Marcelo Claure, Town Hall Meetings, New Family Share Pack Plan, Unlimited Individual Plan, Discussion Thread

[lilotimz]

To let the core product you sell deteriorate either relative to the competition or in absolute terms is never a good decision. But i think they have to do it because, given the regulatory cost America can not support 4 national carriers.

 

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Sprint will not be allowed to fail or be partitioned.

 

They are considered "too big to fail" by uncle Sam.

 

Though sprint as a brand may not exist in the near future.

[RedSpark]

Sprint will not be allowed to fail or be partitioned.

 

They are considered "too big to fail" by uncle Sam.

 

Though sprint as a brand may not exist in the near future.

 

What will the brand be?

[nexgencpu]

I have alwaya been a big believer in Sprint but outside of 20 or 30 major metros in which their service is great, everything else seems to have slowed tremendously or stopped altogether. I am worried Marcelo bit off more than he can readily chew. I want to be wrong, however.

Sprint needs to make sure that cities with the highest population are best served first! We all know that 2.5 is best suited for these situations. Then build out to more rural areas..

 

That's Sprint's best shot at bringing in the most customers, its pretty much T mobile's strategy that worked well for them. While a lot of folks think it might be too late for Sprint to grow as T mobile has, I tend to disagree, simply from a spectrum standpoint (and having all that equipment deployed) two years from now, I do not see the other carriers finding a proper solution to the spectrum crunch.

There is a reason Verizon keeps pulling the magicians trick of moving your vision from where the card really is (other carriers catching up)  and showing you something else entirely different (5G)

[payturr]

What will the brand be?

Virgin USA

Or if the Carlson family ever gives it up to Sprint, US Cellular

[nexgencpu]

Sprint will not be allowed to fail or be partitioned.

They are considered "too big to fail" by uncle Sam.

Though sprint as a brand may not exist in the near future.

Sprint definitely has a branding issue, Its sad the amount of times I hear my phone is working fine but I just hate Sprint for x reason.

[utiz4321]

Sprint will not be allowed to fail or be partitioned.

 

They are considered "too big to fail" by uncle Sam.

 

Though sprint as a brand may not exist in the near future.

Maybe. But a new administration might let them merge. It is also my understanding their older bonds are basically unsecured, so sprint might be able to come through a bankruptcy intact. I dont think sprint can survive by starving their network again. Remember, this was the reason NV was necessary in the first place.

 

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[dnicekid]

 

What we think and say here is almost irrelevant to the avg customer.

What they know is Tmo is fast and most improved.

Vzw covers them everywhere and has speeds that are fast enough.

Att is a little better than Tmo

Sprint well... Slow speeds, always dropping calls or no service compared to vzw.

 

That's what most people will tell you about cell providers.

Capex/churn they don't know all they know is what they've heard about carriers or experienced. The only way for sprint to improve is to get this network up to par asap. That's it, proof is in the network and they don't have enough places blanketed to sway people. Do what it takes to get this done. Or continue to fall behind.

 

We are rooting for sprint but masa needs to make a serious push to get this done.

[lilotimz]

Maybe. But a new administration might let them merge. It is also my understanding their older bonds are basically unsecured, so sprint might be able to come through a bankruptcy intact. I dont think sprint can survive by starving their network again. Remember, this was the reason NV was necessary in the first place.

 

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Maybe maybe not. That's the stance of the current administration and the heads of sprint.

 

Sprint internally has already discussed bankruptcy reorganization due to debt load and other ways to starve that off including partnership deals with the like of Walmart and Comcast.

 

Sprint cannot survive by pissing away money for no results either. Sprint has two big issues in network deployments. One is organizational. Two is allocation wise.

 

The first is sprint pisses away, and continue to pass away, money for no true substantial results.

 

The second is money is thrown at an issue yet employees of all ranks in almost every region, every market, and every year consistently talks about funding gaps and issues related to funding.

 

Where the hell was/is those billions of dollars going?

 

I would say somewhere in that giant bureaucracy that is sprint campus in Kansas.

 

It doesn't help if you spend ten billion dollars if none of it gets to where it's needed. That I'd the issue with sprint. It all comes back to sprint corporate and leaders and execution.

 

Give Neville and his team that same Capex and miracles would happen.

[grapkoski]

True but deciding not to put 2.5GHz on every existing macro was a terrible decision that is affecting them right now.

 

I think this only applies in inner metro areas and dense suburbs, which is where the B41 was being refocused. B41 would do little in rural areas, but create islands of extreme speed for cows.

