JeffDTD

The problem is that nothing that happens post merger, besides selling phones that utilize boths spectrum, is going to materialize as quickly as the general public's almost immediate expectation. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

After the softbank purchase, I really expected we would have received word officially from sprint of an organic network expansion by now. If the mindset is "lets consolidate and then organically expand when we have a consolidated network plan" I suppose Son may be thinking of offering guaranteed expansion as one of the incentives for merger approval?

Unless Sprint decides that the ED plans are unprofitable, why would they kick anyone off or refuse a new 2 year contract? With Son in control, I believe this is even less likely to happen. And if its going to happen, it happens when the network is at a new high both publically and actually, now with sprint is still scrambling. What I can see happening is the amount reduced from the retail price of the handset will be reduced for ED 2 year contracts. For example, if average cost after subsidy for a Galaxy 4 is $199, I could see them increasing that price to $249 or $299 in an attempt to organically drive customers to the framily model Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I guess Son is not going to sit quietly as a team tells him "we cant do this any faster because...". New Sprint!! Cant wait to hear what he has in store for the public event next week. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

My gut says pay them what they want and move along. If there are acquisitions or mergers on sprint's horizon, the last thing they need is this to be going on. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

If a random customer walks in a store and is offered membership in a framily by store associates with people they dont know , how in the world is that not a giant nightmare for sprint customer service later down the road? "I dont understand why my bill went up -the local sprint store- set me up".... Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Coffee enema Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

If it takes 45B to score tmo and take on its debt right now, despite his best poker face, Charlie doesnt have those kind of borrowing facilities. He was stretched with the ~23B he offered for Sprint. Either Softbank gets tmo and charlie has been promised first dibs on divestitures, or he storms in with a lowball bid after sprint's acquistion is rejected as an "only viable option for approval" Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Glad they could get the test site out of Donut-mode in time for the testing. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Comcast simply cannot be trusted, at their size, to treat their vendors, employees, or customers with any degree of fairness or professionalism. I'm friends with a current and former employee and according to both of them, comcasts myriad of software and poor employee training is the biggest reason their customer service stinks so bad. Literally every single market they serve has personalized pricing, bundling, fees, and surcharge cramming based on the competitive environment in that municipality/area. Areas with no competition can be priced anywhere from 10-50% higher than a neighboring market with competitors. For the past 7 years, comcast has raised its rates in my city by 30-40%. Recently, C-spire decided to bring fiber to the city AND the city entered an agreement for ATT to deploy U-Verse... Within 3 months of these announcements, Hattiesburg customers have suddenly started being offered retention plans to stay. I'm currently receiving triple play services totaling $120 a month before taxes that just 6 months ago was offered for $149.00 to new customers for 6 months and $189.00 to everyone else. If Comcast is going to be allowed to get even larger, I think its time the FCC required some unified level of pricing be offered to all customers in its footprint. Comcast is a behemoth but has been allowed to govern its pricing with a small, local shop mentality. Just imagine if the cost of mobile service varied from city to city based on how many carriers were in that city and whether or not fuel costs in that city were higher or a natural disaster recently hit causing repairs or a new site had to be built so customers must pay more.

Was really hoping we would get some roundabout mention or encouragement, in the transcript Q&A's, about converting Ground Mount sites to full build or about their plans to strategically grow the network in areas where expansion has been neglected. That absolutely was not the purpose of the reporting, but it would be encouraging none the less. With merger and acquisition talk being the elephant in the room, I assume those expectations remain vague

Charlie characteristically would fear paying more for tmo than sprint would pay. The only conditions under which he would make a play will be 1)sprint has made a bid, charlie likes the price and wants to pay more 2) sprints bid has been turned down by fcc/doj and charlie sees an opportunity to swoop in and pay less Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Until verizon is willing to densify its network, building out the same number of sites and small cells that sprint has planned, using its AWS and 700mhz, its not an argument. The cost of supporting more sites just threatens their precious profit margin. If they truly want more high band spectrum to alleviate capacity constraints, why not ask sprint to sell some of it and then whine instead of crying to the FCC? And the ~ 1.5B offer they made to clear in the midst of the buyout turmoil doesnt count. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Right. And network vision issues are likely the most common reason of late that customers are contacting care....and also the issue that care is least equipped or able to resolve. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Further fodder that will support an argument that sprint needs the magenta http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-release/2rlA1q4/2014-u-s-wireless-customer-care-full-service-performance-study-and-u-s-wireless-customer-care-non-contract-performance-study-vol-1.htm And I hate it. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

