T-Mobile CFO makes case for U.S. consolidation, Sprint deal

[Destroyallcubes]

The big two have something tmobile and Sprint don't have. It's a large native footprint. Even though most people won't need it, the maps thing is a huge selling point. The combination of these two networks would do nothing to help the footprint. Just my two cents.

Doesnt tmobile have a decent amount of edge coveragr that sprint could take advantage of by just installing new gear?

[richy]

This is something I would like to see. At&t eating tmobile kills competition, sprint and tmo merging boosts it. Consolidating the networks and sites would make for better coverage, higher capacity (especially for tmo) and more money to start filling in gaps in their networks. Yes neither company is endowed with huge swathes of <1000mhz spectrum but sprints 800mhz should be enough to make the difference. Even with it just being for voice and a single lte carrier it would be enough for now. 

This would be about the only merger of significance (obviously excluding eating up small regional carriers) that would make much sense. Sadly it would probably result in job losses in the short term where there is redundancy but hopefully would continue to provide for lots of engineering jobs and also making a more competitive carrier with more subs and therefore more jobs. 

[ericdabbs]

Yes and no. Moving Metro to Sprint CDMA would be EXTREMELY easy, far easier than migrating them to UMTS, In fact, as more time passes and the more migration work of Metro users to the TMO network happens, potential of a merger between TMO and S becomes all the more distasteful.

It doesnt matter. No matter how u spin it, it is still going to be a mess to integrate both sprint and tmobiles network. If u ask me it makes more sense to wait at least another 5-6 years when VoLTE becomes a reality. If they merged with tmobile at that point , sprint could just make the transition straight to VoLTE or could allow both networks to still exist for another 2 years.

 

The key right now is that sprint and tmobile both still low band 600 mhz spectrum. Until that happens no deal should happen.

 

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[richy]

Is Volte all that necessary in the short to medium term given tmo have a pretty good wifi calling setup that could be adapted to use the data network as well as wifi. It isn't perfect but it is an option no?

[Nickel]

I remember reading very similar statements last year when Sprint's acquisition of Clearwire was just a rumor. The SoftBank acquisition had already been announced and people argued that Sprint had too much on its plate to take on any more. 

 

I agree that any sort of T-Mobile deal probably won't happen any time soon, but Sprint has surprised us before 

I wasn't around for that or I would have said it's a dumb argument, Clearwire was already "owned" by Sprint so it wasn't like they weren't listening to Sprint and not doing what they wanted.

[MrZorbatron]

Doesnt tmobile have a decent amount of edge coveragr that sprint could take advantage of by just installing new gear?

No.  Sprint "installing new gear" in a TMO area post acquisition would be no more cost effective than simply leasing tower space and installing their own machinery in those areas now.

[MrZorbatron]

It doesnt matter. No matter how u spin it, it is still going to be a mess to integrate both sprint and tmobiles network. If u ask me it makes more sense to wait at least another 5-6 years when VoLTE becomes a reality. If they merged with tmobile at that point , sprint could just make the transition straight to VoLTE or could allow both networks to still exist for another 2 years.

 

The key right now is that sprint and tmobile both still low band 600 mhz spectrum. Until that happens no deal should happen.

 

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Absolutely a mess.  It would be Nextel all over again.  This is why Metro is the only piece of TMO that would have been worthwhile to Sprint, and it strains reason to try to figure why they did not buy Metro when they could.

[MrZorbatron]

Incidentally, the problem with VOLTE remains no matter which frequencies it uses.  LTE doesn't live with a negative SNR.  CDMA does.  This means that CDMA is an inherently better technology in cases of either marginal to weak signal strength or high interference areas.

[ericdabbs]

Absolutely a mess.  It would be Nextel all over again.  This is why Metro is the only piece of TMO that would have been worthwhile to Sprint, and it strains reason to try to figure why they did not buy Metro when they could.

 

They had no money plain and simple.  This was pre-Softbank deal by 6 months.  I actually prefer that we have Softbank if that means we give up on MetroPCS.  The spectrum assets actually fit Tmobile more than Sprint since their main band was AWS spectrum.  MetroPCS did have some nice PCS spectrum assets that would have benefited Sprint but Sprint was in dire straits.  

