BT to make bid for Sprint?

Whenever stock traders gossip, there's usually a lot of disinformation, and there's always an element of plausible deniability: both are the case here, with stories about a possible buyout of Sprint by British firm BT apparently circulating. Sprint's recent stock boost is one of the consequences of the rumors, so whatever's going on, it's good news for stock holders of Sprint. For the rest of us, however, this is just another unpredictable aspect of the stock market: and lets face it, if a deal does go through, it'll be months or even years until consumers see any perceivable difference in services (if any.) Until it does, we'll remain blissfully unaware of all those big money discussions taking place behind mahogany doors on both sides of the Atlantic.

[madeforidiots @ Sep 22nd 2007 8:49PM]

Could BT upgrade Sprint's Network to GSM from CDMA?

Who knows, but could offer some global roaming offers.

[GSM SUX @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:13PM]

NO...that would be a DOWNGRADE. I enjoy my 2+ megabits down and 800 megabits up on my Sprint phone , thank you.

[Adrian Williams @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:16PM]

@GSM sux
HSDPA is faster than ED-VO

[Josh @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:20PM]

i like the down/up speeds but the call reception and service areas arent all that great where i live. AT&T, T-mobile, and even verizon get 5 bars in my house and sprint hardly gets 1 or 2 at the very best.

[Tim @ Sep 23rd 2007 3:08AM]

@GSM SUX

as otherwise noted, HSPDA is better than EVDO. in addition, sim cards kick the living shit out of calling sprint up, twiddling your thumbs and hoping you speak with someone who actually knows how to swap out ESNs correctly, and completely.

oh, and then waiting a couple of hours or maybe even a day or two.

[xbit @ Sep 23rd 2007 6:30AM]

Not to mention that the range of phones on GSM (and its upgrades) is better.

[E71 @ Sep 23rd 2007 9:44AM]

HELLLLL NO! STAY AWAY LIMEYS.

Sprint's got greater revenue than Limey-Telecom -- case for newbie 1981-founded Limey group trying to buyout the bigger 1938-founded AMERICAN group? The British can suck it.

[Richard John @ Sep 23rd 2007 2:38PM]

The present BT was formed in 1981, but the company existed for years before that as part of the post office.

[Eric @ Sep 23rd 2007 10:59AM]

This upgrade question is utterly rediculous and is truly laughable. These are two completely different networks. It would not be an 'upgrade', it would be a build of a completely new network - which is billions in cost they can't afford while building out WiMAX.

Let's hypothetically think through this. Ignoring specturm license issues...
Step 1: Build a GSM network ($20B? and a 2 year rollout)
Step 2: Convert 40M CDMA customers to GSM ($6B and 5 years plus lots of customers leaving).
Step 3: Figure out what to do with Nextel customers since you just threw away CDMA PTT.

So, in summary, 7 years, $26B, and fewer customers for what benefit? Better in-building coverage? Global roaming for the

[Andrew @ Sep 23rd 2007 11:27AM]

@E71: British Telecom was founded in 1846... predating yours (1938) by almost a hundred years!

[boe @ Sep 22nd 2007 8:51PM]

This could be a very good thing. They could can Gary, and go to GSM cell phones like Verizon is supposedly doing.

[Jesse S @ Sep 22nd 2007 11:12PM]

You're very dumb.

[[e-mail] @ Sep 22nd 2007 11:56PM]

you have no idea of what you are talking about. CDMA is far better than GSM.

[boe @ Sep 22nd 2007 11:59PM]

First of all I never said which was better. However I can tell you that the best phones available are GSM. Second I can tell you that Sprint has a horrible selection of phones. Third, you might want to look at the latest iteration of GSM before you pretend you know anything about cell technology.

[Steve D. @ Sep 22nd 2007 8:54PM]

Oh great... another buyout/merge/customer screw driver.

Smaller fishes gets eaten by bigger fishes, it kept going until the whales sink the consumer boats.

Hope it's just a rumor, otherwise getting use to another different CS rep accent is going to take a while.

[Iain @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:02PM]

Don't worry, I'm sure that all those people in the call centres in Delhi can put on American accents just as well as British ones...

[Chris M @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:26PM]

I felt kind of bad that nobody complimented you on a well-thought out metaphor. I appreciate that.

[JP @ Sep 22nd 2007 8:56PM]

BitTorrent is buying its own Cell Network!? Wow!!

(I kid, I kid)

[AlexanderK @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:17AM]

That's what I thought too =)
I was like WTF!!! =}

[Velvetone Fusion @ Sep 23rd 2007 11:35AM]

Better than what I though: BT, the trance DJ.

[nickroz @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:06PM]

Pssht. S is up 5%... It's still down way off it's 52-week high.

[Jonathan Keim @ Sep 22nd 2007 9:48PM]

"it's good news for stock holders of Sprint"

But bad news for shorters...

[Tim @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:19PM]

NASCAR BT Cup. 'Nuff said.

[Spartacus @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:00AM]

That comment is the whole reason I clicked the read link on this story. My god, can you imagine the revolt of angry southerners in pickups if races were broadcast with a British accent? It'd be worse than when they took the tobacco pride from them...

[Kirk Maluo @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:38PM]

If this goes through, I hope it doesn't alter the SERO program. I'll never leave Sprint, as long as the program remains intact.

[Tony C @ Sep 22nd 2007 10:46PM]

I was at MCI when BT tried to buy them out oh so many years ago, before being snapped up by Worldcom. It was doomed to failure due to complicated federal regulatory issues (BT eventually gave up and backed out on the deal) and unless things have changed, the same may hold true if BT tries to buy out Sprint.

[Sporkinum @ Sep 22nd 2007 11:04PM]

You said the same thing as I.. Though I imagine if BT had bought MCI out then, I'd probably still have some value left in my 401k and esop.

