RedSpark

Read the responses of Sprint and it's CMO, Roger Solé, in this article: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2017/02/16/sprint-returns-fire-ups-its-unlimited-plan/97995290/ "You must be a new Sprint customer to qualify. The company recommends existing subscribers visit their local store to find the best options for them." Just put it on the store reps... ""We don't want someone to say 'ah ok, Sprint is the best value proposition but it's not HD,'" continues Solé. "So let's remove that obstacles from the conversation."" Totally out of touch with the current customer base.

Marcelo is now calling AT&T dumb for its Unlimited Plan pricing and saying how "Big Blue is panicking". I liked him better when he wasn't trying to channel Legere. https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/832368453067603969 "1/ If @ATT has been #asleepatthewheel, they must’ve just hit a curb! “New” #unlimited plan sucks just a little bit less than it used to." https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/832368453227003904 "2/ @ATT ditched the TV requirement (smart) but still charges WAAY too much for #unlimited (dumb). #BigBlueIsPanickingToo" https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/832368831335133184 "3/ @Sprint’s #Unlimited HD is STILL the BEST value on the planet!! (link: http://bit.ly/2kP8NEj) bit.ly/2kP8NEj" The outright neglect of current customers is a bit shocking, especially since he took care of longtime customers with Loyalty Credits and the like when he came on board as CEO. I'm a bit stunned. Hey Marcelo: it's not dumb pricing when all customers can get it... and they aren't panicking as much as you are.

I don't understand why Sprint hasn't tapped in to all of its financing available to surge through with CapEx, especially the $1.2 Billion of vendor financing for 2.5GHz network equipment. "Can be used" means that they haven't used it. See Page 17 of the Fiscal 3Q16 Investor Update (http://s21.q4cdn.com/487940486/files/doc_financials/quarterly/2016/Q3/3_Fiscal-3Q16-Sprint-Quarterly-Investor-Update-FINAL.pdf) "Total general purpose liquidity was $9.1 billion at the end of the quarter, including $6.1 billion of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Additionally, the company also has $1.2 billion of availability under vendor financing agreements that can be used toward the purchase of 2.5GHz network equipment." "During the quarter the company issued $3.5 billion of spectrum-backed senior secured notes at 3.36 percent, which is about half of Sprint’s current effective interest rate, as part of a $7 billion program aimed at diversifying the company’s funding sources, lowering its cost of capital, and reducing future cash interest expenses. The company also retired $2.3 billion of debt maturities with significantly higher coupon payments and repurchased the devices sold in the first MLS transaction, thus eliminating the associated future lease obligation." "Based on the company’s sustained operational performance and improved liquidity, Moody’s Investor Service recently upgraded Sprint’s corporate family rating from B3 to B2."

$60,000,000 on network expansion for 2016? I believe you on the figure but where is that from? Quarterly Reports?

They wouldn't have been able to handle the call/website volume. As it is, Verizon's call centers and website got slammed when it premiered it during the Grammy's. Plus, a Super Bowl ad would be more expensive.

Would Sprint have had the CapEx/know how to integrate MetroPCS or would it have turned out like the Nextel acquisition? What would have been invoked in a MetroPCS acquisition and integration?

AT&T smelled blood in the water with Sprint, but they are also losing customers to T-Mobile.

So $180/month for 4 Lines vs $160/month for Unlimited Freedom or $240/month for Unlimited Freedom Premium (HD) at existing prices for current customers.

And there goes AT&T: http://about.att.com/story/att_expands_access_to_unlimited_data.html The new AT&T Unlimited Plan will include unlimited talk, text and data on 4 lines for $180.* Business customers can also take advantage of their additional corporate discount. No DirecTV required.

Sprint can make it through this is if Verizon's network implodes from all the ports in. Of course, there's an upside for Sprint customers to having other Sprint customers leave... more spectrum per customer and less congestion. Sorry... trying to find some humor in this. It's depressing to see this happen.

Sprint could address this so easily by just making the post promo pricing for Unlimited Freedom available to all customers: Line 1: $60/month Line 2: $40/month Lines 3-10: $30/month Include HD Streaming and 10 GB of Tethering. I hope Sprint gets the message before too many loyal customers leave...

