Softbank - New Sprint - Discussion

[IamMrFamous07]

Yes, it is ludicrous. However, it's a mindset that's being perpetuated by the tech bloggers, among others. When some random blog runs a headline about how Sprint finished in last place in some company's latest speed survey, that's all the average person sees. They don't care that Sprint may actually be fast enough for all practical purposes, they just care that it's not the fastest. The e-penis mentality has bee carefully cultivated and it runs deep.

I agree that's why because of this reason I would like sprint to have the fastest network

[nmbr1scoobs]

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/deutsche-telekom-transfers-t-mobile-us-stake-to-holding-company-in-the-netherlands/

 

Update on the Sprint/T-Mobile buyout.

[Mr.Nuke]

I completely agree but if someone sees one provider can offer speeds 100mbps and the other 50-60 Mbps then that person will more than likely go with the provider that's faster.

 

It's sad because the average consumer doesn't understand, anything really over 8-10mbps you don't see a difference.

 

I feel they don't necessarily need to be the fastest but certainly not the slowest.

 

Yes, it is ludicrous. However, it's a mindset that's being perpetuated by the tech bloggers, among others. When some random blog runs a headline about how Sprint finished in last place in some company's latest speed survey, that's all the average person sees. They don't care that Sprint may actually be fast enough for all practical purposes, they just care that it's not the fastest. The e-penis mentality has bee carefully cultivated and it runs deep.

Here is where I fundamentally disagree with both of you. The average person doesn't read tech blogs or necessarily care about the fastest speeds. Yes, the e-penis envy runs deep on the tech blogs, there is no denying that. But I think people over-estimate how much that drives consumer sentiment.

 

I can get 1 gig fiber internet at my house in Omaha but choose not to because it costs more. That is what the average person cares about. Reliability at a decent price. The reason Sprint is bleeding subscribers isn't because their network isn't the fastest. It is because the network is unusable in a lot of places in a lot of situations right now. We obviously expect that to change this year.

 

Provide a stable usable network at competitive prices and promote the hell out of it. Run locally targeted ads in markets where the Big 2's networks are overburdened or where Magenta's coverage blows, etc.

[WiWavelength]

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/deutsche-telekom-transfers-t-mobile-us-stake-to-holding-company-in-the-netherlands/

 

Update on the Sprint/T-Mobile buyout.

 

I read the article.  But I stopped short of the comments.  Rest assured, a certain crowd will get its magenta panties in a wad.

 

AJ

[Mr.Nuke]

I read the article.  But I stopped short of the comments.  Rest assured, a certain crowd will get its magenta panties in a wad.

 

AJ

They have themselves convinced it will be a reverse merger somehow ala Metro PCS where T-Mobile will end up controlling (owning). Seriously... That and a remarkably overconfident belief that a merger would never be approved.

[hescominsoon]

Tmob is GSM.  The worldwisde standard is GSM.  It would not surprise me if the Tmob purchase is to get Softbank a GSM foothold in the US then he can merge Sprint and his other holding's into a truly worldwide network.  Sprint will go GSM instead of staying CDMA.  I think this might be a good idea.  That would leave VZ as the only CDMA carrier and would crater their revenues in terms of roaming.  Sprint is in a superior spectrum position in the US.  This could actually work out very well.

 

[jadedchameleon]

Tmob is GSM. The worldwisde standard is GSM. It would not surprise me if the Tmob purchase is to get Softbank a GSM foothold in the US then he can merge Sprint and his other holding's into a truly worldwide network. Sprint will go GSM instead of staying CDMA. I think this might be a good idea. That would leave VZ as the only CDMA carrier and would crater their revenues in terms of roaming. Sprint is in a superior spectrum position in the US. This could actually work out very well.

I don't think so. Sprint's ace in the hole so to speak is 1x800 voice. This will help them level the voice coverage playing field. There are no smr gsm voice phones on the market or in development. The only way to do voice and take advantage of smr in the short term is volte. The combined network will not be good enough to do reliable volte for some time. The smart convergence point is LTE down the road, not gsm/cdma. Both legacy networks are going to have to exist in some capacity for a while even after a merger due to contracts and outstanding devices. And it would be easier to turn down gsm in the short term if one network goes away in the meantime.

 

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[coorsleftfield]

http://www.androidauthority.com/sprint-t-mobile-acquisition-preparations-336466/

 

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[centermedic]

Tmob is GSM.  The worldwisde standard is GSM.  It would not surprise me if the Tmob purchase is to get Softbank a GSM foothold in the US then he can merge Sprint and his other holding's into a truly worldwide network.  Sprint will go GSM instead of staying CDMA.  I think this might be a good idea.  That would leave VZ as the only CDMA carrier and would crater their revenues in terms of roaming.  Sprint is in a superior spectrum position in the US.  This could actually work out very well.

