Sprint Q3 report discussion (was Sprint loses subscribers in the third quarter")

[bigsnake49]

Reuters) - Sprint Corp posted a decline in third-quarter revenue on Wednesday as it lost more subscribers than expected following the shutdown of its older iDen network.

Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile operator which is 80 percent owned by SoftBank, reported net subscriber losses of 360,000 for the quarter. Six analysts contacted by Reuters expected losses of roughly 313,000, on average.

The company had warned that third-quarter numbers would be hurt by departures of corporate customers because of Sprint's shutdown at the end of June of its iDen network, which was used mostly by business customers.

Sprint reported a profit of $383 million, compared with a loss of $767 million in the year-ago quarter, before Sprint's deal with SoftBank and its July purchase of Clearwire Corp.

The company said the latest quarter was helped by a one-time, non-cash, $1.4 billion gain, net of taxes, related to its previously held investment in Clearwire.

Revenue fell to $8.68 billion from $8.76 billion.

http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-posts-decline-third-quarter-revenue-111749458--sector.html

 

[digiblur]

Doesn't surprise me due to the iDen folks leaving, they lost a lot of customers in this area that didn't switch due to the extreme coverage differences between CDMA and iDen here.  Plus combined with folks frustrated with the rollout of Network Vision causing issues.  It's going to take a year or two to get the network back on track, add a few sites, and right the ship.

[prophead]

Dan Hesse himself said that the third quarter will still have effects from the iDen shutdown. If my memory is correct he stated this is the last quarter they expect the shutdown to effect.

[Mercurial1]

Dan Hesse himself said that the third quarter will still have effects from the iDen shutdown. If my memory is correct he stated this is the last quarter they expect the shutdown to effect.

On the earnings call this morning he said q4 will be affected as well.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

 

[tybo31316]

Any network news out of the call?

[Rawvega]

Release from Sprint with more in-depth details: http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-reports-third-quarter-2013-results.htm

 

Odd take on the results from Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/30/stub-sprint-earnings-q3-2013/

 

I'm not really sure why the iPhone is even being mentioned in this context. They moved ~1.4 million of them in a quarter before the new ones debuted. It's sad what passes for journalism nowadays. Thankfully my work computer blocks Livefyre so I can't even be tempted to look at the free-for-all that I'm sure is taking place in the comments there.

[bigsnake49]

Release from Sprint with more in-depth details: http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-reports-third-quarter-2013-results.htm

 

Odd take on the results from Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/30/stub-sprint-earnings-q3-2013/

 

I'm not really even sure why the iPhone is even being mentioned in this context. They moved ~1.4 million of them in a quarter before the new ones debuted. It's sad what passes for journalism nowadays. Thankfully my work computer blocks Livefyre so I can't even be tempted to look at the free-for-all that I'm sure is taking place in the comments there.

 

I swear all the old Slashdot nerds moved over to Engadget and are measuring their e-penises.

Edited October 30, 2013 by bigsnake49

[bigsnake49]

Any network news out of the call?

 

NV is available on 26,000 of their 38,000 sites.

[S4GRU]

Dan Hesse himself said that the third quarter will still have effects from the iDen shutdown. If my memory is correct he stated this is the last quarter they expect the shutdown to effect.

The third quarter is the last quarter that subscriber counts can be directly attributable to iDEN shutdown. However, there will continue to be financial impacts in current quarter and even future quarters.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[Rawvega]

Transcript of the earnings call: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1787062-sprints-ceo-discusses-q3-2013-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

 

Some interesting tidbits in there as always.

[WiWavelength]

I would like to see the net gain/loss with iDEN subtracted out of the equation.  My recollection is that CDMA2000/LTE numbers have been growing most quarters.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

They still need to get a better handle on the tech side of things otherwise the bleeding will continue asI've recently turned in two legacy sites that were down for a week.  Sprint tech support acted surprised and opened tickets for them.  I think it was due to the NID change recently.  They pushed a mass change and rebooted the sites.  No one even bothered to check if they came back up and since they don't monitor them they went unnoticed.  Regular customers just think it's Sprint being Sprint, one account I know of is probably leaving due to this as he just thinks they don't cover him anymore after his calls with support.  Makes me wonder how many other legacy sites are still down after this.