 

Lets not go back and start reminiscing what coulda shoulda woulda happened with MetroPCS.  Right now we have Softbank and whether you like it or not, Softbank is the single reason why Sprint is able to buy Clearwire entirely and provide the liquidity for Sprint to complete Network Vision.  Think about it, who would have imagined that we would be talking about LTE 2600 nationwide on all Sprint sites + Clearwire sites + more to fill in some gaps. I am sure any of us would have ran someone out of town if they suggested nationwide LTE 2600 due to the enormous costs of equipment and manpower.  Surely Sprint (pre-Softbank) would not have the funds to do this and I am so relieved that we never went into the LTE wholesale agreement with Clearwire where they provide hotspot coverage for LTE 2600.  It would have been a nightmare and wouldn't have worked out so well.  

 

At the end of the day, I am so glad Softbank swooped in and saved Sprint and now Softbank wants to turn Sprint into a wireless powerhouse.  What more can you ask for?

[dontsh00tmesanta]

A merger would be awesome for both companies

 

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[MrZorbatron]

wouldnt shutting of 3g evdo be best and edge network. Then keep hspa+ and 1x 800?

No.  This makes no sense at all.

[MrZorbatron]

They had no money plain and simple.  This was pre-Softbank deal by 6 months.  I actually prefer that we have Softbank if that means we give up on MetroPCS.  The spectrum assets actually fit Tmobile more than Sprint since their main band was AWS spectrum.  MetroPCS did have some nice PCS spectrum assets that would have benefited Sprint but Sprint was in dire straits.  

 

Lets not go back and start reminiscing what coulda shoulda woulda happened with MetroPCS.  Right now we have Softbank and whether you like it or not, Softbank is the single reason why Sprint is able to buy Clearwire entirely and provide the liquidity for Sprint to complete Network Vision.  Think about it, who would have imagined that we would be talking about LTE 2600 nationwide on all Sprint sites + Clearwire sites + more to fill in some gaps. I am sure any of us would have ran someone out of town if they suggested nationwide LTE 2600 due to the enormous costs of equipment and manpower.  Surely Sprint (pre-Softbank) would not have the funds to do this and I am so relieved that we never went into the LTE wholesale agreement with Clearwire where they provide hotspot coverage for LTE 2600.  It would have been a nightmare and wouldn't have worked out so well.  

 

At the end of the day, I am so glad Softbank swooped in and saved Sprint and now Softbank wants to turn Sprint into a wireless powerhouse.  What more can you ask for?

This isn't what I meant.  Sprint did have the cash to buy Metro but the board didn't accept it.

 

I agree that Sprint is in a better position with Softbank, though the complications go far beyond.

 

You look at things through simplifying glasses I am afraid.

[ericdabbs]

This isn't what I meant.  Sprint did have the cash to buy Metro but the board didn't accept it.

 

I agree that Sprint is in a better position with Softbank, though the complications go far beyond.

 

You look at things through simplifying glasses I am afraid.

 

What cash????  Sprint was bleeding financially with their debt prior to Softbank.  Use the cash that was budgeted for Network Vision?  NOOO I don't think so. There were a lot of different circumstances back then. The stock was at $2 and they were talks about possible tensions with Hesse and the Board and Sprint had to constantly spend money to prop Clearwire who kept bleeding money.  The deal was structured where MetroPCS would get tons of shares in Sprint stock which would mean giving MetroPCS about 30 percent Sprint ownership and some cash.  Sprint was not in a great shape financially. So no I am not looking at things through simplifying glasses.

 

There has to be a reason why the Sprint board rejected it and I positive that it is due to the board not feeling comfortable on taking on more debt, giving up ownership, losing focus on Network Vision and frankly Sprint shareholders were sick of the poor financial results quarter over quarter.  Of course we will never know the true reason why the deal fell apart in the last few hours but who cares.  Either way whats done is done.  No point in arguing over things in the past.  Next thing you'll be telling me is that Sprint should have gotten Alltel instead of Nextel.  Water under the bridge.

