RedSpark

I think Marcelo would benefit just as much from doing a listening tour to his retail stores, web team, and social media/PR team. He should go to the top performing stores in regions to learn what works... and the lowest performing stores to learn what doesn't. And if changes need to be made in personnel, procedure, whatever.... make them within 24 hours. At the risk of repeating myself, have him use one of the in-store sales terminals. Have him convince a customer to get TEP. All these things that work in theory in the boardroom or cubicle, he needs to experience them on the ground.

Basically. Sprint is getting a favorable rate loan from SoftBank (vs. what it would get on the open debt market) using a mix of network assets as collateral which will allow Sprint to readily meet/satisfy its upcoming debt obligations. Because SoftBank really can't put more money into Sprint without triggering the tender offer clause at 85% ownership (per the merger conditions that would require SoftBank to buy the remaining Sprint shares in their entirety), this is how SoftBank can continue to fund Sprint. Plus, the debt is not directly on Sprint's balance sheet or SoftBank's.... at least as I understand it. Merger between #3 and #4? Perhaps... but not in an election year.

The sales/retail section of the website is much better than it used to be. I have to give them credit for that. The Coverage Map page is awful, and now with the new yellow colors being used for Data, essentially indecipherable. The Newsroom/Press page is horribly designed and doesn't reflect well to members of the press covering Sprint developments. The truth is that there was a lot broken as far as Sprint's website goes. I'm convinced they must have migrated to an all new retail/billing database, because it's the only explanation for why it would have taken so long to get this far. Perhaps some people are still handling or in charge of some essential functions as it relates to the website, social media and messaging who shouldn't be. It's hard to say for sure without being a fly on the wall. I can only go by what I see as presented as the final customer/media facing product... and in some cases, it's woefully substandard and does not reflect the professional/industry caliber of Sprint.

Doesn't matter. Perception is everything, and Sprint had no business being anywhere close to this in terms of rhetoric. Marcelo's marketing department and Chief of Staff let him down, plain and simple.

Sprint has sufficient liquidity from Network LeaseCo to pay the first round of its upcoming debts that are due. More "Network LeaseCo/Handset LeaseCo" transactions will occur in the future as needed.

After this well-publicized blow-up (and I mean, it's everywhere now), I don't think anyone is going to want to share their true thoughts with Marcelo on Sprint or other carriers because of the blow back risk. In my honest opinion, it's time to wrap it up.

Thoughts on what Marcelo should do at this point?: Keep the "Listening Tour" going, or pull the plug?

I don't think Marcelo should be on a tower rig installing antennas. But he should be forced to use the Point of Sale terminals in a retail store to truly experience what the frontline reps do when making a sale. Have him do a TEP add-on too. Heck, show him thanking the people in the field who upgrade Sprint towers across the country. Even better. Show him going to one of the Top Ten Tower Sites that used be be on his "S*** list" and show before/after coverage and speed tests. Show him shaking the hands of the techs who did the upgrades. Then show him talking to nearby customers about how Sprint has improved and demonstrate the improved speeds/coverage.

Someone else he trusted approved this video most likely. If we want to go all the way to the top, Roger Sole, Chief Marketing Officer might have had the final say on it for all we know.

I'll go one further.... Not only did they miss the mark, but they shouldn't have been aiming for anything anywhere near this. And there goes all the goodwill and positive PR from the "Listening Tour", undone in a single moment. Marcelo isn't John Legere, nor should he try to be, or listen to anyone who says he needs to be.

Yup. Great suggestion. Have Marcelo be the new "Man on the Street". This one too:

