We first caught wind of Sprint's plans to launch a couple dual-mode CDMA / WiMAX devices
under the "Sprint 4G" brand a couple days ago, but we're thinking about it a little more, and we're struck by the carrier's decision to run its 4G services as an MVNO on Clearwire's
new Clear network. Sprint's balance sheet is
basically upside-down at the moment, so we sort of understand why it's not eager to directly invest in a build-out of 4G infrastructure, but at the end of the day, leasing access to a network for general voice and data services is a totally failed business model -- there's a reason we have an
MVNO graveyard. We're not saying Sprint's turning itself into the next Helio, but you just don't see the other major carriers doing things like
selling off almost all of their existing towers and then letting a spinoff handle their 4G buildouts. We'd say there's some deep juju going on behind the scenes here, and with company spokespeople saying things like
"nothing's off the table," it feels like some radical changes are about to hit Overland Park. We'll see how it shakes down
soon enough, we think -- the status quo doesn't seem like it can last much longer.
posted December 9th 2008 5:16PM
Well I would be a little disappointed if they go because I have a great plan with them, but like all other things I will just go to a different company. I hope they don't ask for a bailout and get it like everyone else is /fail.
ieye is that you? no...you didn't mention apple or steve jobs. you're a new breed of troll. i shall dub thee...neotroll. (
yes i know that name is lame. but so is he. so its fitting.
'i' feel sorry for your family. what's it like to live with a troll?
meant as a reply to iEye's Brother...stupid commenting system...
It's not sprint's network, it's Qualcomm and their crappy crappy crappy crappy crappy chips of sh!_. Also sprint is pretty much Qualcomm's b_tch
I have said this every time there is a Sprint story, I live in Kansas and Sprint is a huge economical power here, even more so in the KC area. I am on AT&T for the iPhone, but they have pretty darn good service in most of Kansas, and I really hope they can pull out of this rut.
Ha well I live in Overland Park, and let me tell you the story with Sprint and their service within about a 5-7 mile radius of the campus. The campus runs on a test frequency which actually interferes with your signal because cdma phones just try to lock onto whatever signal they can get. So if they actually had the cash to block the test signal it might fix things. Then again they have a long way to go to get back into the market. If they do get a android device, it will have a ton of sprint crap on it, a yellow layout, and they will probably lock the GPS feature so they can sell their junk. Google will not like their tactics unless they're willing to let someone truly own their phone. When I was still with Sprint, my Samsung razr knock off was acting up, so I took it to get the software updated. They refused to do anything with it because I downloaded the Gmail app and Oprea Mini and went so far to say I voided my warranty. I what? If they have that attitude then I guess Android really isn't for them, they won't want to service it because you have some app installed that they don't get a kickback for. I'll believe it when I see it, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they will "sprintify" up any android device only to annoy people and then T-Mo wins because they don't care.
Well I'm currently using Sprint and my problems with sprint is the lack of a "real" camera on their phones, now I realize that their are using CDMA which I'm cool with but the rest of the world is a GSM world, and many manufactures make GSM phones, now that Qualcomm has abandoned UMB, Sprint assuming it's going to last long enough will either stay with WiMAX or go LTE. So unless Sprint has some strange GSM service, I don't see me lasting much longer after Jan 1st (change of TOC)
Selling your cell towers and leasing them back from the companies you sell them too seems ludicrous, just like Dell hoping to make more money by selling their factories, and getting a middle man in the way that has to profit as well. These sell-offs are short-term capital gains that are like throwing objects off of a sinking ship. They'll buy you a little more time, but without a realistic survival strategy you're going to sink.
sprints plan for 99$ unlimited everything blows every other plan away,and sprint does own 51% of clearwires wimax company.another fact is that at&t is hating on sprint for getting a head start with the wimax towers because there towers have unused frequency capabilities.think about it...the frequencies are the LTE (long term evolution) frequencies.verizon wireless is jumping on LTE also,so at&t was complaining to fcc about how its unfair,well all in all sprint will have wimax capable of using LTE and theyre mad that theyre going to have to virtual network off of sprint or that sprint will have the best of both worlds already set up for sprint clients! more power to the underdog.