My biggest objection to a merger is the absence of change timeframd which will follow it. There wont be any overnight progress or quicker network evolution than the upgrade path already laid out by each company for the next 1-2 years. How long was it after softbank closed its purchase of sprint that the media expected something dramatic to occur? 60-90 days later. It would be interesting to see a map of the sites/areas currently served by one carrier but not the other. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

For those of us in favor of a buyout, we have to be realistic with the regulatory climate Son will be facing. It is my belief that the best way to minimize a magentan coup (100k+ complaints to the FCC and Justice Department) as well as win support from the FCC and JD will be to not just charm the magentan messiah with a golden parachute, but also offer him a senior position at the combined entity which allows him to continue to pander his maverick persona and emulate a late life rock and roll star. Film some commercials with him, telling us how amazing this new "un-carrier" creation will be just as soon as the offer is accepted. As he has the loudest voice, turn him into the spokesman for the merger. If Sprint goes for Tmo, it won't matter whether what the magentans are saying about Sprint is true or not. All that will matter is whether they can coalesced to have faith in the company that results early and well enough. We are going to see the Verizon and ATT lobbyist nests ignite at least a dozen puppet senators to staunchly oppose a merger and theres nothing we can do about that. Sprint will suffer extreme reputation damage if it goes for Tmo and is denied by our government. So, making peace with the magentans (and letting them think whatever they need to think to be happy about it) becomes a top priority in a merger.

Really sad to see this. I can't help but think Google just wasn't aggressive enough with Motorola leadership.

Sounds like someone in the call center may have an axe to grind!

Exactly. We've picked around this conversation already, but gone will be the days of squirreling out of service with Sprint for $0 because they "raised the admin fees" or "stopped giving my company a discount!". Technically , "I'm moving my residence where you don't have service" isnt going to even matter. All can be answered with, "no prob, just pay off your device fianancing!". "Oh you don't want to, oh I'm sorry. Just sell it to us for less than its worth" "Oh you don't want to, I'm sorry..... I guess you will have to just try to re-sell it yourself AFTER you pay it off" So imagine you financed $500 after a $150 downpayment... and 6 months later, found out you have to move into some abyss without Sprint. No problem, you've made 6 months of payments, just spend the $380 and pay off your device. To me, the costs are logical and still recoverable. The public's clamor over these changes is just so short sighted. Softbank's scale will deliver us aggressive retail prices... the saving factor.

There is very little if nothing to be excited about the end of subsidies for me. And we can thank the magentans and all their "contract free" bliss for ushering it in so soon. Interested to see how it plays out in comparison to the 3rd party retailer sales those of us who are savvy shoppers have become accustomed to... If Best Buy wants to drop the price of a $650 device to $500 one weekend, will sprint be willing to easy-pay that lower amount, or is amount amortized by Sprint going to be rigid? I've always paid a considerably lower subsidized cost for my devices than the cost if bought directly from sprint.

I remain very excited by Son and his legacy of success. Whether he gets Tmo or not, hes has zero love or responsibility towards the sprint of old that would influence future decisions. Im going to go ahead and predict that we get either a NEW LOGO and branding or a NEW NAME altogether by 2015 regardless of mergers or acquisitions. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Will sprint be proactively correcting the billed rate for customers that do not complain? These kind of issues are exactly why Hesse was able to improve customer satisfaction with simplified billing. Whether intentional or not, getting a bill for more than you believed you would pay and then being told by even one person in care "its supposed to be that way" is a mess. Btw, saw a Framily commercial last night. It also mentioned individual billing. Good commercial, though I wonder if it makes sense to everyone. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

I'm offended someone running a site named "Phonedog" would allow an article loosely revolving around "it has bars" using 2 different phone manufacturers, 3 different platforms and zero commonality between internals.

Sprint would do well to partner with an affiliate regional carrier here. The challenge is figuring out how many of the 1000 odd residents will actually sign up for service? And is there a sufficient backhaul provider serving the area? Signing up 150 residents in the middle of nowhere isnt going to catch sprint any love. Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk