Sprint and Tmobile merger... unlikely to happen now

[bigsnake49]

Or you can steal customers from other carriers over time....

And they will steal them back.

[WiWavelength]

 

Mr. Stephenson, don't make me angry....you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

 

Yes, when I am angry, I am a force to be reckoned with, Mr. Stephenson.  I post a sharp rebuttal on your own public policy web site about your company's flawed accusations over "flawed" FCC policy.  Of course, you and your minions completely ignore it, so it goes away.  Hulk sad...

 

http://www.attpublicpolicy.com/fcc/inconvenient-facts-and-the-fccs-flawed-spectrum-screen/

 

AJ

[mozamcrew]

And they will steal them back.

That's true, but Verizon and ATT have much farther to fall. If Sprint can have a competitive network and competative pricing, they will gain more customers than they loose.

[WiWavelength]

That's true, but Verizon and ATT have much farther to fall. If Sprint can have a competitive network and competative pricing, they will gain more customers than they loose.

 

 

AJ

[mozamcrew]

 

AJ

 

Naturally, it's the loose customers they have the best chance of picking up .

[The Dave]

I have only had Sprint and T-Mobile as carriers, but my dad had laughable Bellsouth service that became an even worse Cingular service, which is now AT&T, so I doubt I'd ever want to try them. T-Mobile was okay but issues with losing signal even inside metro areas here in Florida and their family plan was outrageous on price compared to Sprint. Besides slow 3G, Sprint has always had excellent signal everywhere I go and the only time it cuts out is in places even Verizon cuts out, so I can't ever complain that Sprint isn't a strong network. Now with network vision, data speeds are becoming as strong as their voice service. I doubt I would leave Sprint, nor do I imagine many others will once the build out is basically complete. If they keep to their current culture of offering competitive pricing and stay ahead of technology like I hear from the Softbank leadership, Sprint will have few defectors and can become the premier carrier in this country.

[maximus1987/lou99]

Yes, companies do these strategic, "what if" exercises all the time. But they don't take a year+ and they don't do an in depth analysis. We are talking about financial, project management and technical integration. Plus outside M&A teams and consultants. Sprint and T-Mobile were talking even before Softbank but the work has really picked up since. But like I said, whether it will happens or not or gets approved, that is something entirely different. All I know is that it is seriously being considered and vigorously studied.

This FCC said no when TMO was failing. Why would they yes with TMO succeeding and putting pressure on big 3?

Hesse probably told Son to not waste the money on TMO integration studies cause he knew what would happen if they tried to merge.

[WiWavelength]

This FCC said no when TMO was failing.

 

The FCC said "no" to AT&T.  There is a difference.

 

That S4GRU might say "no" to you, maximus, does not mean that S4GRU would say "no" to every member.

 

AJ

[bigsnake49]

This FCC said no when TMO was failing. Why would they yes with TMO succeeding and putting pressure on big 3?

Hesse probably told Son to not waste the money on TMO integration studies cause he knew what would happen if they tried to merge.

 

All I know is that the study is continuing, so Son must have prevailed.

[maximus1987/lou99]

The FCC said "no" to AT&T. There is a difference.

 

That S4GRU might say "no" to you, maximus, does not mean that S4GRU would say "no" to every member.

 

AJ

I still think they want 4 players. I sure do.

[IamMrFamous07]

I still think they want 4 players. I sure do.

 

Same here.

[lafester]

it would be nice to have 4 players but is that realistic considering the market?

3 is still much better then 2. tmo is going to have a hard time competing against new sprint + att and vzw.

[irwinshere]

it would be nice to have 4 players but is that realistic considering the market?

3 is still much better then 2. tmo is going to have a hard time competing against new sprint + att and vzw.

The 4th player might end up as dish/tmo/lightsquared/ntelos ... lol

 

Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

[bigsnake49]

The 4th player might end up as dish/tmo/lightsquared/ntelos ... lol

 

Sent from my Photon 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

What if Sprint merged with T-Mobile for their spectrum and customers but sold the network to Dish? FCC and DOJ have their 4th competitor, Dish has their network without building one, Sprint has the scale and customers to compete. Meanwhile, Sprint might think about unloading some/all of the EBS spectrum on Dish.

Edited August 29, 2013 by bigsnake49

[Deval]

What if Sprint merged with T-Mobile for their spectrum and customers but sold the network to Dish? FCC and DOJ have their 4th competitor, Dish has their network without building one, Sprint has the scale and customers to compete. Meanwhile, Sprint might think about unloading some/all of the EBS spectrum on Dish.

 

I'm assuming you mean selling off T-Mobile's network to Dish? 

[bigsnake49]

I'm assuming you mean selling off T-Mobile's network to Dish? 

 

Yep.

[GinaDee]

Lots of speculation on this thread.  We forget the political winds of change that can be a friend or foe to the incumbents. 

 

Right now a democratic DOJ helps Sprint.  If that were to change who knows?

 

Sprint can never be as successful as Verizon or AT&T as long as T-Mobile's around.  The stronger T-Mobile gets the harder it will be from Sprint.  They are getting nipped from both sides.  T-Mobile will keep pushing the barrier on price forcing Sprint to respond and lower its margins.  

 

Eventually they will have to decide if buying out T-Mobile will give them the scale to compete with the big boys.  Maybe then the Sprint fan boys will finally get why the incumbents buy out smaller carriers to kill competition.  They are like annoying flies that keep trying to land on your dinner plate until you swat 'em.    Just being real here. 