 

I'll admit, I am growing concerned about the lack of permitting evidence for expansion in the metro areas I regularly follow (DC/Tampa Bay). I'd think at least one of them would have some activity.

[laqn1283]

I mentioned before Sprint's current situation is very similar to Rite Aid back in 2009.  It is easy for us to sit here and be critical about Sprint.  But with limited financial resources, and debts due they have to balance between paying debts and at the same time invest in their networks.  Yes 3 billion in capex is not enough but unlike in 2008/2009 when Sprint cut capex down to 1.5 billion per year, they had to pay back later with NV1 because LTE/4g is based totally on a different technology than 3g and hence the rip and replace phase in NV1.  The next big thing in wireless is 5g and from all the discussion so far, it looks like it is based on LTE technology with a hyper densed network.  It is not going to be in full force until at least 4 to 5 years from now.  Therefore the next heavy phase of capex spending will not occur until then.  From now until then, Sprint spending on densification will transition the company toward 5G.  But the main advantage sprint's has over competitors when it comes to 5G is their 2.5G holdings.  Yes all of us want Sprint to be 1 or 2 in the next few months, they can probably do that but will put the company in bankruptcy, or they can get there in a few years but at the same time satisfy their debt obligations.  And management already decided to choose the latter.

[greenbastard]

At this point, I don't believe in Sprint after its last earnings call. The 2.5 GHz spectrum is useless for indoors unless you're in the immediate area of the tower or have a good line of sight to the panels. Houston, San Antonio, and Austin all have Band 41 /25/26 in most of their towers, but Band 41 has failed to do its job of easing congestion to 800/1900 LTE. While Band 41 can offer download speeds of 40+ Mbps outdoors, I quickly get dropped to sub-1 mbps speeds on B26/25 when I walk indoors.

 

 

I think Sprint's latest moves are getting them ready to prove to the federal government that a merger is needed in order to grow.

 

They have enormous debt: check

They are growing debt: check

They are slowing upgrades: check

They are slowing expansion: check

 

I just hope that if the FCC ever green lights a Sprint/T-Mobile merger, they force the new company to grow their native coverage to give rural communities a third carrier option.

[Deval]

True but deciding not to put 2.5GHz on every existing macro was a terrible decision that is affecting them right now.

 

We are taking the word of SRA on that, but I believe Marcelo and team said repeatedly that they would put 2.5 everywhere they could.

[Fraydog]

Good Ole Overhead Park. 

 

I didn't understand the joke when ex-Nextel people made it to me long ago. I understand it now. 

 

I know Marcelo understands this and is trying to change that culture. That culture is still resistant to change. 

[greenbastard]

Good Ole Overhead Park.

 

I didn't understand the joke when ex-Nextel people made it to me long ago. I understand it now.

 

I know Marcelo understands this and is trying to change that culture. That culture is still resistant to change.

Maybe that talk on this forum a while back about moving HQ from Kansas to Miami had some legs.

 

Unfortunately, I just don't see Sprint leaving the KC area unless it's through a merger.

[lilotimz]

Maybe that talk on this forum a while back about moving HQ from Kansas to Miami had some legs.

 

Unfortunately, I just don't see Sprint leaving the KC area unless it's through a merger.

Look at the decentralization that is occurring with market and regional managers.

 

That's the big indicator that centralization at sprint HQ is not working, has not worked, and will not work.

[nexgencpu]

Positive Sprint write up. Hopefully we will continue to see more of these, and in short, Sprint has an image problem first and foremost..

 

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20160509/opinion/kagan-love-sprint-free

[NYC126]

Good Ole Overhead Park. 

 

I didn't understand the joke when ex-Nextel people made it to me long ago. I understand it now. 

 

I know Marcelo understands this and is trying to change that culture. That culture is still resistant to change.

 

Marcelo has been doing a good job in bringing his people from CTO to CFO, but if the same project management crew is still there he won't see the network results that he wants.

[RedSpark]

Marcelo has been doing a good job in bringing his people from CTO to CFO, but if the same project management crew is still there he won't see the network results that he wants.

 

• Günther Ottendorfer was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Technology
• John Saw was promoted to Chief Technology Officer
• Junichi Miyakawa, Technical Chief Operating Officer, who was instrumental in developing the company’s network plans is now a senior technical adviser in the Office of the CEO and a liaison between Softbank and Sprint for network strategy.

There's a whole new crew running things from the top, and Marcelo/Tarek are ensuring this works its way down the chain. This is also much easier to manage through "One Sprint" with the Four Area Presidents (West, Central, South, Northeast) reporting directly to Marcelo and the Regional Presidents reporting to the Area Presidents. Marcelo has introduced structure and accountability into Sprint.

