RedSpark

Comparison of Preparation Work: Sprint: http://newsroom.sprint.com/network-big-game.htm Verizon: http://www.verizon.com/about/news/blizzard-snaps-streams-and-shares-forecast-super-bowl-lii AT&T: http://about.att.com/story/att_boosts_minneapolis_area_mobile_coverage_for_pro_footballs_big_game.html T-Mobile: https://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news-and-blogs/superbowl-network-prep.htm

Coverage Map feature? I just got an update for the Speed Test App for iOS today, but I don’t see this in the App. Am I missing it somehow?

https://twitter.com/SprintNetwk/status/954001580684128257 An inside view of Sprint’s preparation work and its Network Operations Center.

Hopefully there’s enough conspicuous signage to tell people to use the WiFi.

Yeah, assuming Sprint has the Capex available and the equipment is available in sufficient supply, these Network improvements should happen quite rapidly because they’ll be sidestepping the permit process.

It’s awesome! I would love to see a partnership with RCN next! It would definitely help out here in DC! I don’t see Comcast going for it given its partnership with Verizon.

The My Sprint App for iOS has just been updated to support Face ID! Yay!

Up to Sprint to deliver on game day! We’ll see! Interesting that there’s no mention of Sprint COWs/COLT’s as part of its preparation.

Info about Sprint’s upgrades here: http://newsroom.sprint.com/network-big-game.htm

That’s a great question! Curious to know this as well. Perhaps they can be used to replace old Clearwire equipment?

Perhaps the jump to Massive MIMO was worth waiting for instead of accelerating an 8T8R deployment? Isn’t the installation footprint for Massive MIMO about the same as 8T8R?

That’s been my thinking on this as well. Why was Sprint investing in equipment that was limited in tech and coverage? Perhaps the plan all along was to have these Mini Macros be a stop gap due to price and then Sprint would remove them and move them to another market once the macro tower build progressed enough.

Interesting development from SoftBank: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-softbank-group-ipo/softbank-considers-ipo-for-japan-wireless-unit-said-to-seek-18-billion-idUSKBN1F30Y3

Didn’t it happen at 11:45 AM PT/2:45 PM ET? https://www.veracast.com/webcasts/citigroup/tmt2018/16208149403.cfm

From today’s discussion with T-Mobile’s CFO: https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/t-mobile-execs-lament-failure-sprint-merger-but-you-never-say-never “This team was highly convicted that we had a unique opportunity for value creation with the Sprint deal,” said T-Mobile CFO Braxton Carter. “Very conservatively, there were at least $37 billion of hard synergy [in the now-collapsed deal]. Mostly in the network. You know, Neville [Ray, T-Mobile’s CTO] and his team for 4-5 months built the most detailed Newco [combined T-Mobile and Sprint] network model—it was a thing of beauty. … But it wasn’t meant to be.” Added Carter: “Could something happen in the future? You never say never.” ———— I wonder what that network model looked like. AND “It’s a shame it didn’t happen,” he said, noting that T-Mobile’s leadership team formed tight relationships with their counterparts at Sprint during months of negotiations between the two companies. Indeed, he said he plans to go fishing with Sprint’s outgoing CFO Tarek Robbiati in New Zealand sometime this year. However, Carter said that the value of a potential merger between Sprint and T-Mobile is going to decline as Sprint continues to invest in improving its network. “Some of those synergies will dissipate,” Carter said. ———— Interesting how Sprint’s continued network investment would negatively impact synergies for a merger. Was CapEx slowed down for this reason?

It was essentially free money and spectrum, minus the billed attorney fees of course... but T-Mobile definitely hit the jackpot and that’s what gave it momentum to snowball to where it is today. Sprint still has plenty of time to turn this around, and win customers back, but it needs to do it with a better network product or they won’t come back. If 2018 is really Sprint’s year to shine, it will need to get Band 41 on the ~50% of its sites that don’t yet have it and it will have to blanket other areas with small cells as fill-in or densification until new macro sites are added or upgraded. I’m a believer it can be done, but Sprint needs to have substantial committed CapEx for the foreseeable future to get the Network there. I hope accelerated work is already underway that Dr. Saw can talk about tomorrow at CES.