I could never understand the rational of the GSM fanboys. They seem to forget that CDMA is in use in multiple countries also. Either way the point is moot. The future standard is VOLTE. To spend billions just to acquire a technology that you are going to sunset in a few years does not make sense.

[SpenceSouth]

 

 

I read the article. But I stopped short of the comments. Rest assured, a certain crowd will get its magenta panties in a wad.

AJ

I know you don't particularly care to have T-Mobile discussed but do you think you could do an article to illustrate the strengths, cons, and potential concessions of such a merger? I remember that you wrote an article some time ago showing the spectrum position that T-Mobile and Sprint would be in should they share PCS spectrum, and since things have changed recently with the purchase of MetroPCS and other spectrum assets on both sides, I think it could make for a nice update.

Like it or not, this is going to be a very important event for those of us that follow Sprint and I think many people would appreciate your insight to the subject.

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[Rawvega]

Tmob is GSM.  The worldwisde standard is GSM.  It would not surprise me if the Tmob purchase is to get Softbank a GSM foothold in the US then he can merge Sprint and his other holding's into a truly worldwide network.  Sprint will go GSM instead of staying CDMA.  I think this might be a good idea.  That would leave VZ as the only CDMA carrier and would crater their revenues in terms of roaming.  Sprint is in a superior spectrum position in the US.  This could actually work out very well.

 

Nah, that won't happen. There's no reason for Sprint to switch to GSM. GSM is obsolete. Even AT&T is planning to phase out GSM by the 2016-17 time frame. Skate where the puck is going, not where it's been...The convergence will occur with VoLTE.

[DaQue]

Sprint just got rid of the mess of having an incompatible network (Nextel) as part of their network wouldn't purple T be even more of a mess to merge into a NVish coherent network?

 

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[jadedchameleon]

Sprint just got rid of the mess of having an incompatible network (Nextel) as part of their network wouldn't purple T be even more of a mess to merge into a NVish coherent network?

 

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Sadly this.  I would have loved to see Sprint fully execute NV, and once complete try to pick up some regional CDMA carriers (I know there aren't too many options here) that have complementary technologies.   Perhaps even US Cellular would make a lot more sense.  Hell, on day 1 you could just (ignoring handoffs, etc) update the PRLs of Sprint devices and suddenly have native coverage in a huge swath of the midwest (minus LTE, which is largely on 700mhz).  So much easier than trying to figure out how to run two totally separate networks with completely different technologies for an extended period of time.  Even if Sprint starts putting T-Mobile AWS LTE capability in their handsets, they would have to solve the ecsfb/ehrpd issues to allow Sprint customers to be able to use existing T-Mobile LTE towers--which seems like the very first logical step in integration.

[jamisonshaw125]

As soon as I saw GinaDee in those comments, I stopped reading. I prefer not to read her Magenta flavored comments. Yet again she's in there suggesting Sprint management takes the boot. Glad she isn't here anymore

[bigsnake49]

Well it seems that the banks are ready to finance the bid:

 

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304603704579325031776937484?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304603704579325031776937484.html

 

Interestingly, according to the articles, one of the options is for T-Mobile to acquire Sprint rather than the other way around. I guess the large investors like their aggressiveness. Don't be suprised if their management team prevails.

 

I expect that one of the first victims of the merger is the divestment of the EBS spectrum to Dish and others. Also somewhere down the road the divestment of the T-Mobile network without the spectrum to Dish.

Edited January 17, 2014 by bigsnake49

[mozamcrew]

Sadly this.  I would have loved to see Sprint fully execute NV, and once complete try to pick up some regional CDMA carriers (I know there aren't too many options here) that have complementary technologies.   Perhaps even US Cellular would make a lot more sense.  Hell, on day 1 you could just (ignoring handoffs, etc) update the PRLs of Sprint devices and suddenly have native coverage in a huge swath of the midwest (minus LTE, which is largely on 700mhz).  So much easier than trying to figure out how to run two totally separate networks with completely different technologies for an extended period of time.  Even if Sprint starts putting T-Mobile AWS LTE capability in their handsets, they would have to solve the ecsfb/ehrpd issues to allow Sprint customers to be able to use existing T-Mobile LTE towers--which seems like the very first logical step in integration.

 

I know USCC has a bunch of 700Mhz A block spectrum, but I think they rolled out their LTE on band 26 (using their existing Cell spetrum). The combination of the lack of band 12 device support and the channel 51 interferance issues seem to be the cause.