"What's going on with Sprint?"
They suck. I thought it was pretty obvious???
1) Why does Engadget even start these Sprint flame-war posts? I don't see similar posts regarding VZW crippling phones, etc.
2) Getting back to the POINT OF THE POST...keep in mind Sprint is a key shareholder (51% I believe) in the Clearwire merger. Do you REALLY think rates they're getting Helio type MVNO rates from Clearwire? One of the advantages of WiMAX is the network costs are greatly reduced. Even if Clearwire charges Sprint the same MARGIN % markup as Sprint charges an MVNO, it's still significantly cheaper. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if 1MB MVNO'ed from Clearwire to Sprint is the same cost or better than 1MB of Sprint's OWN EV-DO.
Well the towers is a non story, as it is an industry norm. Now that Sprint owns the largest share of Clearwire, and potentially has the most potent 4g capability coming, with wimax a generation of new high bandwidth wireless always on capabilities that who can guess at in five years.
Those are the right moves, yes change is coming, it is supposed to if you want to lead to the future. Spring will lose people and have wrenching change. Hey, if you didn't get the memo, the whole world is going through wrenching change. In a world of free email and skype you better be changing, and you better be heading towards services those two don't provide for close to free.
Did Sprint make huge mistakes that hurt their relationships with customers, yes. Do they have a good strategy to improve the technology and thus the capabilities they bring to the market, yes they are. Look who their partners are in Clearwire and you recognize the future of bandwidth is not traditional voice alone, it is information tech based and always on, so Sprint has to get there.
Who cares if you live in Overland Park or Maryland, what matters is the merger didn't work well and it hurt the company, and now the company is moving past that in a new design instead of fixing what was broken and in gridlock
Doesn't anyone here have access to finance.yahoo.com? They're getting dangerously close to the pink sheets, mostly because they're bleeding customers (3.3 million next year). The company I work for is giving up (rather quickly) on Nextel service - that's at least 1500 PTT phones that they're going to be loosing by the end of the year, many of them blackberries. Let's hope that VZW's PTT service works now.
They have to do something to stop the bleeding now (although they really should eliminate the dividend with a price that low, although most on Wall St would see that as the final nail and decimate them.
I've been hearing about some horrible stuff going on with sprint which makes me kind of sad, they've been one of my favorite carriers for years, never pulled any funny stuff, 3g was amazing, the reception is more than terrific here.
so you're saying they're going to have to pay clearwire for use of their 4g towers instead of updating theirs?
i work for a vendor call center for sprint and they have been firing A LOT of people there. we've been having sprint execs coming in once a week or so (we had dan hesse in about a month ago), and basically things look pretty bad for sprint just judging by how concerned all the execs are with cutting costs with our callcenter. we also have a company forum and apparently this has been happening across all of their vendor sites in america and now they are getting ready to end contracts with a good portion of their vendor sites. sooooooo it's really not looking good for sprint right now...
By the sounds of it the area is a right grey spot and would be perfect to trail a dual system to increase coverage in this type of area.
As for the re-sale market for network access and bandwidth being dead, WHAT !!!!!!!
As a layer 2 transmission eng we have never been more busy providing access services into the core network. I have gone from a mainly SDH/SNOET & DWDM network services to layer 3 access service within the past 24 months.
So I would say fromn my point of view "Sprint" have picked the right sort of area to trail this service.
p.s, No I don't work for Sprint, I'm based in the UK.
Let's be Clear! Sprint owns 51% of Clearwire - Charlie (above) is right on.
Check out the latest press release:
http://www.clearwireconnections.com/pr/pressreleases/documents/pr-2008-12-01.pdf
Clearwire, Oh another company Sprint can run into the ground. I seem to remember Sprint owning 51% of Nextel. I wonder if Clearwire know what's coming next? (The Big Screw job!)
Well, at least they got rid of the Xohm label...worst name since Zune...
Stand by for lay-offs...Look for Hesse to take his Golden parachute and run...with how many millions is he going to stuff in his pockets?!
The employees get screwed again, or should I say former employees...Customers get the shaft...Again!