RedSpark

Still going at it... https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2017/08/07/sprint-and-t-mobile-again-exploring-merger-report-says/544504001/ Marcelo did say this about the "near future" during the Earnings Call: (http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/4093250) Raul Marcelo Claure - Sprint Corp. So, Jonathan, as you can appreciate, we don't discuss a lot of what happens as it relates to potential M&A, and we're going to leave that to final announcement that should be coming in the near future. What I can tell you is the discussions – we're having discussions with everybody. And I think our job, when we took over Sprint three years ago, was to give Sprint – bring Sprint back to having options. And I can tell you that today, we have plenty of options, and we've had discussions with a lot of different parties. Obviously, companies that are in the same industry as we are, and companies that are not. I was a bit surprised to see Charter's announcement in terms of that they had no interest in buying Sprint. To be clear, Sprint was never offered for Charter to buy. It was a part of the bigger play that has been reported, but I was a bit surprised to see an announcement coming like that from Charter. At this point in time, we continue discussions with different parties. And I can tell you that we are incredibly encouraged, and I think an announcement will be coming in the near future. So, we feel very good in terms of the options that we have built, and the potential transactions that we could have.

Was there ever a reason given for that?

When Sprint issues news releases, they often say how much they've spent on the network in a certain area over the last 3-5 years. For example: http://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-expands-in-northern-california-with-43-new-retail-stores-creating-more-than-300-jobs.htm Also: http://newsroom.sprint.com/sprint-expands-in-midwest-region-with-30-new-retail-stores-creating-more-than-200-jobs.htm

Sprint's competition would love to have this info. That's why Sprint will not make it public. Aggregate CapEx after the fact and a forecast is all we'll get from Sprint.

See page 24 of the Investor Update. "Capital Expenditures - Network and Other": $1.121 Billion

It's nice to see the fundamentals shoring up.

Perhaps there's a lot more going on than we know and Sprint is leveraging a cost structure that doesn't fit the traditional model.... 4CA is a software push. HPUE also required some tinkering (not sure if hardware too) and new capable devices. Neither of these things require a bunch of money to do. Mini Macros are cheap vs Macro builds. Magic Boxes are also cheap and don't require lengthy permitting. Unless I missed it, "8T8R" didn't come up on the call. Are 8T8R Macro builds on hold in favor of Mini Macros?

Unless I missed it on the call, not a word was said about Tidal... and none of the analysts asked about it.

Actually $1.121 Billion for Network. See Page 24 at the bottom: http://s21.q4cdn.com/487940486/files/doc_financials/quarterly/2017/q1/03_Fiscal-1Q17-Sprint-Quarterly-Investor-Update-FINAL.pdf Tarek just said it related to ramping of its Densification program.

Also from the Call: The BYOD Free Year Offer was a test for customer acquisition. Accounted for 1% of adds last quarter.

Holy CapEx Batman!!! $1.121 Billion as reported.

Sprint Reports Net Income for the First Time in Three Years with First Quarter of Fiscal 2017 Results http://investors.sprint.com/news-and-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/Sprint-Reports-Net-Income-for-the-First-Time-in-Three-Years-with-First-Quarter-of-Fiscal-2017-Results/default.aspx

Here's an interesting twist: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/softbank-hasnt-given-up-on-charter-yet-sources-say.html SoftBank hasn't given up on Charter, yet, sources say • SoftBank looking at an offer of at least 50 percent in cash to form a company to buy Charter and Sprint. • It's unclear what price SoftBank would offer for Charter shares or for the 20 percent of Sprint shares owned by the public for which it would also make an offer. • SoftBank has lined up financing for the offer from three global banks and would be comfortable levering up the balance sheet, sources tell CNBC.

Everybody ready? https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/892073546687623169 Predictions?

Masa is just waiting to hear a Price from Charter. This is a "public rebuke" strategy by Charter to sweeten the deal. Charter's stock is at an all-time high: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-charter-commns-m-a-stocks-idUSKBN1AG1FY Charter has a market capitalization of $101 billion and $60 billion in debt.

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-07-31/son-s-expensive-revenge "So now Son looks ready to take this unrequited love and turn it into a revenge purchase." "People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News's Scott Moritz and Gerry Smith early Monday Tokyo time that Son, via SoftBank, is planning to make a direct offer for Charter sometime this week." Wouldn't that be something else?..... Makes me think of this: (at the 19 second mark)

Good point. I guess we'll see what happens, but it's interesting to see the back and forth in the press. "According to a person familiar with the matter" and "citing unnamed people familiar with the matter" have become the new catchphrases for sources. They appear twice in the first two paragraphs. The PR folks have figured out a way to add a level of plausible deniability to these public statements. It's story/narrative shaping, but perhaps it serves a purpose. There are only a few people authorized to speak to the press on stuff like this. It's not hard to figure out that it's the company's main spokesperson or someone in senior management or legal, even if it's outside counsel. For whatever reason, the companies don't want a name attached to these positions. I guess it's a PR tactic but it's so cliched at this point.

Uh oh: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-29/charter-is-said-to-rebuff-sprint-corp-s-merger-proposal

If SoftBank winds up running the combined entity, this actually makes a lot of sense.

Sprint wants to merge with Charter: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/28/16060918/sprint-charter-merge-softbank

Cable companies would be able to provide backhaul to Sprint more readily. Also, Sprint could do strand mounts for equipment on cable co's infrastructure.

jamesinclair: That's awesome. Great job Tweeting at Sprint to ensure they were on top of things.

I hope we get a good update from Sprint. I also wonder if Sprint will extend the 1 Year of Free Service Promotion again. It's set to expire on July 31st, the day before Sprint's Earning's Call.

That's good to know. How much is available for Capex and for how long?

That's a good question. Not sure. It's separately itemized on the page.