[Tony C @ Sep 23rd 2007 10:56AM]

I feel your pain Sporkinum... I had a few years worth of tidy ESOP before Worldcom came around and trashed everything. My stock was worth over 10K at its peak and it was quickly devalued to nothing. Just say NO to bad corporate decisions!!

[PEZ @ Sep 23rd 2007 12:47AM]

yeah thats it, america should just sell their companies to forgn soil. good idea.

[Martin Porcheron @ Sep 23rd 2007 3:52AM]

That's right, I mean Britain. We're not like your closest Ally or anything!

British Companies have much higher standards to achieve, having said that, calls "Mr Peter Smith" from "Leicester" are always rather difficult to understand with his "British" accent.

[Jkswiss @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:00AM]

I wish SK Telecom would buy out Sprint. Something about Sprint keeps me away from them like the plague.

[Logboy @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:39AM]

It's the fiber they want not the Janky mobile network. I don't think it will happen, critical infrastructure and all that... Of coarse the administration has tried to sell us down the river before, ala Dubai Ports.

[don @ Sep 23rd 2007 2:28AM]

CDMA Good
GSM Bad
Sprint coverage Spotty many weak sport year after year. I finally gave up on them and there greedy contract practices.

[duke @ Sep 23rd 2007 4:30AM]

i would be really sad if this happened. sprint is based in my home town of kansas city, mo. this could possibly mean lots of layoffs which always sucks as they would probably relocate HQ. they are also almost done building the sprint arena downtown and we're supposed to get a new basketball and hockey team to play there. not sure if this would mess that up with funding at all since its not finished but "BT Arena" just sounds really crappy if you ask me.

my dad designs buildings for one of the largest steel buildings manufacturers in the u.s., butler manufacturing, which is also based in KC. they are about a 100 year old company and were recently bought out by bluescope steel of australia and he was really stressed out from all the people around him losing their jobs. luckily he made it through but still, it worries me with all these foreign companies buying out some of our oldest companies and we also have such a weak dollar now. i just hope we don't end up going the way of the soviet union. we have only really been a superpower for about 100 years and that could easily change, especially with how powerful the EU is becoming. i'm just glad that we are friends with them :)

[Andrew @ Sep 23rd 2007 9:47AM]

The EU getting powerful? No, that's not quite how it works. The EU is just an organisation for trade between European nations. It has hardly become synonmous with Europe either so make sure to remember the distinction. If however Europe was to unite under the EU in a federal state then we would be talking about real power! As for friends I would not exactly call us friends. US interests are too often in conflict with our interest to call us friends. Competitors is more like it. We don't even share the same culture or views. (Iraq was wrong, Microsoft bad and universal healthcare is good).

[duke @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:34PM]

ummm...Iraq was wrong, microsoft is bad, and universal healthcare is good...we're a lot more alike then you think.

As far as culture, most Americans are descendants of European immigrants. I am French and English with a little German, lol.

[Dorv @ Sep 23rd 2007 9:06PM]

Not to get too picky, but SPCS headquarters is on the Kansas side, and not even in KCK. I know, I used to live within spitting distance, and still couldn't get a solid signal all the way around town. Go figure.

[duke @ Sep 23rd 2007 9:15PM]

yeah i know...they are in overland park. my girlfriend lives there. i live on the other side in missouri. we know lots of people who work there. it's in the kansas city metro. sprint coverage does suck. that's why i have an iphone on at&t. never have any problems.

how does the location within the kansas city area affect what i said?

[eurobloke @ Sep 23rd 2007 4:35AM]

I am puzzled why BT would want to buy Sprint, BT is mainly a wholesale and retail fixed-line (POTS & VoIP) operator. BT had a wireless operation with O2, which they got rid of and is now part of Telefónica. BT has tried to go back to wireless network with a MVNO, but it has all in tenses and purposes flopped.

Now if BT bought a similar company,one could understand, but this sounds like like pure speculation.

[LJKelley @ Sep 23rd 2007 12:18PM]

As someone stated earlier is the FiberOptic networks, probably the trans-Atlantic ones and who knows they may sell off Sprint Wireless once the get hold of the POTS especially since Sprint Wireless is CDMA

[Robotochan @ Sep 23rd 2007 4:47AM]

You poor Americans! you better hope it's not true. BT are one of the main reasons Britain has such a poor internet infrastructure. Wonder how they'd manage to mess up a mobile network?

[craper @ Sep 23rd 2007 10:35AM]

Well, here comes the new higher priced plans to pay for the take over but they always tell you it's for your own good. Bend over Amercians one more time.

[bob cobb @ Sep 23rd 2007 10:51AM]

sprint Sero plan ftw. No carrier even touches it with what they give you for $30 a month.

[sdf632 @ Sep 23rd 2007 1:39PM]

Yeah, it would be much better for SK Telecom to buy out Sprint. Although SK Telecom is also abandoning its CDMA network to build out HSDPA (GSM) network. But yeah, at least sprint would get cooler phones...



btw, the nextel network is on iden, a system closer to gsm than cdma. so shutting down sprint would not shut down nextel, since the iden and cdma networks arent merged yet.

[Tim @ Sep 23rd 2007 4:25PM]

iDEN is a proprietary Motorola network and is in no way any more compatible with GSM networks than CDMA. They aren't merging the networks at any point. Sprint will offer a CDMA PTT product, so customers will naturally move from iDEN to CDMA. Eventually, all customers will have moved from iDEN PTT to CDMA PTT.

Quote - AP
In 2008, the company will begin providing Nextel customers the choice to switch over to the CDMA network with a new press-to-talk system called QChat...Sprint has said it will support the Nextel network, also called iDEN, through at least 2012.