softbank planning to push LTE as alternative to cable

[dkyeager]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-09/softbank-said-to-ready-broadband-pitch-amid-merger-doubt.html

[COZisBack]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-09/softbank-said-to-ready-broadband-pitch-amid-merger-doubt.html

 

Damn Son! Can we get the mobile broadband for smartphones and hotspots up to par first! Sheesh.

[cdk]

Damn Son! Can we get the mobile broadband for smartphones and hotspots up to par first! Sheesh.

 

He is too busy sniffing Mr Legere's magenta underwear and micromanaging individual store associates.

[KD8JBF]

He is too busy sniffing Mr Legere's magenta underwear and micromanaging individual store associates.

 

[Steve Dean]

Damn Son! Can we get the mobile broadband for smartphones and hotspots up to par first! Sheesh.

 

I agree.  Get the infastructure in place first.

 

This reminds me of where I live.  Developers built a very large community and shopping area a few miles away from me but the city did not upgrade the infastructure for almost two years.  It was a complete mess.  Nobody wanted to go there with the traffic issues.

[S4GRU]

Damn Son! Can we get the mobile broadband for smartphones and hotspots up to par first! Sheesh.

Masa knows he has to do it all. He cannot think linearly. It will be painful to bring Sprint up to his standards, but it must be done.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

[davidtm]

Yeah, and I hope that fixing the nTelos debacle around here is on his list!

[centermedic]

I have to say I am a bit disappointed. Son went very aggressive with his pricing in Japan and I was hoping for the same thing here. Even if you don't want to compete directly on price then at least compete on value. Many folks here have advocated bundling a couple of gigs of hot spot data. Seems like Son is giving mixed signals right now.

[tommym65]

I have to say I am a bit disappointed. Son went very aggressive with his pricing in Japan and I was hoping for the same thing here. Even if you don't want to compete directly on price then at least compete on value. Many folks here have advocated bundling a couple of gigs of hot spot data. Seems like Son is giving mixed signals right now.

 

Patience, Grasshopper, patience.   

 

(If Sprint dropped prices and suddenly added 4 or 5 million subs right now, especially in over-crowded markets like Chicago & NYC, the current network would simply melt down.  He needs infrastructure now, aggressive pricing thereafter.  Or so we can hope.)

[dkyeager]

I have to say I am a bit disappointed. Son went very aggressive with his pricing in Japan and I was hoping for the same thing here. Even if you don't want to compete directly on price then at least compete on value. Many folks here have advocated bundling a couple of gigs of hot spot data. Seems like Son is giving mixed signals right now.

 

He identified eliminating the network excuse as one of his priorities which is good.  I am not certain about putting the Clearwire guy in charge of the network given they are almost a month behind the latest plan for Clearwire updates for b41 in Columbus.  NV 2.0 B41 may beat Clearwire B41 in many parts of town.

 

I think they need to get more people with triband phones is the key, plus far better marketing in a few months.

 

This is an alternate path to try to get a t-mobile merger, which is not as bad as it sounds once Advanced LTE becomes the norm.  Sprint already used the 50 state argument. Economies of scale argument would make sense with advanced LTE (ie no 3G).

[cdk]

He identified eliminating the network excuse as one of his priorities which is good.  I am not certain about putting the Clearwire guy in charge of the network given they are almost a month behind the latest plan for Clearwire updates for b41 in Columbus.  NV 2.0 B41 may beat Clearwire B41 in many parts of town.

 

I think they need to get more people with triband phones is the key, plus far better marketing in a few months.

 

This is an alternate path to try to get a t-mobile merger, which is not as bad as it sounds once Advanced LTE becomes the norm.  Sprint already used the 50 state argument. Economies of scale argument would make sense with advanced LTE (ie no 3G).

 

I remember reading member reports from the end of last year that seemed to show the conversion of Clearwire sites about on schedule. At that point it was a totally separate project from the NV upgrades. I would suspect that part of the delay now may be rewriting the plan to intergrate former Clear sites into the NV 1.0 & 2.0 roll out in a single comprehensive plan.

