Softbank - New Sprint - Discussion

[Rawvega]

In many cases, yes. But US Cellular has been very resistant, except for the Chicago area spectrum they sold to Sprint.

 

 

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And the Mississippi Valley spectrum that they sold to T-Mobile...

 

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[MacinJosh]

And the Mississippi Valley spectrum that they sold to T-Mobile...

 

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I didn't know about that. Thanks!

 

 

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[IamMrFamous07]

I don't want Legere to have any part of a combined company.

 

If Hesse leaves at any point I'd rather look at a technically proficient candidate externally to run the combined company.

I kind of like Legere. He's like the Kanye West of all the CEOs lol

[cdk]

I kind of like Legere. He's like the Kanye West of all the CEOs lol

 

Can some one ask Legere on his twitter account if he likes fish sticks?

 

[IamMrFamous07]

Can some one ask Legere on his twitter account if he likes fish sticks?

 

Lmao

[Fraydog]

To elaborate on my points regarding John Legere, he reminds me way too much of Kid Icarus. He talks too much and at some point one of his competitors will use it to put him in a bad place. You think AT&T is just sitting there because they like taking his abuse? At some point they're going to find a way to put the screws to him. This would be the ideal time for him to lay low, IMO. Same for you, magenta maniacs. What's going to happen when 20x20 is overloaded? People don't seem to get this, for some reason. 

[S4GRU]

Same for you, magenta maniacs. What's going to happen when 20x20 is overloaded? People don't seem to get this, for some reason. 

 

Never going to happen.  Legere is too awesome to be limited by mere physics!

 

Robert

[supert0nes]

cough... US Cellular...cough

 

 

If this is about spectrum and not technologies or customers, then Sprint is the least compatible with US Cellular.  Verizon would be the best fit followed by AT&T and T-Mobile.

[S4GRU]

If this is about spectrum and not technologies or customers, then Sprint is the least compatible with US Cellular.  Verizon would be the best fit followed by AT&T and T-Mobile.

 

Sprint wouldn't need USCC spectrum except to host its remaining customers.  Sprint can use USCC PCS and Cellular just fine.  It can probably even keep the 700-A block and just add that Band to future devices.  Sprint would only need to sell off USCC AWS holdings.  It's not a bad fit at all spectrally.

 

If Sprint can get USCC for a good price, it would be a good buy for Sprint.  And it would do a lot to establish an even larger rural presence than Tmo in many places.

 

Robert

[cdk]

Sprint wouldn't need USCC spectrum except to host its remaining customers.  Sprint can use USCC PCS and Cellular just fine.  It can probably even keep the 700-A block and just add that Band to future devices.  Sprint would only need to sell off USCC AWS holdings.  It's not a bad fit at all spectrally.

 

If Sprint can get USCC for a good price, it would be a good buy for Sprint.  And it would do a lot to establish an even larger rural presence than Tmo in many places.

 

Robert

 

This.

[twospirits]

Never going to happen.  Legere is too awesome to be limited by mere physics!

 

Robert

You make him sound like he is better than Chuck Norris when we all know that Chuck is the only one not limited by physics.

Still, Legere is a legend in his own mind. He's just a pink drop away from being institutionalized in the Magenta Hospital for the Criminally Insane. 

 

TS

[dnicekid]

Softbank must have a plan B&C&D, We have thought of many different scenarios and I assume they have too.

It does seem strange that as long as these rumors have been going on that no "official" word has actually come out. That makes me think softbank is really doing their homework and trying to get a feel from the Feds of what needs to be done. The longer it takes may be a good thing as they will probably know whether or not they can get it approved.  I am starting to feel like Son might be weighing the options of B&C&D right about now. 

 

In order for Son to really gain significant  ground on the big 2 he will have to go through some serious growing pains if he cant get tmo. I think he really had plans of trying to get straight to the top of the chain, without the addition of the tmo customer base he will have to do it the "hard" way and then its at least 5-7 years of hard work with the possibility of little returns

[lilotimz]

Softbank must have a plan B&C&D, We have thought of many different scenarios and I assume they have too.

It does seem strange that as long as these rumors have been going on that no "official" word has actually come out. That makes me think softbank is really doing their homework and trying to get a feel from the Feds of what needs to be done. The longer it takes may be a good thing as they will probably know whether or not they can get it approved.  I am starting to feel like Son might be weighing the options of B&C&D right about now. 

 

In order for Son to really gain significant  ground on the big 2 he will have to go through some serious growing pains if he cant get tmo. I think he really had plans of trying to get straight to the top of the chain, without the addition of the tmo customer base he will have to do it the "hard" way and then its at least 5-7 years of hard work with the possibility of little returns

 

There's this little company everyone that would be a perfect match for Sprint.. i forgot what it's called... US something... it serves many an area that sprint doesn't... a company that everyone wanted to merge with sprint after alltel...

 

 

USCC

[WiWavelength]

And the Mississippi Valley spectrum that they sold to T-Mobile...

 

To be clear, though, that was Barat.  While tied to USCC, it is not USCC.  The same holds true for Lower 700 MHz spectrum that USCC uses.  King Street is the licensee.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Never going to happen.  Legere is too awesome to be limited by mere physics!

You make him sound like he is better than Chuck Norris when we all know that Chuck is the only one not limited by physics.

