RedSpark

SoftBank’s Son Said to Plan Meeting With Trump in New York https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-06/softbank-s-son-said-to-plan-meeting-with-trump-in-new-york And here we go...

It seems that "One Sprint" has been overhauled according to this article, which also discussed the non-compete provision which kept the new Chief Digital Officer from joining Sprint until now. http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/technology/article119023533.html Sprint is now divided into two areas instead of four: East and West The former Verizon guy who headed up the Northeast area left a few months ago.

According to Günther, more Coverage Map improvements are coming: https://www.reddit.com/r/Sprint/comments/5gmkkl/coverage_map_update_sort_of/datjyfa/

Sprint to double down on $3.5B spectrum leaseback deal http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-to-double-down-3-5b-spectrum-leaseback-deal According to the CFO's statements at a Conference today, Sprint is doubling down on its spectrum leaseback arrangement, offering a second tranche that could raise another $3.5 billion. Smart plan to keep costs down. Money in and money out is what it's all about.

Me too! Hopefully they continue to invest in it. It would be great to have a tower upgrades overlay.

Sprint's Coverage Map received a design update. http://www.sprint.com/coverage The map viewer window is larger. Double the size it seems. 3G areas are now marked in a red color. Much more clear. Extended LTE is now marked in a orange color. The yellow color gradients for LTE coverage are more differentiated.

Important personnel hire at Sprint: Rob Roy was appointed as Chief Digital Officer http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-appoints-rob-roy-chief-digital-officer-to-drive-digital-sales-for-the-always-connected-customer.htm Curious to see what his digital strategy for Sprint is going forward.

Where did you hear about that?

Yup. That's what he said. He also commented on the much larger existing global ecosystem for 2.5 GHz vs 600 MHz.

Great info from Tarek on Sprint's CapEx and why it passed on the 600 MHz auction. Definitely worth a listen. Sounds like he really knows his stuff.

Yeah, but it's always good to have confirmation.

The interviewer said how her son goes over his Sprint data cap and she gets notices. In response, Tarek just told the interviewer that Sprint offers great Unlimited Plans. Lol!

On the webcast, the CFO just said that Sprint stopped leasing Android phones because they weren't holding their value.

Yeah, and they've got the CFO talking at conferences a couple times as well. Today and on December 5th as well. http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-cfo-tarek-robbiati-to-speak-at-ubs-44th-annual-global-media-and-communications-conference-on-december-5.htm

Anyone else tuning in to hear the CFO talking today at 9:30 AM ET? http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-cfo-tarek-robbiati-to-speak-at-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch-leveraged-finance-conference-on-november-30.htm Just started.

Marcelo says that a Town Mall meeting is going to begin soon. https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/791286486331252736 Curious to hear details.

Well said. Looking back now, it's remarkable what Marcelo and his team have accomplished so far. Things were really bad across multiple fronts when he came on board due to poor management and execution. It's too easy to forget that. Sprint is being run as SoftBank USA by Marcelo. That's exactly what's needed here.

Page 8 of the Investor Presentation shows the percentage of Tri-band and CA-capable devices on Sprint. http://s21.q4cdn.com/487940486/files/doc_presentations/2016/3_Fiscal-2Q16-Sprint-Quarterly-Investor-Update-FINAL.pdf "Postpaid tri-band LTE phones represented 78 percent of the 25.7 million ending postpaid phone connection base compared to 54 percent at the end of the year-ago period and 73 percent at the end of the prior quarter. During the quarter, 94 percent of postpaid phones sold were tri-band." "Postpaid carrier aggregation capable phones, which allow for higher data speeds, were 75 percent of postpaid phones sold during the quarter, increasing the number of these phones within the phone base to 42 percent." The iPhone 7 release on Sprint really drove the CA percentage number up this quarter.

Sprint has definitely turned the corner. What's incredible to me is how bloated Sprint was as a company. According to the release, Sprint has realized more than $1.1 Billion of year-to-date reductions in cost of services and selling, general and administrative expenses, with nearly $600 Million of the reduction coming in the fiscal second-quarter. Apparently, the company remains on track to achieve its goal of a sustainable reduction of $2 Billion or more of run-rate operating expenses exiting fiscal year 2016 and has plans for further reductions in fiscal year 2017 and beyond. Sprint's bloated cost structure was a huge liability, and kept the company from being truly competitive.

Earnings Report for 2nd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2016 is in: http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=12357 Anyone joining the Conference Call today?

Perhaps Sprint has something in the works here as well: http://nypost.com/2016/10/21/sprint-eyes-entertainment-arena/

Marcelo talked about streamlining Sprint's plans at the Goldman Sachs 25th Annual Communacopia Conference on September 20, 2016. Seeking Alpha has the transcript: No official announcements on it re timing/implementation, etc. since Marcelo's remarks.

Yup. Tarek Robbiati said 600 MHz wouldn't be available for use until 2021. http://www.lightread...com/mobile/mec-(mobile-edge-computing)/sprint-cfo-600mhz-auction-will-not-deliver-enough-spectrum/d/d-id/720282 (Jeez LightReading: Who puts () in a URL?) Between the deployment timeline and the lack of enough contiguous Spectrum, it seems Sprint put some thought into this.

Yeah, this is where I see this going.

I guess we either take Tarek at his word on this, or we don't... in which case, as you alluded to, it's pretty good spin.