bigsnake49

He'd better watch out or Sprint might just steal Metro from just under his nose. Masayoshi Son does not like all this trash talking and might go ninja on his behind.

From an interview with Bloomberg: “So if I didn’t have any interesting strategy, I wouldn’t bet $20 billion” on Sprint, he said. ........................................................................................................................................ While Son said he considered investments in companies outside the U.S., Sprint was the best choice because it has the ability to challenge Verizon Wireless and AT&T’s dominance of the U.S. mobile-phone industry. The Softbank investment will give Sprint the capital to pay down debt, invest in its network or continue to make deals in the U.S. wireless industry. “Anything you can think of, I have thought about,” Son said. “Don’t rule out anything.” Softbank, based in Tokyo, will provide $8 billion in new capital as part of the deal to bolster Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless operator. Sprint, which has said it will play a role in industry consolidation, previously had to pass on chances to grow because of its weak balance sheet. “We will no longer need to forgo investment opportunities. We have the flexibility that we just never had before,” Hesse said in the interview. “We are not on the sidelines. This deal does not stop us from doing anything.” ............................................................................... “I would have never invested even $1,000 if AT&T had successfully acquired T-Mobile, because then that’s ‘game over’” with a stronger duopoly forming, Son said. “If it had happened, I wouldn’t come to this market.” http://www.bloomberg...t-purchase.html So what do you think his strategy is? I daresay that it's not just finishing NV.

Pretty sure that Sprint has the right of first refusal on the spectrum that Sprint brought into the venture. It might cost them some money, but they would get the money back from the sale of Clearwire.

SoftBank does not rule out the possibility of goings after MetroPcs. http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/softbank-doesnt-rule-out-possibility-metropcs-deal/2012-10-19 Also something very interesting from the same article: "As we noted before, Sprint would be wise to take control of Clearwire sooner rather than later to accelerate deployment and prevent any interlopers rather than just building up extra insurance," wrote BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk. "Their purchase of Eagle River helps in a competitive bid for Clearwire, but a deal like that would have been difficult anyway given Sprint's existing board seats and the size of Clearwire. The reality is that if Verizon bid $6 for Clearwire and Clearwire's board of directors did not act in their fiduciary duty to accept the offer, it would end up in the courts. More importantly, according to Sprint CFO Joe Euteneuer, there does not appear to be a way for Sprint to block a spectrum sale by Clearwire to Dish or AT&T despite the incremental purchase of Eagle River."

Verizon Wireless, 45 percent owned by Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), added 1.54 million net contract customers in the quarter, beating the 901,000 estimate by analysts. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-18/verizon-earnings-rise-as-bills-increase-on-iphone-usage I wonder how many of those were IDEN customers.

If I was a Sprint customer in Houston, Denver, Cincinnati, Memphis, Salt Lake City, Dayton, Nashville, Tulsa, Omaha, Raleigh-Durham, Fresno, Knoxville, El Paso, Albuquerque, Chattanooga I would definitely appreciate 10 more MHz. Same thing for residents of Florida, Dallas, SF and whatever other cities Sprint is deficient in their 1900MHz spectrum.

I think that with Sprint having full voting control of the board, they can make sure that Clearwire's goals are aligned with Sprint's. They can share networks thereby minimizing expenses and being able to handoff to each other. Clearwire can still wholesale capacity, but it will have to do that in cooperation with Sprint and only if it makes economic sense.

People (speculators) were expecting that Clearwire was going to buy them out, not just up their stake.

AJ, thanks for the work you do, gratis or otherwise. However you and I differ in the importance of having PCS spectrum in both the top twenty and the next 20 or 40. Now if they can get divestitures from the the Metro/T-Mobile merger by threatening a counterbid, it's fine with me. Otherwise, acquisition and divestiture of the AWS spectrum is in order. Leap can be acquired for a song+debt and they can quickly divest the AWS spectrum or trade it. I'm not in favor of using EBS/BRS spectrum for mobile except in very dense urban environments. Now if Sprint had gotten in bed with the cable cos and could put small cells on every 3rd pole, then it's a different game. I am more in favor of using that spectrum for fixed/nomadic devices in which handoffs are minimized. So basically what I'm advocating is for Sprint to load up on PCS spectrum by whatever means necessary and use the other spectrum to offload to 800MHz for propagation/penetration and 2600MHz for capacity in urban environments.

