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Sprint's Dan Hesse confirms unlimited data isn't going anywhere after Spark rollout
Of the four major national networks in the US, Sprint has been the most faithful in its commitment to offer unlimited data plans without restrictions. After this morning's announcement that the operator would be rolling out Spark, which promises 50-60Mbps peak speeds (with faster networks on the horizon as part of its Vision) to its users, it left us wondering if this rollout would come with any trade-offs. While he didn't speak to specifics on plans and pricing, CEO Dan Hesse reaffirmed his company's commitment to unlimited data, explaining that he wouldn't have offered Unlimited for Life to customers this summer if he didn't intend to keep the plans around for the foreseeable future. This will be great for the limited number of markets that can take advantage of the blazing speeds right away, but anxious folks in other parts of the country can at least take comfort in knowing that the plans won't have gone anywhere when Spark finally shows up in their hometown.
Live from CTIA's day one keynote with Dan Hesse, Dan Mead and Ralph de la Vega
We're seated for the official kickoff of this week's CTIA Enterprise & Applications show, the opening keynote address. Today we'll have the pleasure to hear from the Dan Hesse, Dan Mead and Ralph de la Vega, the CEOs of Sprint, Verizon Wireless and AT&T (respectively). The topic: "Return of the Titans -- carrier insights." We can't be quite certain yet as to what this entails, but we expect many of these "insights" will actually be a plethora of witty jabs flying back and forth at each other. Regardless, we're rather stoked to hear what these gentlemen have to say. Tune in after the break!
Sprint's Hesse commits to phasing out iDEN
Echoing sentiments of Sprint's senior VP of networks from last month, CEO Dan Hesse has said that the company will be saying goodnight to its aging push-to-talk network -- iDEN -- that it inherited from its Nextel acquisition several years ago, "just like 1G was shut down." Of course, the difference between 1G cellular and iDEN is that iDEN still holds a very unique position in the wireless marketplace: even though it sucks for data, it's really the only popular, successful way to route push-to-talk over a cell network of any kind. To that end, the company is actively soliciting bids to build out CDMA 1X Advanced right now, which may allow the company to have another go at moving its PTT services over to a CDMA-based technology (the first attempt, QChat, already failed). In the meantime, Hesse says that the company is putting most of its marketing efforts into attracting customers to its CDMA airwaves, not its iDEN ones, in the hopes that they'll be able to smooth out the transition and free up iDEN spectrum for other services. It's had a good run, hasn't it?
Sprint's Hesse: there's 'logic' to a T-Mobile merger -- if they both move to LTE
Sprint's riffed about the possibility of migrating to LTE in the past -- as has its 4G partner, Clearwire -- so it's no big surprise to hear CEO Dan Hesse tell the Financial Times today that he's still open to the idea down the road, possibly side-by-side with the company's existing WiMAX deployment thanks to its deep spectrum holdings. What's far more interesting, though, is his concession that there's "logic" to exploring a merger with T-Mobile USA in the event that they both move to LTE for their next-gen networks. For its part, T-Mobile hasn't announced its 4G plans yet, but it's an open secret than Deutsche Telekom has explored the idea of selling off its US outpost in the past. Combined, it seems that Sprint and T-Mobile -- neither of whom have the firepower to compete with giants AT&T or Verizon on every level -- would create a strong third-place carrier capable of nipping at their heels. FT says that the idea of a Sprint deal was rejected back in 2008 on grounds that the two have incompatible networks, so who knows... if that restriction were removed, there might yet be love in the air.
Palm and Verizon looking to take shine off Apple and AT&T
In a minefield of failed "iPhone killers" one is making some headway on fulfilling that murderous promise: the Palm Pre. Perhaps it's no surprise: the Palm Pre was conceived by a team that includes plenty of Apple alumni, including Jon Rubenstein, who was made Palm's CEO yesterday to replace Ed Colligan. (John Gruber reminds us of one of Colligan's more famous quotes.) Rubenstein used to be the general manager of Apple's iPod division. Not only that, but Fred Anderson, Lynn Fox, and Mike Bell are all connected (if not employed by) the re-energized Palm. Valleywag's Ryan Tate says it's no wonder, then, that the Pre syncs with iTunes right out of the box. Competition is good, though, right? We'll see improvements to both the iPhone and the Pre because of the products' competitive relationship with each other. Look at the rivalry between Canon and Nikon: The result? Awesome cameras both. In the end, the customer wins. This is true with carriers, too, as exclusivity agreements begin to expire. There were rumblings that the Pre would be released on the Verizon network around Christmas, but blowback from Sprint CEO Dan Hesse pushed the rumor mill's schedule back a month to January 2010, according to The Wall Street Journal. Watercooler talk suggests that the iPhone's exclusivity agreement with AT&T expires around the same time for U.S. customers, but the Magic 8 Ball says that we might not see an iPhone for Verizon until both they and AT&T finish their LTE networks. If you're using a Pre with your Mac, especially if you're taking advantage of the iTunes sync capability, let us know in the comments how it's going.
Sprint's Dan Hesse: Verizon needs to "check its facts" on Pre exclusivity
The exact duration and wording of Sprint's exclusivity agreement with Palm for the Pre has everyone wondering -- perhaps no one more than the carrier's competitors, who are blatantly champing at the bit to steal Sprint's thunder and launch new Palm hardware of their own. Sprint had already officially refuted Verizon's claim that it'd get its own Pre in "about six months" by saying that the deal lasted through 2009, but now, none other than Sprint CEO Dan Hesse is taking a swing at his archrival, saying Verizon needs to "check its facts" over the deal. The dude was clearly choosing his words carefully and refused to comment on exactly how long the company would have a lock on the Pre, but he "can tell [us] it's not six months." That could mean it's three, seven, nine, or 48 -- we really don't know -- but either way, Sprint's real challenge here is that it probably doesn't have webOS exclusivity, which means its competitors should be free to launch other Palm designs whenever they like.[Image via I Can Has Cheezburger?]