[caspar347]

Marcelo has been doing a good job in bringing his people from CTO to CFO, but if the same project management crew is still there he won't see the network results that he wants.

I know we'd have no way of hearing about it, but I hope they have implemented some deadlines at the middle management level with some serious penalties. Particularly in the network department.

[NYC126]

 

• Günther Ottendorfer was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Technology
• John Saw was promoted to Chief Technology Officer
• Junichi Miyakawa, Technical Chief Operating Officer, who was instrumental in developing the company’s network plans is now a senior technical adviser in the Office of the CEO and a liaison between Softbank and Sprint for network strategy.

There's a whole new crew running things from the top, and Marcelo/Tarek are ensuring this works its way down the chain. This is also much easier to manage through "One Sprint" with the Four Area Presidents (West, Central, South, Northeast) reporting directly to Marcelo and the Regional Presidents reporting to the Area Presidents. Marcelo has introduced structure and accountability into Sprint.

I am not talking about top management, but the one at the middle and in the field. These are the ones that make things happen.

[RedSpark]

I am not talking about top management, but the one at the middle and in the field. These are the ones that make things happen.

 

Top management sets the tone and establishes expectations for middle management and those in the field.

[WillM]

What will the brand be?

Comcast Wireless? You never know! I'm pretty sure the little guy already shopped it to them once already. If he can swallow his pride and accept a low offer maybe he could move on to other things.

[utiz4321]

Maybe maybe not. That's the stance of the current administration and the heads of sprint.

 

Sprint internally has already discussed bankruptcy reorganization due to debt load and other ways to starve that off including partnership deals with the like of Walmart and Comcast.

 

Sprint cannot survive by pissing away money for no results either. Sprint has two big issues in network deployments. One is organizational. Two is allocation wise.

 

The first is sprint pisses away, and continue to pass away, money for no true substantial results.

 

The second is money is thrown at an issue yet employees of all ranks in almost every region, every market, and every year consistently talks about funding gaps and issues related to funding.

 

Where the hell was/is those billions of dollars going?

 

I would say somewhere in that giant bureaucracy that is sprint campus in Kansas.

 

It doesn't help if you spend ten billion dollars if none of it gets to where it's needed. That I'd the issue with sprint. It all comes back to sprint corporate and leaders and execution.

 

Give Neville and his team that same Capex and miracles would happen.

Yeah. But i think the fact they cant get any where argues that the market is better served by 3 players instead of four. It is an expensive industry with high fixed cost and it doesnt help that any podunk town or city can hold up deployment for some almost any retarded reason they want.

 

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[Arysyn]

Marcelo dishing it back to Verizon:

 

https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/729434236801851393

My friend in Connecticut who has Verizon often goes for long walks outside when he's talking on his smartphone, which I believe is a Samsung Galaxy S5 or Samsung Note 4, I don't remember. Anyways, whenever I've talked with him while he's on these long walks, the voice clarity has been really awful. I usually talk with him while I'm using Skype VOIP unlimited U.S. & Canada voice service, so I know that my side of the line is fine. Yet, his sounds just awful, even worse than T-Mobile. What I don't understand is that Verizon and Sprint both use CDMA, yet Sprint sounds great while Verizon is bad, really bad on CDMA (I doubt this is when he's been on VoLTE). When he use to be on Skype using it on his smartphone, the Skype voice quality was much better. That is, when his LTE connection was stable. Often, it dropped down to 1xRTT. even in decent signal areas.

 

I'm curious what the bitrate differences might be between Sprint and Verizon, but it seems that Verizon might be using the lowest available, or just a really low bitrate, as I've read online a few times that they do. Sprint has a definitive advantage here, and Sprint isn't even using VoLTE. With Sprint taking its time implementing VoLTE on its network, I figure that when they do, it'll be really great, using a high, excellent quality bitrate. 

[Arysyn]

The low band Sprint got was plagued with issues due to rebanding for public safety which Sprint had to pay money for, and it didn't save their network because it's congested to hell. On top of all this, Nextel lost goodwill almost instantly so Sprint had to write off a lot of assets. Had they not bought Nextel, they could have densified for PCS LTE in the get go or had simply participated in Auction 73 to get 700MHz, and they wouldn't be using boutique LTE bands.

I agree. While the low-band spectrum Sprint got from Nextel is somewhat helpful in a few areas, there turned out to be much more problems with it than good, despite the intentions of the Sprint board at the time thinking this merger and the low-band spectrum Sprint got from it would help them. They definitely would have been better waiting to acquire Metro and Alltel, then going after the 700mhz spectrum.