I like the fact that Sprint will get control of Clearwire and bring them back under their umbrella. It will reduce overhead once they integrate their networks and consolidate them. I do think that DirectTV and Dish should both get in bed with Clearwire/Sprint and take advantage of their prodigious amount of spectrum to do Video-on-Demand over their network. Actually, they could use the outdoor antenna mounts to offer fixed broadband as well. Sprint can host Dish's spectrum, thus minimizing Dish's network outlay. So there's a lot of synergies that can be realized with the satellite cos. I hope that Sprint vigorously pursues these opportunities.

Entner is such an AT&T shill, it's not even funny.

I think that corporate structure was imposed by the cable cos. Sprint did not put any money into the venture so they could not say much. It's a much different dynamic right now.

Enlighten us, spectrum maestro:).

Which is why I want them to absorb Metro and Leap. It will strengthen their 1900Mhz spectrum holdings either directly or by trading AWS for PCS spectrum.

The FCC on Wednesday unanimously approved changes to the 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum band that will allow AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) to use the spectrum for LTE. The order will allow LTE mobile broadband deployment in 20 MHz of WCS spectrum and would also make an additional 10 MHz of spectrum available for fixed broadband, with the possibility of mobile broadband use in the future. The FCC acted after AT&T and Sirius XM submitted a proposal in June that would change the rules governing WCS spectrum while protecting Sirius XM from interference. AT&T also has been working to get FCC approval for its purchase of WCS licenses from NextWave Wireless, Comcast and Horizon Wi-Com. Read more: FCC approves AT&T's 2.3 GHz WCS spectrum plan - FierceWireless http://www.fiercewir...7#ixzz29a8EGkwI I think Sprint will get some money out of this. Or maybe a spectrum trade.

Would they be a subsidiary to Sprint or New Sprint?

Good one, AJ.

Since his company in Japan is using WCDMA/HSPA & LTE, he was probably roaming on AT&T. Unless he was using one of his competitors (KDDI) phones to roam on Sprint.

There's a voluntary auction for television spectrum coming in 2014: http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20121001/spectrum_auction/fcc-proposes-incentive-auction-tv-airwaves/

Well. it's a done deal. Now comes Miller time. I want to see what they are going to do with the $8B dollars that will go directly into Sprint's coffers. In orde3r of importance, I hope they use it for: 1. Speeding up NV (if it is a matter of money) 2. Strengthening their spectrum position (either through acquisitions, PC-H band, sub 700MHz spectrum, etc.) 3. Customer acquisitions (mergers)

I would like for Sprint to counterbid for Metro, if only to get the chance to pry some PCS spectrum from the combined entity.

You forgot Roger Entner:).

If USCC can make money providing wireless service in rural Nebraska then Sprint can as well (of course after they acquire USCC). Why are you so selfish:)? Did you know that Sprint's roaming bill was $1B in 2010 or 2011. Anything that will reduce that bill, I'm all for it. I am a definitely a wireless enthusiast.

Remember also that due to the asymmetric nature of data consumption, we no longer need symmetric FDD spectrum allocation.

If they do combine Sprint and Clearwire, I hope they eliminate all this mess and it leads to a more rational approach to network design. I still think that Clearwire's spectrum is really better suited to fixed or at least nomadic devices and networks Maybe Sprint can even do a spectrum exchange with Dish. 40Mhz of Dish spectrum for 80Mhz of Clearwire spectrum. I still want them to acquire USCC, Leap and Metro, sell/exchnage AWS spectrum to T-Mobile and strengthen their PCS holdings. I also want them to be in the market for any sub 700MHz spectrum that becomes available.