Jump to content

Sprint in Talks to Acquire FreedomPOP

marioc21

By marioc21
in General Topics

 Share

Recommended Posts

marioc21 Member Level: eHRPD

marioc21

Posted
Posted

Well, I remember a fiercewireless story about freedompop talking to one of the big 4. Speculated that it was probably sprint. Now we have a little more light on the subject.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/shinal/2014/11/12/tech-earnings-wrapup-new-tech-economy-john-shinal/18801555/

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Sprint Corp., the struggling No. 3 U.S. wireless player now owned by Japan's Softbank, is in talks with a Los Angeles-based wireless startup about a possible acquisition that could boost Sprint's revenue growth and lower its subscriber-acquisition costs, said two people familiar with the talks.

 

The talks are fluid, meaning they could lead to an investment, an acquisition or no deal between the companies. Other suitors have emerged for FreedomPop, among them a large U.S. technology company and a smaller wireless carrier, said these people.

 

An acquisition would likely value all of FreedomPop in a range between $250 million and $450 million, while an investment would value it closer to $200 million.

 

...

 

"Our goal next will be to get to postpaid phone net additions," which are the path to profitability for Sprint, Claure said on the conference call.

 

FreedomPop has been acquiring post-paid wireless subscribers on the cheap, then has held onto them thanks to plans that begin at $5 a month and a peer-to-peer platform for trading minutes.

 

The startup, which began life as a wireless hotspot provider, acquires 95% of its subscribers online, making its customer-acquisition costs of $4 per user a tiny fraction of Sprint's.

 

FreedomPop is converting 50% of consumers who try its free service into paying customers, company officials told me in an interview earlier this year.

 

The two companies have had a partnership for more than a year, with Sprint adding thousands of the startups users onto its wholesale wireless network.

..

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
sbolen Member Level: 4G WiMax

sbolen

Posted
Posted

Every story I see the begins like this: Sprint Corp., the struggling No. 3 U.S. wireless player now owned by Japan's Softbank ...

 

... reminds me of the mid-90s, when Apple couldn't be mentioned in any write-up without seeing the word beleaguered somewhere. It turned out OK for Apple, and it'll likely turn out OK for Sprint. It's just funny seeing the parallels. 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Conan Kudo Member Level: eHRPD

Conan Kudo

Posted
Posted

Every story I see the begins like this: Sprint Corp., the struggling No. 3 U.S. wireless player now owned by Japan's Softbank ...

 

... reminds me of the mid-90s, when Apple couldn't be mentioned in any write-up without seeing the word beleaguered somewhere. It turned out OK for Apple, and it'll likely turn out OK for Sprint. It's just funny seeing the parallels. 

On the flip side, the same thing was said of Commodore International, Palm, Northern Telecom (Nortel), WorldCom, and many others. They all eventually failed.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
sbolen Member Level: 4G WiMax

sbolen

Posted
Posted

On the flip side, the same thing was said of Commodore International, Palm, Northern Telecom (Nortel), WorldCom, and many others. They all eventually failed. 

 

tumblr_ln4prk6FYV1qafeogo1_500.jpg

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites
themuffinman Member Level: LTE Advanced

themuffinman

Posted
Posted

On the flip side, the same thing was said of Commodore International, Palm, Northern Telecom (Nortel), WorldCom, and many others. They all eventually failed.

 

, 

buzzkill.png

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Destroyallcubes Member Level: 4G LTE

Destroyallcubes

Posted
Posted

I dont think sprint will fail. The wireless industry cant take just 3 competitors, according to the FCC. So if sprint did fail, how do you think the spectrum would get divided? If it ks a pay for spectrum thing Tmobile gets left out, and then screwed. Customer wise it would be a huge chunk headed for the Top 2 , a lot less of a percentage to Tmobile. Would be a bad scenario for Tmobile in the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
thewezgrays Member Level: eHRPD

thewezgrays

Posted
Posted

I would love this to remain a thread about Freedompop being bought out... would be interesting to see what Sprint changes -- as well as what others think will happen etc...

