Why they are where they are is not really relevant in a competitive market, that is consumers don't care and they shouldn't. Sprint is a market participant seeking profits, it can only do that by offering services that serves the needs of the consumer at a competitive price. They aren't doing that, maybe they are in the path to doing that but the consumer is going to ask "does this work for me at a price I am willing to pay?", not how did sprint get here. On the plus side they do have so much spectrum that they have yet to put into play that they can change their situation rather quick, especially as their competitors have a harder time meeting the demand for data.