[Ascertion]

Lots of speculation on this thread. We forget the political winds of change that can be a friend or foe to the incumbents.

 

Right now a democratic DOJ helps Sprint. If that were to change who knows?

 

Sprint can never be as successful as Verizon or AT&T as long as T-Mobile's around. The stronger T-Mobile gets the harder it will be from Sprint. They are getting nipped from both sides. T-Mobile will keep pushing the barrier on price forcing Sprint to respond and lower its margins.

 

Eventually they will have to decide if buying out T-Mobile will give them the scale to compete with the big boys. Maybe then the Sprint fan boys will finally get why the incumbents buy out smaller carriers to kill competition. They are like annoying flies that keep trying to land on your dinner plate until you swat 'em. Just being real here.

T-Mobile IMO keeps the pricing structure quite stable. If Sprint could gt away with charging as much as Verizon, they would.

 

Sprint is trying to get on par with Verizon in terms of coverage and possibly will charge near to or as much as Verizon will, but Sprints strategy and future success that will differentiate them from the competition is Unlimited Data. The longer T-Mobile is around, the better for consumers.

[gnoj]

Sprint is trying to get on par with Verizon in terms of coverage and possibly will charge near to or as much as Verizon will...

 

I see that claim thrown around a lot, but I haven't seen much evidence to support it. Son's statements about catching up to Verizon's network and becoming the best in the country could be referring to any number of metrics- capacity/speed, coverage (both indoor and/or rural), reliability, etc.

 

I would argue that I don't think they could justify calling themselves the best network if large swaths of the country (e.g. the former Alltel footprint out west) remain uncovered. They could have all the speed in the world but it doesn't do one much good if it's not available where one lives or travels.

 

I think Sprint has enough on their plate getting through NV 1.0 and looking ahead to NV 2.0 (800/2600 LTE and small cells). I would love to see an expansion of the native footprint but if that happens it will be a long ways off. I would bet that any major expansion over the next couple of years will only come through an acquisition of a smaller CDMA carrier like nTelos or USCC.

[BenChase7]

I see that claim thrown around a lot, but I haven't seen much evidence to support it. Son's statements about catching up to Verizon's network and becoming the best in the country could be referring to any number of metrics- capacity/speed, coverage (both indoor and/or rural), reliability, etc.

 

I would argue that I don't think they could justify calling themselves the best network if large swaths of the country (e.g. the former Alltel footprint out west) remain uncovered. They could have all the speed in the world but it doesn't do one much good if it's not available where one lives or travels.

 

I think Sprint has enough on their plate getting through NV 1.0 and looking ahead to NV 2.0 (800/2600 LTE and small cells). I would love to see an expansion of the native footprint but if that happens it will be a long ways off. I would bet that any major expansion over the next couple of years will only come through an acquisition of a smaller CDMA carrier like nTelos or USCC.

Obviously,  Sprint's rural network will not surpass VZ or ATT for quite some time (re coverage), if ever. If Sprint continues with their best-in-the-industry roaming agreements, who cares? However, Sprints network is in the best position to outdo the other nationwide carriers (VZ, ATT and, T-Mo), and (significantly) outperform the competition in urban areas. Only time will tell if Sprint will be succssful in implementing the aquired assets (via Clear, and even Softbank) they now  posses. Sprints 1x, frankly, dosent care about statistics/speed tests that so many people get lost with arond here. The fact of the matter is, Sprint is sitting very pretty right now in regards to finance; and, it's highly likely they will hold their position on this pedestal for quite sometime.  Some users may be unsatisfied with the rate at wich Sprints NV/LTE is being deployed but, Sprint does have far more to do at each individual site (38000+ of them) than their competion. (Sprit is now essentially building an all new network, from the ground up). Also, considering Son's cash influx and buying power, I don't think I'd have any doubt in NV regarding Sprints rolout rollout. (NV is the real deal).  All this bing said, we've still got the 4

Edited August 30, 2013 by BenChase7

[MacinJosh]

Is it even feasible for Sprint to merge with T-Mobile? How much for expanded coverage would Sprint gain? I don't think there would be much, as most areas I travel, Sprint has drastically more coverage than T-Mobile.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[gnoj]

Obviously,  Sprint's rural network will not surpass VZ or ATT for quite some time (re coverage), if ever. If Sprint continues with their best-in-the-industry roaming agreements, who cares?

 

I agree that for voice and SMS, roaming is not an issue. However, most subscribers are limited to just 1x data when roaming unless they flash a corporate PRL (which includes Ev-DO roaming), and no one can offer off-network LTE yet. Sprint also reduced the roaming cap in their new plans from 300MB to 100MB. Prepaid subs would also of course benefit from an expanded footprint, as would Sprint in the long haul through reduced roaming costs.

 

I do believe that Sprint will move into new markets soon (if for no other reason than to set up PCS G protection sites), but they would be wise to focus on getting NV done first. I'm still holding out hope that when I get around to making a visit to Montana in a few years that there will be some native Sprint coverage there. If not, native 4G coupled with voice roaming would also work.

 

People might say that Sprint would have to significantly raise its rates to build out, but I don't see why that needs to be the case. The closer Sprint approaches the twin bells in coverage, the less rationale those two would have to charge so much more and to refuse to offer an unlimited data option. As long as T-Mobile is around to keep prices in check and Sprint is still playing catch-up as a distant third in subscribers, the competition that would result from having 3 truly national carriers should actually lower prices for everyone.