

Obviously more complicated then that, something we could spend hours talking about... but I don't want people thinking Sprint just had 36 billion they could have used for something else.

 

And that merger is mainly the reason they've posting losses non-stop for 5 years. They've basically been writing it off since then.

[jegillis]

And that merger is mainly the reason they've posting losses non-stop for 5 years. They've basically been writing it off since then.

 

The have written of 31billion of the merger off and paid approx 2.8 Billion in cash

 

Edited million to Billion

Edited April 19, 2012 by jegillis

[JeffDTD]

The only true impact has been a steady reduction in the overall value of the combined entity and the simultaneous dilution of shareholder value. The only money thats gone up in smoke is the affiliate buyouts and payments for debt gained.

 

The idea that sprint would have survived alone is naive. While an alltel merger would have helped spectrum in some places, it would not have bolstered sprints heavyweight status the way that nextel did. Sprint would have needed to be acquired or buy again.... and nextel would have been another carrier's target.

[iansltx]

Necropost, coming up!

 

IMO Sprint + Alltel would've been better than Sprint + Nextel.

 

Yes, Sprint got a 10MHz nationwide block of near-PCS, plus 14MHz of near-nationwide SMR, plus a big block of BRS spectrum (still waiting to see how that stuff gets used...135 million folks covered by a network that will never expand is pitiful for a national carrier).

 

However with Alltel Sprint would have gotten 25MHz of cellular in many areas, some PCS in others, and a customer base that could be very, very easily integrated into their own. Sprint would also have the upper hand on the roaming front (remember, Alltel and Sprint had a reciprocal roaming agreement...including 3G data...when Alltel was independent...Verizon has to keep the agreement up for another few years), since they would have service (via ex-Alltel) where other companies (even Verizon) didn't. Oh, and 12-plus-million customers, none of whom would whine when transitioned to Sprint's network (not that they'd notice the difference, since both networks roamed on each other).

 

And when the time to go 4G came around, Sprint could just deploy on CLR and PCS...no SMR funny business (though their economies of scale mean that SMR LTE phones will exist anyway), adding (and then widening) LTE carriers as they retired CDMA (it's easy to fit a 5x5 LTE carrier into 25MHz in the A or B cellular band).

 

I fully expected Sprint to buy Alltel, back even before the private equity buyout (and I wasn't following the news closely). I was sad when Verizon locked it down...they killed Alltel's unlimited EvDO data cards (yes, they existed, and people used them for home broadband connections when nothing else was available) pretty darned quickly.

[4GHoward]

Yes, Sprint got a 10MHz nationwide block of near-PCS, plus 14MHz of near-nationwide SMR, plus a big block of BRS spectrum (still waiting to see how that stuff gets used...135 million folks covered by a network that will never expand is pitiful for a national carrier).

 

If Sprint never bought Nextel to receive BRS spectrum, do you think Sprint would have ever partnered up with Clearwire?

[iansltx]

If Sprint never bought Nextel to receive BRS spectrum, do you think Sprint would have ever partnered up with Clearwire?

 

Can't speculate, since I'm not sure whether Sprint had a buildout requirement for its BRS spectrum.

[bigsnake49]

If Sprint never bought Nextel to receive BRS spectrum, do you think Sprint would have ever partnered up with Clearwire?

 

Sprint already had 50Mhz of BRS spectrum of their own through their illfated wireless cable TV venture. They later used it for wireless internet. Nextel acquired theirs through MCI Worldcom. The buildout requirement came when they merged with Nextel. I don't think that Sprint would have partnered with Clearwire absent the Nextel merger since they did not have a buildout requirement for their BRS spectrum.

[bigsnake49]

Necropost, coming up!

 

IMO Sprint + Alltel would've been better than Sprint + Nextel.

 

Yes, Sprint got a 10MHz nationwide block of near-PCS, plus 14MHz of near-nationwide SMR, plus a big block of BRS spectrum (still waiting to see how that stuff gets used...135 million folks covered by a network that will never expand is pitiful for a national carrier).

 

However with Alltel Sprint would have gotten 25MHz of cellular in many areas, some PCS in others, and a customer base that could be very, very easily integrated into their own. Sprint would also have the upper hand on the roaming front (remember, Alltel and Sprint had a reciprocal roaming agreement...including 3G data...when Alltel was independent...Verizon has to keep the agreement up for another few years), since they would have service (via ex-Alltel) where other companies (even Verizon) didn't. Oh, and 12-plus-million customers, none of whom would whine when transitioned to Sprint's network (not that they'd notice the difference, since both networks roamed on each other).

 

And when the time to go 4G came around, Sprint could just deploy on CLR and PCS...no SMR funny business (though their economies of scale mean that SMR LTE phones will exist anyway), adding (and then widening) LTE carriers as they retired CDMA (it's easy to fit a 5x5 LTE carrier into 25MHz in the A or B cellular band).

 

I fully expected Sprint to buy Alltel, back even before the private equity buyout (and I wasn't following the news closely). I was sad when Verizon locked it down...they killed Alltel's unlimited EvDO data cards (yes, they existed, and people used them for home broadband connections when nothing else was available) pretty darned quickly.

 

Just remember that they would not have had CLR in the majority of their metro areas. They would have had to bid in the 700MHz auction. In my opinion, they would have been much better off without Nextel. They would have followed a steady, natural migration path without the distraction of the Nextel merger and rebanding and the Clearwire debacle.