[digiblur]

A few cool points from the transcript I remembered hearing:

 

Later today, we will announce groundbreaking advancements in network and device technology.

We continued our steady pace through the third quarter and now have over 26,000 sites on air with over 35,000 sites or more than 90% of Sprint sites completed or under construction.

Furthermore, we are starting to turn up the 800 megahertz LTE radios on our sites this quarter in multiple markets where we have spectrum re-banding complete.

We expect to complete the 5,000 LTE sites the Clearwire had under construction this year. As we move into next year, we will continue to expand the rollout of 2.5 gigahertz on selected sites across our existing network.

We expect to be roughly a 100 million POPs covered with 2.5 at the end of '14.

In the 1.9 on LTE, as we have said, we are seeing consistently about 6 to 8 megabits per second. And on 2.5 where it's deployed currently from the original Clearwire build, we are seeing in upwards to 50 and 60 megabits peak speeds right now.

[jamesinclair]

Could Sprint have handled the iden thing differently, and not lose so many customers?

[IamMrFamous07]

A few cool points from the transcript I remembered hearing:

 

Later today, we will announce groundbreaking advancements in network and device technology.

 

We continued our steady pace through the third quarter and now have over 26,000 sites on air with over 35,000 sites or more than 90% of Sprint sites completed or under construction.

 

Furthermore, we are starting to turn up the 800 megahertz LTE radios on our sites this quarter in multiple markets where we have spectrum re-banding complete.

 

We expect to complete the 5,000 LTE sites the Clearwire had under construction this year. As we move into next year, we will continue to expand the rollout of 2.5 gigahertz on selected sites across our existing network.

 

We expect to be roughly a 100 million POPs covered with 2.5 at the end of '14.

 

In the 1.9 on LTE, as we have said, we are seeing consistently about 6 to 8 megabits per second. And on 2.5 where it's deployed currently from the original Clearwire build, we are seeing in upwards to 50 and 60 megabits peak speeds right now.

.

 

Aawesome this is what I care about lol

[S4GRU]

Could Sprint have handled the iden thing differently, and not lose so many customers?

Definitely. I think the biggest thing would have been committing to convert all unique iDEN coverage to Network Vision/LTE. But what's done is done now.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[bigsnake49]

Definitely. I think the biggest thing would have been committing to convert all unique iDEN coverage to Network Vision/LTE. But what's done is done now.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

They might have been able to convert a few that actually lost coverage because of the IDEN network shutdown, but I think overall if they had a dynamite network to trasition them to, they would have kept quite a bit. As it was, Sprint's network was/is in shambles so they lost them. Will they be able to get them back? Well, if they can get their network in order and offer them better plans than the other two, then maybe. Some of us advocated EVDO Rev B for their network to hold them until LTE, but I guess they could not afford it. Oh, well!

[RichardXy]

Didn't Sprint gain more subscribers from Clearwire and US Cellular than it lost last quarter as a result of the IDEN shutdown? I

[S4GRU]

Didn't Sprint gain more subscribers from Clearwire and US Cellular than it lost last quarter as a result of the IDEN shutdown? I

It appears they wrapped existing CDMA/iDEN customers together. But counted USCC and Clearwire separately.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[IamMrFamous07]

Didn't Sprint gain more subscribers from Clearwire and US Cellular than it lost last quarter as a result of the IDEN shutdown? I

I was thinking the same thing

[Fraydog]

Definitely. I think the biggest thing would have been committing to convert all unique iDEN coverage to Network Vision/LTE. But what's done is done now.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

It's never too late. Now that Sprint has SoftBank money, I really do wish Sprint would go back and reexamine IDEN site conversion, especially in areas where Sprint coverage is greatly reduced from IDEN. 

[dedub]

another related article

 

http://gigaom.com/2013/10/30/sprint-gives-and-gains-ground-in-a-complicated-3rd-quarter/

[IamMrFamous07]

I hope they still plan to take 2.5 nationwide

[Fraydog]

This would be my message to Sprint execs regarding conversion of IDEN sites to Network Vision sites:

 

[dedub]

A few cool points from the transcript I remembered hearing:

 

Later today, we will announce groundbreaking advancements in network and device technology.

 

NEXUS 5 !!!~!??@!~!?~!?@!#@$?#@1`2