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Sprint announces massive layoffs, store closings amid subscriber defection
New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sprint Nextel first national to test emergency alerts
At first, we sorta thought those air raid sirens (you know, the ones that are freakin' loud enough to wake the dead) were enough of an "emergency alert" as it was, but consider this: they usually don't tell you the nature of the emergency or give you instructions on exactly how you're supposed to proceed. That's not the sirens' fault -- a mind-numbingly loud "whoop whoop" really doesn't have the bandwidth to reveal that kind of information to the human ear -- but now that SMS-capable phones are ubiquitous, it's time to smarten things up just a tad. The government's Emergency Alert System has had just such a plan in the works for a while now, and Sprint Nextel is becoming the first national carrier to trial a system capable of sending targeted, location based alerts when bad stuff goes down. The trial is taking place in scenic Contra Costa, California; no word on a national rollout, but if you find out about your next tornado, earthquake, or other scary sitch via text, your area have just gotten swept into the craze.
Sprint Nextel taps Embarq's Dan Hesse as new CEO
With falling subscriber numbers and some difficult Xohm decisions to be made in the coming months, Sprint wanted a new man at the helm, and has picked Dan Hesse for the job. Dan's replacing Gary Forsee, who held the job since 2003 and was pegged for replacement since August. Hesse hails from Sprint spin-off Embarq, and served as CEO of AT&T Wireless from 1997 to 2000, back in the glory years of that service. Here's hoping that he doesn't axe the WiMAX, but it's clear something has got to change in Sprint land to turn things around.
Yahtzee! Sprint announces prorated ETFs, all four US nationals now on board
So Sprint busted out this really lovey-dovey press release today basically going over all the ways it takes care of its customers -- how you can upgrade your phone at a discounted price if you've stuck with 'em for a while, how they monitor your plan to make sure you're on the best one for your usage, and so on -- but there were a couple gems in there that are new and notable. First off, Sprint has announced here that they're moving to prorated early termination fees, bringing it inline now with all three of the US' other national carriers. Like T-Mobile, it intends to flip the switch on that action in early 2008. Secondly, starting next Monday, customers won't need to re-up their contracts to switch plans (why this was ever a requirement with any carrier simply bewilders us). Finally, the carrier says it plans to announce some "reward programs" next year for subscribers that've stuck with Sprint through thick and thin. No details there, but if they're gonna do up some crazy awesome plans and upgrade discounts (even better ones than it already has, that is), we're all for it.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sprint Nextel agrees to start unlocking phones
An under-the-radar class action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel is winding its way towards a settlement this week, and it contains a pretty huge concession by Sprint: the company will unlock phones for both current and former customers, and will begin training its customer service reps on how to connect non-Sprint phones to its network. The settlement was tentatively approved by a California judge on October 2, but hasn't had a final approval hearing yet, according to Sprint -- but it's still a huge win for US consumers, who haven't been able to buy mainstream unlocked phones from any of the major carriers. Of course, since Sprint's network is CDMA, unlocked phones will only work on other CDMA carriers like Verizon -- and there's no guarantees those companies will be happy about it -- but at this point we'll take whatever we can get.
Chattanoogans to get Bus-Fi, contactless payment options on CARTA
Although Bus-Fi is no stranger to San Francisco, it'll be new to Chattanooga, Tennessee soon enough. Reportedly, the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) will be implementing "its long-planned Smartbus program" which includes "automatic vehicle locating via GPS and an automatic vehicle management system." More interesting, however, is the new WiFi system that will enable riders on CARTA buses, CARTA shuttle buses, CARTA Care-a-van vehicles or even the Incline Railway access to free internet. Additionally, users will even be able to "use credit cards and new smartcard technology, one which uses contactless proximity cards to pay bus fares" starting next Spring. As for the free WiFi, expect that to be available sometime over the next 15 months as the new services are gradually added to CARTA vehicles.
Sprint sees 54M customers, 40 percent spike in data revenue
Sprint's recent second quarter financial results showed an interesting mix of numbers: income dropped by 90 percent, wireless data revenue jumped by 40 percent and the carrier broke the 54 million-customer mark. Dropping from a $291 million profit in the year-ago quarter to a $19 million profit is, well, pretty huge. But, at least Sprint saw its average revenue per sub sit above $60 for its latest quarter, with $9.75 attributable to data revenue. Everyone break out some EV-DO data sessions in salute of this if you please. On a lighter note, Sprint CEO Gary Foresee said the iPhone "blip" has not significantly affected number ports to AT&T, although the level is up "slightly" from before the iPhone launch.[via mocoNews]
SK Telecom in talks to purchase Sprint Nextel?
