RedSpark

See this Qualcomm page: https://www.qualcomm.com/invention/technologies/lte/lte-carrier-aggregation Also see this write-up here: http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/7/8909127/carrier-aggregation-explained-how-lte-speeds-can-be-doubled-or-even

Masa is paying property taxes In Mission Hills: https://www.opkansas.org/city-government/sales-and-property-taxes/property-tax-rate-comparison/property-tax-rates-johnson-county-cities/ How to calculate property tax: http://www.opkansas.org/city-government/sales-and-property-taxes/how-taxes-are-calculated/ Also, SoftBank already owns 83 percent of Sprint, so it can’t invest much more in Sprint. If SoftBank's ownership hits 85%, it actually triggers a contractual mandate from the original merger agreement and SoftBank has to buy out Sprint entirely (as in, buy the rest of the shares). See here for the original merger prospectus which says this: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1560158/000119312513192860/d425100d424b3.htm (Do a text search for "85%" and you'll see the applicable section.) At the time the merger was completed in July 2013, SoftBank acquired a 72% stake in Sprint: http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-and-softbank-announce-completion-of-merger.htm Since then, SoftBank has gradually increased its ownership stake with regular share purchases: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-30/softbank-increases-its-stake-in-sprint-to-83-19- So now my opinion, it's fine Masa got a $5.5M house. He's paying for it and hopefully good things come from those taxes.

Good point. I'm also really surprised that Marcelo and family, being from Miami, would buy a house without a pool in Kansas City.

Marcelo just posted: Our 50% offer exceeded our expectations, leading us to extend it another month. That's a good sign it seems? EDIT: Misread that... Seems like he's just referring to the month that it was already extended.... Oops. On another note... Based on this Tweet, sounds like there's a Town Hall this Friday. At least, that's what the GIF says at the 1:15 mark.

Inside the Plan to Pull Sprint Out of Its Death Spiral Now that's a headline! Lol. Some solid reporting in this article. Great stuff. The section on the "Top 10 S--- List" for the worst performing cell sites is hilarious.

Sprint has a very rudimentary chart on that page which shows BF vs. BF + CA. I'd like to see a lot more data on this. Isn't the long term plan for Sprint to use certain bands for downlink-only and others for uplink-only? I agree with you. (Apple has shown equal neglect for the Field Test Screen on iOS) Customers would benefit from even having a Band 41 device... but for people who just want it to "work" (but don't understand why) and will stay a customer if it does, it seems to me that getting a 2xCA Device in their hands makes that all the more likely to be the case... and hopefully they tell their friends that Sprint "just works". Sprint needs to relentlessly drive home the message: "LTE Plus means better speeds and coverage. Here are the devices which support it." From Saw's Post:

You know a lot more about this than I do (in fact, you'd forget more than I'd ever learn), but based on John Saw's LTE Plus Blog Post from November 2015, it seems like even typical users would benefit from having 2xCA devices. In response to your statement "Those are for RootMetrics results, Sprint bragging rights -- to gain back public perception"... ​Isn't that what's needed here? People aren't Sprint customers sometimes because of RootMetrics results (though that's now changing) or because Sprint doesn't have the bragging rights... or doesn't have the right public perception. For many customers, I'd wonder how much their overall Sprint experience would change if you took a Dual Band or Tri-Band device out of their hands and swapped in an LTE Plus device.... Would they call Customer Care less often? Would they report Speed/Coverage issues less often? Would they tell their friends/colleagues: "Hey, I've got Sprint and it's awesome now. I'm also paying a lot less than you are." At some point, these 2xCA devices would seem to pay for themselves either through higher customer satisfaction/retention, new customer acquisition or lower care costs. I hope Sprint is being aggressive about making it appealing for customers to upgrade to an LTE Plus device and roll their old Single/Dual/Tri-Band devices off the network.

So what do you think it'll take for "Android Forever" to launch viably? Marcelo originally said it would happen. What changed?