[lilotimz]

I know USCC has a bunch of 700Mhz A block spectrum, but I think they rolled out their LTE on band 26 (using their existing Cell spetrum). The combination of the lack of band 12 device support and the channel 51 interferance issues seem to be the cause.

Band 5 cellular 850mhz actually.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

 

[lilotimz]

And it's not really the device issue. It's more because they bet their farm and company livelihood on the iPhone which does not support b12.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

 

[WiWavelength]

I know USCC has a bunch of 700Mhz A block spectrum, but I think they rolled out their LTE on band 26 (using their existing Cell spetrum). The combination of the lack of band 12 device support and the channel 51 interferance issues seem to be the cause.

 

USCC has basically shifted gears from band 12 LTE 700 to band 5 LTE 850.  The Lower 700 MHz A/B/C block spectrum is held primarily or exclusively by King Street, a USCC partner.  I suspect that spectrum will get sold off to T-Mobile now, as USCC should have enough spare Cellular 850 MHz A/B block spectrum in most of its markets to incorporate LTE.  Honestly, for USCC being a largely rural operator with plenty of Cellular 850 MHz spectrum, the Lower 700 MHz spectrum purchase was a bit odd.  But I suppose at the time in 2008, Lower 700 MHz looked to be the new direction the industry was headed.  Now, refarming spectrum for LTE is becoming more commonplace.

 

AJ

[Fraydog]

I know people are going to hate this, but I am beginning to think this guy will stick around in some form.

 

Also this guy.

 

 

Though I'll say Ray would be more likely to stay than Legere. Doesn't mean Hesse would go - I still think Hesse would be CEO. But Legere might be CEO in waiting. Just my guess, we will see what happens.

[jadedchameleon]

Band 5 cellular 850mhz actually.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

Well, that would even strengthen the appeal of US Cellular it seems to me, since some existing Sprint handsets even have Band 5.

 

Of course you could argue that US Cellular hasn't made any money recently so why try to inherit their mess, but at least an acquisition of USCC would be largely complementary instead of roughly the same coverage area of T-Mobile.

 

Oh well, it appears this T-Mobile thing is going to happen whether we like it or not, unless it gets stopped by the regulators.

[mozamcrew]

Well, that would even strengthen the appeal of US Cellular it seems to me, since some existing Sprint handsets even have Band 5.

 

Of course you could argue that US Cellular hasn't made any money recently so why try to inherit their mess, but at least an acquisition of USCC would be largely complementary instead of roughly the same coverage area of T-Mobile.

 

Oh well, it appears this T-Mobile thing is going to happen whether we like it or not, unless it gets stopped by the regulators.

Band 26 is a superset of band 5, so any Spint devices with band 26 should be able to use the USCC network just fine.

[IamMrFamous07]

Band 26 is a superset of band 5, so any Spint devices with band 26 should be able to use the USCC network just fine.

Didn't know that. I wonder why sprint hasn't try and bought them

[Johnner1999]

 

 

I know people are going to hate this, but I am beginning to think this guy will stick around in some form.

Also this guy.



Though I'll say Ray would be more likely to stay than Legere. Doesn't mean Hesse would go - I still think Hesse would be CEO. But Legere might be CEO in waiting. Just my guess, we will see what happens.

I'm not trolling (never have here. Hopefully that is clear)

Both are the kind of leaders SoftBank needs and WANTS! As does the wrecking ball attitude that TMO now means. I know no one here likes that and I understand (I think) why.

And I assume SB knows that in order to get the deal to pass the government regulation. Which is why I think it would survive more than the sprint brand.


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[mozamcrew]

Well it seems that the banks are ready to finance the bid:

 

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304603704579325031776937484?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304603704579325031776937484.html

 

Interestingly, according to the articles, one of the options is for T-Mobile to acquire Sprint rather than the other way around. I guess the large investors like their aggressiveness. Don't be suprised if their management team prevails.

 

I expect that one of the first victims of the merger is the divestment of the EBS spectrum to Dish and others. Also somewhere down the road the divestment of the T-Mobile network without the spectrum to Dish.

 

I don't get why everyone thinks they will divest the EBS spectrum. The CEO of Softbank has been Clear how important that band 41 is for him, both because of its urban capacity advantages and because it's a common band between Softbank and Sprint plus the Chinese carriers (and potentially those using the global band 38 as well). Also, doing so won't win them any points with the FCC since it was never counted against them in the spectrum screen. They aren't giving up their 800 Mhz spectrum either (or any of the 700Mhz spectrum TMoblie bought) for obvious reasons.  Mark my words, they will end up divesting some combination AWS and PCS spectrum.