 

Right now I am very happy with my Freedompop phone as my second phone and I am not paying anything for it!  I miss tri-band but, it is saving me a lot of money. (I think it makes a great 2nd phone -- but I wouldn't use it as my primary phone due to being restricted to voip -- and data isn't always strong enough for that)... 

 

As far as the off topic discussion, I loved the Sprint compared Apple comment -- but that was rightfully followed up to a comment to Sprint compared to Commodore/Palm/etc... both are rather ludicrous comparisons, but funny.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Posts

    • PedroDaGr8
      Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

      By PedroDaGr8 · Posted

      Since this is kind of the general chat thread, I have to share this humorous story (at least it is to me): Since around February/March of this year, my S22U has been an absolute pain to charge. USB-C cables would immediately fall out and it progressively got worse and worse until it often took me a number of minutes to get the angle of the cable juuuussst right to get charging to occur at all (not exaggerating). The connection was so weak that even walking heavily could cause the cable to disconnect. I tried cleaning out the port with a stable, a paperclip, etc. Some dust/lint/dirt came out but the connection didn't improve one bit. Needless to say, this was a MONSTER headache and had me hating this phone. I just didn't have the finances right now for a replacement.  Which brings us to the night before last. I am angry as hell because I had spent five minutes trying to get this phone to charge and failed. I am looking in the port and I notice it doesn't look right. The walls look rough and, using a staple, the back and walls feel REALLY rough and very hard. I get some lint/dust out with the staple and it improves charging in the sense I can get it to charge but it doesn't remove any of the hard stuff. It's late and it's charging, so that's enough for now. I decide it's time to see if that hard stuff is part of the connector or not. More aggressive methods are needed! I work in a biochem lab and we have a lot of different sizes of disposable needles available. So, yesterday morning, while in the lab I grab a few different sizes of needles between 26AWG and 31 AWG. When I got home, I got to work and start probing the connector with the 26 AWG and 31 AWG needle. The stuff feels extremely hard, almost like it was part of the connector, but a bit does break off. Under examination of the bit, it's almost sandy with dust/lint embedded in it. It's not part of the connector but instead some sort of rock-hard crap! That's when I remember that I had done some rock hounding at the end of last year and in January. This involved lots of digging in very sandy/dusty soils; soils which bare more than a passing resemblance to the crap in the connector. We have our answer, this debris is basically compacted/cemented rock dust. Over time, moisture in the area combined with the compression from inserting the USB-C connector had turned it into cement. I start going nuts chiseling away at it with the 26 AWG needle. After about 5-10 minutes of constant chiseling and scraping with the 26AWG and 31AWG needles, I see the first signs of metal at the back of the connector. So it is metal around the outsides! Another 5 minutes of work and I have scraped away pretty much all of the crap in the connector. A few finishing passes with the 31AWG needle, a blast of compressed air, and it is time to see if this helped any. I plug my regular USB-C cable and holy crap it clicks into place; it hasn't done that since February! I pick up the phone and the cable has actually latched! The connector works pretty much like it did over a year ago, it's almost like having a brand new phone!
    • PedroDaGr8
      Galaxy S22 thread

      By PedroDaGr8 · Posted

      That's odd, they are usually almost lock step with TMO. I forgot to mention this also includes the September Security Update.
    • PythonFanPA
      Galaxy S24 Info & Discussion

      By PythonFanPA · Posted

      417.55 MB September security update just downloaded here for S24+ unlocked   Edit:  after Sept security update install, checked and found a 13MB GP System update as well.  Still showing August 1st there however. 
    • Paynefanbro
      Official Tmobile-Sprint merger discussion thread

      By Paynefanbro · Posted

      T-Mobile is selling the rest of the 3.45GHz spectrum to Columbia Capital.  
    • mdob07
      Galaxy S22 thread

      By mdob07 · Posted

      Still nothing for my AT&T and Visible phones.

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...