It was actually quite a bit: https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/att-and-t-mobile-whats-2-billion-among-friends/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/12/att-admits-defeat-on-t-mobile-takeover-will-pay-4-billion-breakup-fee/ and it started the ball rolling on T-Mobile’s LTE Network build: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/02/t-mobile-takes-3-billion-att-breakup-fee-builds-4g-lte-network/

I agree. Improving the product will improve perception. Sprint doesn’t have the brand power or equity to rely on a rebrand. In fact, a rebrand would be a total disaster. Sprint needs to do what Domino’s Pizza did: You could essentially substitute Sprint Corporate folks for the Domino’s ones. Instead of crust, sauce and cheese, you talk about towers, spectrum, Speed/Coverage. This is what Sprint needs to do. I’d actually love to see a video like this from Sprint, shot on location in Overland Park HQ, in conjunction with actual progress of course. We’ll hopefully get a better sense of where things stand in terms of Sprint’s plans/progress from Dr. Saw’s discussion at CES on January 10th at 2:45PM ET: http://investors.sprint.com/news-and-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2018/Sprint-CTO-John-Saw-to-Speak-Jan-10-at-Citis-2018-Global-TMT-West-Conference/default.aspx We’ll also learn more during Sprint’s upcoming Earnings Call, which I believe should happen at the end of January, so I expect details on that to be announced soon.

Important Updates Released Today: https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/08/apple-releases-ios-and-macos-updates-with-a-mitigation-for-spectre/

The way to fix this is to have a nationwide secret shopper program run by an outside entity under the direction of Sprint management in order to document these issues for resolution by senior management. This program needs to run for the foreseeable future and the findings need to reach the highest levels of management for resolution.

A brand change would be very expensive to do. This money would be better used for improving the network in my opinion. A brand change would also be ineffective in my opinion. People would remember the old brand name and reputation for a very long time. Given that there are only 4 Major Wireless Carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint), Sprint’s Legacy Branding and Reputation wouldn’t simply go down the Internet (or off-Internet) memory hole for the foreseeable future. There would be a slew of articles and press referring to Sprint’s rebrand which will continue the association with its legacy brand. The saturated wireless market would constantly refer to Sprint’s old branding and reputation. This is therefore not a near term fix nor a long term one, as it takes resources that could be better used for tangible improvements to the business and product. In short, I’d expect a rebrand to have as much effect as Comcast trying to call itself Xfinity. Was this even a real rebrand? I’m still not sure. However, it didn’t work. T-Mobile went through a terrible branding period... and it’s emerged fine on the other side. No rename necessary. Here’s the solution and it’s nothing novel: Network, Network, Network. Make the Network blow the other guys’ out of the water. Distribute flagship devices to prominent columnists (Sascha Segan, etc.) and have them write reviews on the Network. Share these reviews widely. Here’s a start: https://www.pcmag.com/review/358021/lg-v30 https://twitter.com/saschasegan/status/945682340105289729 https://twitter.com/saschasegan/status/945688172943593473 The customers will come if the product is better. People are savvy enough to see through a brand change and it would be a waste of money. A brand change would be a waste because Sprint doesn’t have a perception problem as much as it has a product problem. Here’s what’s wrong with the product: Sprint doesn’t have Band 41 on 50% of its towers (or about 30% of its POPS) . It doesn’t have Band 26 on many others. It needs thousands of more tower sites to improve coverage on its existing footprint and at the fringes where there’s been suburban development that has exceeded the capacity of the Network. It needs to get all three LTE Bands deployed on every site. Sprint doesn’t have VoLTE for simultaneous Voice/Data (and for good reason as we all know why, but Prospective Customers don’t and may not switch.).

https://www.recode.net/2018/1/6/16858802/sprint-marcelo-claure-uber-board-17-directors Sprint’s Marcelo Claure will join Uber’s board, which is set to grow to 17 directors Once on the CEO list, he’ll take one of two SoftBank seats — the other going to the Vision Fund’s Rajeev Misra.

https://twitter.com/SprintCTO/status/949294540745297920 Good stuff!

Here’s FW’s take on him: https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/sprint-s-claure-replaces-cfo-former-altice-exec-michel-combes

Yeah. Tarek really brought things under control. This could have been part of the Altice Deal all along. When Tarek was speaking about it at those investor events last year, I’ll bet he knew at the time that he would be replaced in the new year by this person.