[Destroyallcubes]

No.  This makes no sense at all.

well I was looking at it as a better network setup. Hspa is better than evdo. And if they had tmobile itd be pointless to have evdo as hspa hands off better to LTE

[bigsnake49]

The only way T-Mobile and Sprint can compete is to merge and to acquire 600MHz spectrum. Otherwise they will just be killing each other. Right now, T-Mobile seems to have the upper hand, but next year Sprint will rise again. 

[MrZorbatron]

Perhaps Alltel wasn't for sale yet at the time Sprint bought out Nextel.  I didn't mean specifically cash, I just meant the means to buy it.  Either way, taking over a compatible carrier is substantially cheaper than an incompatible one, any way you look at it.

[cletus]

The only way T-Mobile and Sprint can compete is to merge and to acquire 600MHz spectrum. Otherwise they will just be killing each other. Right now, T-Mobile seems to have the upper hand, but next year Sprint will rise again. 

Actually I would say the only carrier who absolutely NEEDS it is T-Mobile. Sprint has a ton of spectrum available and now that the 800 mhz band is slowly coming online they will be able to have building penetration like verizon and AT&T. Isn't T-Mobile still stuck with 1900 mhz+?

[jefbal99]

well I was looking at it as a better network setup. Hspa is better than evdo. And if they had tmobile itd be pointless to have evdo as hspa hands off better to LTE

HSPA requires significantly more spectrum than CDMA 1x and EvDo

 

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[Destroyallcubes]

HSPA requires significantly more spectrum than CDMA 1x and EvDo

 

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Yeah but they would have it already if they merged. Im not saying do hspa+ 42 but the 21 option and it would give them an advantage even over ATT in my opinion 

[bigsnake49]

HSPA requires significantly more spectrum than CDMA 1x and EvDo

 

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It really depends. A 5+5MHz HSPA channel can accomodate both voice and data. Depending on how many EVDO channels you're running at a site, you might better off with HSPA+ rather than EVDO. Now, if your traffic does not require whole 5MHz channels, the smaller channel width of 1x and EVDO is more efficient.

[jefbal99]

Yeah but they would have it already if they merged. Im not saying do hspa+ 42 but the 21 option and it would give them an advantage even over ATT in my opinion

If I remember from AJ correctly, the HSPA airlink is much more fragile at the edges where 1x is robust at the edges.

 

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[bigsnake49]

Actually I would say the only carrier who absolutely NEEDS it is T-Mobile. Sprint has a ton of spectrum available and now that the 800 mhz band is slowly coming online they will be able to have building penetration like verizon and AT&T. Isn't T-Mobile still stuck with 1900 mhz+?

 

Yes, Sprint does have 800MHz and in that aspect they are better off than T-Mobile, if they are to remain independent. T-Mobile has  the advantage of easier upgrade from HSPA+ to LTE and owning standard frequencies that the big two also use.

[Destroyallcubes]

If I remember from AJ correctly, the HSPA airlink is much more fragile at the edges where 1x is robust at the edges.

 

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Yeah it is. Isnt LTE more fragile in the edges too? My thought was to keep 1x800 for voice, just just use the hspa+ as an enhanced data network since most smartphones have the hspa+ capability and all of that. On paper it looks good, but reality it may not work the way I think it would. I honestly would prefer hspa for data over evdo. 

[bigsnake49]

Yeah it is. Isnt LTE more fragile in the edges too? My thought was to keep 1x800 for voice, just just use the hspa+ as an enhanced data network since most smartphones have the hspa+ capability and all of that. On paper it looks good, but reality it may not work the way I think it would. I honestly would prefer hspa for data over evdo. 

 

I think that both HSPA+ and LTE are about to get 1x type edge perfromance. By the time this merger and integration took place, VOLTE should be perfected.

Edited September 26, 2013 by bigsnake49

[Destroyallcubes]

I think that both HSPA+ and LTE are about to get 1x type edge perfromance. By the time this merger and integration took place, VOLTE should be perfected.

Well im not sure it would happen until LTE advance features were implemented. But by then hspa will be next on the cutting block to get shut down hahah.