[bigsnake49]

I thnk Son has been reading my posts . I have long advocated that Sprint, either in cooperation with Dish or on their own, offer broadband on the EBS spectrum.

 

I would not put it past Son if he offers this plus the ability to match Verizon coverage where he is not held back by the IBEZ.

Edited March 10, 2014 by bigsnake49

[centermedic]

Patience, Grasshopper, patience. 

 

(If Sprint dropped prices and suddenly added 4 or 5 million subs right now, especially in over-crowded markets like Chicago & NYC, the current network would simply melt down.  He needs infrastructure now, aggressive pricing thereafter.  Or so we can hope.)

You know what though. They can target certain areas where the network is not overburdened. Outside looking in there seems to be a difference in priorities between Kansas and Japan.

[S4GRU]

He identified eliminating the network excuse as one of his priorities which is good.  I am not certain about putting the Clearwire guy in charge of the network given they are almost a month behind the latest plan for Clearwire updates for b41 in Columbus.  NV 2.0 B41 may beat Clearwire B41 in many parts of town.

 

I think they need to get more people with triband phones is the key, plus far better marketing in a few months.

 

This is an alternate path to try to get a t-mobile merger, which is not as bad as it sounds once Advanced LTE becomes the norm.  Sprint already used the 50 state argument. Economies of scale argument would make sense with advanced LTE (ie no 3G).

 

One month behind schedule is on schedule for the most part in this business.  AT&T is several months behind here installing LTE in Western South Dakota according to the guy I talked with this morning at my local site.  Since AT&T and VZW don't post their schedules and there is no A4GRU or V4GRU, we don't know how far behind they ever ran.  Given how things have gone with Network Vision schedules, I would say that the Clearwire B41 deployment has been going muy excellente!

 

Robert

[miguell2]

I don't get why everyone is complaining, he is being a shrewd busineman. He is showing how benefitial merging would be to everyone not only wireless. At any rate any of this is still years away. I believe that fixed wireless is much easier on the overall infrastructure that a roaming data hog, just my two cents.

[twospirits]

Since AT&T and VZW don't post their schedules and there is no A4GRU or V4GRU, we don't know how far behind they ever ran.  

 

Robert

[floorguy]

AS was said...get the infrastructure done and in place....

 

with that said....

 

some telco or who ever is providing backhaul...needs an ass kicking 1st....

sprint appears to have the hardware up damn near everywhere...(i think around 98-99% here) 

 

but if i am reading the tea leaves right...its the subs that are dragging ass.....

 

if its the pullers get new ones...thats easy

 

if its the providers....ehhhh welll thats harder...but i would be slapping some do not pay stickers on bills....

[Fraydog]

If SoftBank wants to be in the cable business, they could launch a bid for TWC if the FCC puts the kibash on Comcast acquiring it.

[centermedic]

If SoftBank wants to be in the cable business, they could launch a bid for TWC if the FCC puts the kibash on Comcast acquiring it.

That could open up a lot of possibilities!

[linhpham2]

If Son wanted to compete in the fixed wireless broadband market, why not buy Dish's spectrum holdings (not including the GPS-interfering portions). Grab as much spectrum as possible and sell off any divestures required to get the deal approved. IIRC, Dish was interested in fixed wireless broadband and it doesn't look like they'll be able to build out their spectrum anytime soon.

[Deval]

If Son wanted to compete in the fixed wireless broadband market, why not buy Dish's spectrum holdings (not including the GPS-interfering portions). Grab as much spectrum as possible and sell off any divestures required to get the deal approved. IIRC, Dish was interested in fixed wireless broadband and it doesn't look like they'll be able to build out their spectrum anytime soon.

 

Why buy if you can host and collect money on it?

 

Spectrum is finite and requires a lot of additional overhead cost to deploy. If Sprint were to go after Dish's H block holdings (for example), it would cost billions, and require a ton of re-certification to use. No devices would support it OOB, and the RRUs wouldn't broadcast.