Both existing and new. This is why this is such a huge move by Verizon.

http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-invites-trainers-to-nationwide-lure-a-thon-to-celebrate-the-launch-of-new-features-and-over-80-more-pokmon-in-pokmon-go.htm Totally out of touch... This doesn't make the network better. No one has said to me that they're switching to Sprint because of Pokémon.

Fine print... http://newsroom.sprint.com/news-releases/sprint-launches-best-unlimited-hd-plan-ever.htm 1Savings until March 31, 2018; then $60/mo. for line 1, $40.mo for line 2 and $30/mo. lines 3-4. HD video streams at up to 1080p, music at up to 1.5Mbps, gaming streams at up to 8Mbps. Data deprioritization during congestion. Pricing shown with $5/mo./line AutoPay discount applied within two invoices. Requires eBill and new account activation. Taxes, surcharges and restrictions apply.

Current customers are leaving. This isn't about new customers not joining... Sprint has been getting positive Net Adds from promos/deals targeted at new customers. This is about what's not being done to keep current customers.... and we haven't seen it yet. That's the problem, and this needs to be shored up quickly. This isn't knee jerk or reactionary.

https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/832263027357532160 https://twitter.com/marceloclaure/status/832263524869107712 And current customers get.... nothing it seems...

Here's Dr. John Saw's take on Sprint's spectrum position and Unlimited: http://newsroom.sprint.com/blogs/sprint-perspectives/in-the-land-of-wireless-spectrum-is-king.htm Thoughts?

A good take on this. However, current customers on current plans are being ignored.... and all the Legacy ED1500 customers are being told to go pound sand. It's a shame that Masa has billions for ARM and other ventures but leaves Sprint high and dry, starving for CapEx. Why isn't he pitching in more?

I agree with you 100%. Those Hesse ads were fantastic. We don't see Marcelo doing that. He should. The ads with James and Malcom were also great. You always wonder what could have been... but just remember that there were serious problems under Hesse that Marcelo quickly addressed: ballooning cost structure, etc.

I thought Dan understood what people wanted. Clear plan prices. No promos with gotcha gimmicks. The "Dan in the street" and "Dan in the diner" ads were some of the best wireless ads ever made. As for the website, it was pretty awful during his tenure. Marcelo finally got the site looking nice. Take the Coverage Map for example. Until the viewer window was recently enlarged to make it more usable, it looked like a Hesse era product... and it was. As for informing customers about what's up, the Sprint Network Page showing improvements was good. Shame it was deprecated.

How much would have acquiring MetroPCS helped? Wasn't Sprint already strapped for cash at the time? That had to be the reason for the Board's refusal, right?

And a major fail... They just don't get it.

No, that would be Gary Forsee, in my opinion ... who's still getting a Sprint paycheck. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_D._Forsee "Forsee was ousted after Sprint lost 337,000 customers in the third quarter of 2007,[5] and a little over six months later the company wrote off $31 billion related to the merger—essentially writing off three quarters of $42 billion Nextel's market capitalization value as of the time of the merger.[6] In a significant reversal of market perception of his performance, the former "Best Manager" was named one of the "Worst CEOs" in 2009 by Fortune Magazine based on the disastrous outcome of the Sprint Nextel merger.[citation needed]" "Despite Gary Forsee's widely reported poor management performance throughout the Sprint Nextel merger and afterwards, he was awarded a severance package that ChiefExecutive.net described as "exceptional:"[7] Foresee's severance package added up to over $40 million, including a $1.5 million salary through 2009, $5 million in bonuses, stock options and restricted shares worth $23 million and an $84,000-a-month pension for life.[8]"

That's a great point. Sprint's costs were totally out of control. Perhaps Hesse tried on this, but he just didn't have the political capital to do it. The limos and snack room stuff seemed like no brainers though to get rid of. Not sure why it took getting Marcelo to do that.

Very much on point here. Hesse was great, but I recall that the network team under him had poor management and execution issues which were evident from Network Vision and how many customers bailed during it. Hesse is partly to blame, but I wonder if the team was really honest with him. Of course, when Marcelo came in he absolutely cleaned house, especially for the network team, and elevated John Saw to CTO.