Well this should shake up the market a tad, Korea's monster provider is purportedly in talks to acquire Sprint Nextel. No details have been released yet -- nor any solid confirmation from either side -- but we're seeing it and hearing it all over this morning. It would indeed be interesting to see Korea's largest carrier get into the market over here -- well, aside from Helio -- if only so we can get at some of those slick, slick, Korean handsets. It seems that Telecom mergers are the new black, with Bell Canada and Telus' attempt eventually falling off the rails, we'll see how SK Telecom and Sprint get along.
Sprint, Clearwire to cooperate on WiMAX build-out
Sprint's open mindedness to hooking up with Clearwire for a national WiMAX network has blossomed into something just a little more serious, it seems. The two companies have announced that they'll be collaborating on making mobile WiMAX a reality in a comprehensive agreement that covers roaming and combined marketing efforts under a single to-be-announced brand name. Specifically, Sprint will be responsible for covering about 185 million potential customers with Clearwire swooping in for another 115 million over the next few years; 100 million total are expected to be covered by the end of 2008, which is curiously the exact same number Sprint had been throwing around on its own accord before the agreement was announced. This is a pretty serious deal, too -- the two are bound in holy matrimony for at least 20 years with options for up to three 10-year renewals. Looks like that hot WiMAX smartphone from Palm might still be in the cards, eh?
Sprint lambasted for disconnecting whiners, notorious roamers
Recently, Sprint decided to cut its losses and give a number of CSRs a break from the nagging when it pulled the plug on nearly 1,200 of its mobile customers. Apparently, these whiners were dialing in "40 to 50 times as often" as the "average customer," and after failing to appease them, the firm chose to "terminate the relationship with those customers to allow them to pursue other options." As you'd imagine, some of these bicker-prone individuals are less than pleased with the outcome, and to make matters worse, the firm has also cut the cord with habitual roamers -- including some that are actually enlisted in our military. Can't a soldier (or sniveller) catch a break?[Thanks, John F.]Read - Sprint cancels 1,200 contracts over excessive complainingRead - Sprint cancels traveling soldiers' cellphone
Sprint releases Sanyo Katana II
Looks like Sprint has dropped the drapes on Sanyo's Katana II handset, as it is showing on Sprint's website as of now. The SCP-6650 Katana II makes a few decent strides over the EV-DO-less original Katana from last year, including a refined design and a more RAZR-esque profile, but with the Katana II sportin' a positively ancient VGA digicam and lacking EV-DO data of any kind, this apparently-minor refresh to the Katana design may not win many converts from the original or otherwise. But hey, at under $100 with a new two-year contract, we can't complain too much -- although $50 seems like a more appropriate price right off the bat.[Via Phone News]
Sprint to effectively kill Nextel brand
In a seemingly inevitable move, Sprint has decided to drop the Nextel brand from its marketing messaging, corporate logo and just about everything else as of July 1st (but keeping Boost Mobile, yes?). Just a few days after AT&T intros the iPhone to waiting masses, Sprint's marketing will reinvent itself with a focus on data speeds (of all things) as the key differentiator for its network while at the same time, the Nextel branding will fade into oblivion. Sprint plans to keep it on life support, though, for customers still wanting to inquire about Direct Connect (walkie talkie) and other Nextel-specific services. Other than that, bye-bye Nextel. It was great knowin' ya.[Via mocoNews]
Sanyo Katana DLX hits Sprint developer site
Although we don't think the original Sanyo Katana handset was the "RAZR killer" Sanyo had hoped, the struggling Japanese mobile phone manufacturer must be preparing an encore beyond the Katana II. The Katana DLX (aka, Sanyo SCP-8500) was peeped a few days ago hiding out at the FCC and now just hit Sprint's developer website. Is it about to be released? Probably, but let's move on. A rundown on specs shows what is becoming the Sprint standard for summer 2007 releases: EV-DO, obligatory digicam and videocam functions, Bluetooth, 320 x 240 screen resolution with 262k colors. Add in an 80 x 80 external screen resolution, microSD slot and 96 megabytes of onboard memory and we've got another decent handset for the Sanyo loyal. No word on A2DP support, availability or pricing yet.