This incident is indicative of a much greater issue in my opinion: Sprint's Social Media/Communications/PR strategy is dysfunctional and needs a reorganization/alignment from the top down. From my outside perspective, it appears that you've got silos of people working in a disconnected way. How did these YouTube videos get released on a soon-to-be-orphaned YouTube channel named "Listening Tour" with 33 subscribers? Why not release them on Sprint's official YouTube channel? It's stuff like that which drives me crazy. Sun Tzu has said: “If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak.” So Marcelo needs to have Roger Sole, his new Chief Marketing Officer, do a complete overhaul of Sprint's communications/social media/PR from the top down, and if that means some people have to be shown the door, so be it. Update the format and appearance of the Sprint Newsroom Page so that it looks more professional. Much of the content there (especially the Press Kits) has poor formatting, copy editing and proofreading not befitting a professional organization. Sprint also needs to get its Social Media channels aligned so that it's not releasing one-off content on to-be-orphaned YouTube channels, etc. Marcelo will never be a Twitter Celeb like Legere. It just won't happen. So, Sprint has to play to what should be its strengths: Integrity, Value, Customer Service Sprint could run an entire positive-focused ad campaign based on "Yeah, we know we let you down in the past. But we're much better now with LTE Plus, and we're a better value than the competition. Give us a try for 30 days and see what you think for yourself". People can relate to that, and it would work.

And from what Tarek Robbiati has said, it won't help them much then either. Of course, it's also possible that Tarek's statements could all be a ruse while SoftBank plans to bid after all....

See this article: 600MHz spectrum won't be deployable until at least 2021, and Tarek believes it isn't enough to make a difference for Sprint. It's also quite a way off, so it's not a short term fix for Sprint by any means. At this point, we know that Sprint is sitting out the auction... but we don't know for sure whether SoftBank is: See this article:

I agree with that. What's funny is that BlackBerry made its January 2016 announcement as if Sprint had already committed to sell it. I guess BlackBerry and Sprint weren't on the same page.

BlackBerry's CEO just confirmed that the Priv is not going to be carried by Sprint: https://twitter.com/JohnChen/status/719666928218939392 Marcelo originally said that a new BlackBerry would be coming to Sprint way back on March 26, 2015: https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/581209417716240384 I wonder what changed re Sprint since it was included in the Priv announcement that was made on January 6, 2016: https://twitter.com/BlackBerry/status/684818351709917184

Moffett has been wrong on Sprint so many times, but he writes in such a way and is cited in such a way as if he never was.

Son said a lot more things last year besides being a "busy guy". He has reaffirmed his support for Sprint multiple times, but they don't bother to mention that in the article. SoftBank has since made multiple share purchases of Sprint stock and it's right up against the 85% ownership threshold, which if exceeded, would result in SoftBank having to acquire the rest of Sprint. The Bloomberg Article on which this Seeking Alpha post is based strikes me as a hit piece. I'll bet someone is shorting Sprint stock today.

Hopefully the regional/local managers have a better sense of what's going on in their specific market and can better direct those improvements as needed.

Sprint just announced a new President for Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands: Claudio Hidalgo Joins Sprint as President, Florida, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Region Marcelo has recruited some top talent for One Sprint. He's basically put a CEO in charge of each of the 4 geographical regions (West, Central, South, Northeast) and a manager in charge of 19 specific regions within those 4 areas. It's remarkable how many of these Area and Regional presidents are senior management or CEO's from other companies, like Claudio. Marcelo has poached a number of regional presidents from Verizon too. The thinking here is, we're going to put you (as a former CEO or senior manager with experience from another company) in charge of this Sprint area or region. You run it as if you are the CEO or manager. You report your results up the chain. I think it's a great idea.

Sprint may not sell the BlackBerry Priv after all... http://www.crackberry.com/sprint-may-not-sell-blackberry-priv-afterall I recall Marcelo saying "Coming soon" re BlackBerry back in March 2015: https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/581209417716240384

Wouldn't that be something if SoftBank bid on the Spectrum? I wouldn't put it past Masa/Marcelo to do something clever like this....

This news just dropped re "Network LeaseCo": Sprint signs $2.2 billion deal for the sale and lease-back of certain existing network assets

I agree. On top of this, John Saw and Gunther Offendorfer have previously said that the densification would not be disruptive to the customer experience. (in one of those Harrison Wiley Show videos) This is much better than in the past when Sprint was selling the iPhone 5 which supported LTE and Sprint's LTE network wasn't deployed that widely.

It's actually closer to a 3, 4 or 5 month delay for the respective markets. See the WiMAX Shutdown Schedule: http://www.mobilebeacon.org/wimax-shutdown/ This pushed everything back a few months at least.