I thought this metric from the Quarterly Investor Update (Page 5) was especially important: Tri-band phones represented 64 percent of the 25.3 million ending postpaid phone connection base compared to 27 percent at the end of the year-ago quarter and 54 percent at the end of the prior quarter. During the quarter, 93 percent of postpaid phones sold were tri-band, an increase from 78 percent in the year-ago period and 89 percent in the prior quarter. Two-channel (2x20 MHz) carrier aggregation capable phones, which allow for higher data speeds, were 76 percent of postpaid phones sold during the quarter, increasing the number of these phones within the phone base to 21 percent. Tri-band penetration still isn't close enough to 100%, and if we assume a current rate of growth, it should be in the 90% percent range within another year. As for 2xCA devices, Sprint needs to make it easier for customers to upgrade to the newest technology, not harder. Get those handset leasing vehicles in place and launch "Android Forever" already so those numbers continue to improve.

Was it this site? This page and the submission form are pages on that site.

Was it this site? Submission form Let us know how it turns out!

So the small cell deployment is an integral part of VoLTE?

I'll go one further... It smells like the wireline providers (Verizon/AT&T) or their PR/Trade Association Surrogates.... They have a lot to lose based on this article:

Jeez. That's a long way from "Network Vision". Ridiculous title.

You just have to stop reading what they write no matter what click-bait title they use or use adblocking on their sites. Look at Craig Moffett... He's been saying Sprint's been going out of business for years, and yet he magically maintains an aura of credibility in many circles... I don't know how.

Yeah. These stories smell like "plants" to me too.

Great information! RCRWireless News has decided to take the counterpoint with an article published today which includes the phrase "Network Suicide" in the title.... Analyst Angle: Sprint network plan equals ‘Network Suicide’ People have said Sprint would go bankrupt for years and they've been wrong time after time... now its new Network Plans will kill it apparently. Never mind the fact that the whole premise of the re/code article on which it was based has been debunked. Jeezuz.... Where do they find these "Analysts"?

See this Blog Post by John Saw, Sprint CTO: Sprint’s New LTE Plus Network Delivers the Fastest LTE Download Speeds Some great content in this post about the Nielsen Mobile Performance Rankings vs. RootMetrics vs. Ookla. LTE Plus is apparently in 150 Markets now. Wow. "Talk Less, Do More" indeed.

They've got a new person transitioning into marketing, replacing Kevin Crull. Link: Kevin Crull Appointed Sprint President for the Central Area; Roger Solé Appointed Chief Marketing Officer Not sure if Roger has already taken over the role, but this is a sign of new blood in there for sure.

Sprint responds to Verizon's "Colorful Balls" commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KZTIgFzGIc

Don't work for Sprint, but as I understand it, the chat button automatically appears/disappears based on wait time for an agent.

I think they will.

Appreciate the explanation on that!

Apparently, it's not all good news. This Verified Care Rep said his entire call site is closing down on February 5th. Via the Sprint Subreddit

Back on January 7, 2015, Sprint posted the following: Sprint Closes on $2.1 Billion of Financing with Three New Vendor Financing Agreements and Existing Loan Expansion OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), January 07, 2015 - Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) announced today that it has signed three new vendor financing facilities totaling $1.8 billion to purchase 2.5 GHz network equipment and related services from key suppliers. Sprint also amended and expanded by $300 million its credit relationship with Export Development Canada (EDC) as well as amended the terms of its existing secured equipment credit facility. “These deals provide Sprint with greater flexibility and liquidity options as we focus on growing the business and investing in our network,” said Joe Euteneuer, Sprint’s Chief Financial Officer. The three new vendor financing agreements are: A secured facility for up to $800 million from Nokia Networks maturing in June 2021. It is backed by credit insurance provided by Finnvera plc, the export credit agency of Finland. A secured facility for up to $750 million from Samsung maturing in Dec. 2022. It is backed by credit insurance provided by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (Ksure), the export credit agency of Korea. A secured facility for up to $250 million from ALU maturing in Dec. 2021. It is backed by credit insurance provided by Delcredere | Ducroire (D/D), the export credit agency of Belgium.