 

Legere does not buy pink T-shirts.  Pink T-shirts spring forth fully formed out of his ass.

 

AJ

[bcltoys]

He said ass

[Rawvega]

To be clear, though, that was Barat.  While tied to USCC, it is not USCC.  The same holds true for Lower 700 MHz spectrum that USCC uses.  King Street is the licensee.

 

AJ

 

Interesting. I was just going by the pink company's press release on the matter: http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsarticle&ID=1833844

 

 

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 28, 2013-- T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary has signed an agreement to purchase 10 MHz of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum from U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) for $308 million in cash. The spectrum covers a total of 32M people in 29 markets in the Mississippi Valley region — notably in St. Louis; Nashville; Kansas City; Memphis; Lexington; Little Rock-North Little Rock; Birmingham; New Orleans; and Louisville. This additional spectrum will allow for an incremental roll-out of T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network coverage to new markets and expands the existing 4G LTE bandwidth in the important Mississippi Valley region.

 

[WiWavelength]

Interesting. I was just going by the pink company's press release on the matter: http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsarticle&ID=1833844

 

Yes, here is an example of an AWS license that Barat still holds.

 

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp?licKey=2906208

 

Now, the actual separation between Barat and USCC is certainly questionable.

 

AJ

[Rawvega]

It seems USCC acquired Barat (and Carroll Wireless) in 2012 http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/print-edition/2012/10/26/us-cellular-snapping-up-two.html?page=all

 

It certainly appears that they have or had a curiously complex arrangement with Barat, King Street et al.

[WiWavelength]

It seems USCC acquired Barat (and Carroll Wireless) in 2012 http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/print-edition/2012/10/26/us-cellular-snapping-up-two.html?page=all

 

It certainly appears that they have or had a curiously complex arrangement with Barat, King Street et al.

 

Ah, thanks, I had previously read that article but forgotten about it.

 

The way it generally works with these Designated Entities is that they get FCC auction bidding credits for being minority or Native American held and/or being entrepreneurial startups.  That allows them to acquire FCC licenses at auction at typically a 25 percent discount.  They must hold the licenses for five years and meet some buildout requirements, but then they are free to sell the licenses.

 

Considering that the AWS-1 auction was in 2006 and the article was published in 2012, over five years had passed.  I am sure that Ms. DiNardo made out quite well on that six year investment.

 

AJ

[Johnner1999]

His plan for world domination using Sprint is still possible. He just needs to get past this distraction. Double down with Sprint. Fire a bunch of people, pour on a few billion to expedite finishing NV and Spark nationwide and add nationwide freeway coverage. Maybe pickup some more CDMA regional providers along the way.And hit Legere right between the eyes!Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

What I'm seeing as odd is that TMO has zero 700mhz correct? Well except for that VZW which isn't national.

 

Sprint needs really low frequency spectrum which its 800mhz can't handle heavy demands.

 

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[bigsnake49]

What I'm seeing as odd is that TMO has zero 700mhz correct? Well except for that VZW which isn't national.

 

Sprint needs really low frequency spectrum which its 800mhz can't handle heavy demands.

 

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Yes they do need more low frequency spectrum.

[ericdabbs]

What I'm seeing as odd is that TMO has zero 700mhz correct? Well except for that VZW which isn't national.

 

Sprint needs really low frequency spectrum which its 800mhz can't handle heavy demands.

 

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Tmobile's 700 MHz A block spectrum is not nationwide but it certainly does cover a lot of the major markets which is most important and to me it looks sufficient.  Tmobile still would need to try to buy the Chicago market 700 MHz license from Leap to round out the major markets.  Sprint does need low band spectrum and the fact that 800 MHz spectrum is so broken up in all parts of the country where some markets can launch 0 LTE (due to rebanding issues or IBEZ),  3 MHz LTE (due to other license holders) and 5 MHz LTE.  Sprint really should do what it can to try to obtain as much 600 MHz as allowed.

[dnicekid]

Tmobile's 700 MHz A block spectrum is not nationwide but it certainly does cover a lot of the major markets which is most important and to me it looks sufficient.  Tmobile still would need to try to buy the Chicago market 700 MHz license from Leap to round out the major markets.  Sprint does need low band spectrum and the fact that 800 MHz spectrum is so broken up in all parts of the country where some markets can launch 0 LTE (due to rebanding issues or IBEZ),  3 MHz LTE (due to other license holders) and 5 MHz LTE.  Sprint really should do what it can to try to obtain as much 600 MHz as allowed.

would it make sense to buy the 800 from the other holders? would it be cheaper than the auction?

[ericdabbs]

would it make sense to buy the 800 from the other holders? would it be cheaper than the auction?

 

Well in some cases like in the Southeast where SouthernLinc owns some 800 MHz spectrum but they are not looking to sell their business so there is nothing you can do there.  In other cases there are rebanding issues from public safety (ex: LA/OC area) which can't be bought out or it takes a lot of time.  Then finally there is the case of spectrum squatters that are looking to profit the most by holding valuable spectrum hostage that they know Sprint desperately needs and have no intention of deploying and try to extort as much money as they can.  I believe Sprint is active in trying to go through the courts to have the spectrum squatters evicted of their licenses or forced to sell.  Its just a huge hodge-podge this 800 MHz.