New QWERTY slider from LG coming to Sprint?
QWERTY is a good thing for all our sore thumbs, so even if you're not into smartphones and all that, should just a decent thumb-board still gets you excited? Possibly, but if you're a Sprint fan, definitely. There are currently no slider handsets with full QWERTY goodness available from Sprint, but is word on the street is true, an LG unit may be up to bat soon. We're of the mind that a QWERTY non-smartphone would be a home run for Sprint, although availability is rumored for this model-less unit for Q4 of this year. The usual suspects on onboard: digicam (no rez available), Bluetooth, microSD and that nice slide-out texting interface. Unknowns? Screen resolution, digicam resolution and even EV-DO. Although, we gotta believe 1xRTT is dead with Sprint's newer phones.
Sprint announces Muziq from LG
Shoring up its music-friendly line alongside the UpStage from Samsung, Sprint has announced its "Muziq," the Fusic's spiritual successor from LG. While it'll face some serious musicphone competition from across the CDMA / GSM divide later this week, the Muziq holds its own with some interesting features including an integrated FM transmitter that can send tuneage to any FM radio within ten feet. It also offers up stereo Bluetooth, a microSD slot supporting up to 4GB of expansion (a 64MB card is included in box), 1.3 megapixel camera, and sideloading of DRM-free music via USB. Look for it to hit on July 15 for $99 on contract.
Sanyo Katana II in the flesh
Any excitement we would've had for the coming of the Katana's replacement has been tempered by a totally bogus lack of EV-DO -- but as a thin, inexpensive flip, it looks like the Katana II should be able to hold its own against the competition. This here is the first decent picture we've seen of the device -- or devices, seeing how it'll apparently be available in black, pink, and silver -- showing a reasonably attractive shell with the same VGA cam as its predecessor. The display's apparently up a fifth of an inch to 2 inches in total, but there ain't much else to talk about without upgrading to the slightly higher-end Katana DLX. Look for the Katana II to hit next month for a shade under $50 on contract.
FCC plays with the Sanyo Katana DLX
So it turns out Sprint's Sanyo Katana is going to be met by no fewer than two successors. Besides the previously-seen Katana II, the FCC's been hooked up with the Katana DLX, a reasonably attractive (from what little we can tell) flip that features EV-DO, Bluetooth, microSD expansion, camera, and a PC modem mode. Of course, the FCC likes to be as coy as possible with details, so we've got nothin' else on this one for the time being -- but if it launches around the same time as the Katana II, we should see it in the next few months.[Via Phone Scoop]
Engadget Mobile relaunch giveaways: Motorola KRZR K1m for Sprint
Believe it or not, we're still celebrating our extraordinarily successful relaunch (thanks entirely to you, our readers), and is there really any better way to say "we love you" than with a Motorola KRZR K1m for Sprint? We think not! The 1.3 megapixel cam and microSD slot are all well and good, but we've gotta say, Sprint's all-black variant of the KRZR is simply beautiful. You gotta be in it to win it, so drop us a line below, k?A few rules (yeah, there are always rules): You may only enter this specific contest once. If you enter this contest more than once you'll be automatically disqualified and barred from all future giveaways. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) In other words, be careful when commenting and don't submit more than once, ok? You may enter our other EngMob relaunch contests, but you can't win more than once; if you happen to win more than once (which is pretty unlikely, but still) we'll ask you to choose just one of your prizes. The prize is open to US entrants only. Hey, it's a US phone, you couldn't do anything with it anyway. Contest is open until 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, June 27th. We'll be shipping all the phones to winners once all the relaunch giveaway contests are over. (Yeah, we know it bites to have to wait, but dems the breaks!) Thanks and good luck to everyone! Have a look at our other contests, too, before it's too late: Samsung m610 (the second one)
Motorola's KRZR K1m for Sprint could be yours!
If you head on over to Engadget Mobile and do ya thing, that is -- so go try your hand at winning the gorgeous K1m now!Have a look at our other contests, too, before it's too late: Samsung m610 (the second one)
Sprint announces spectrum of Sanyo SCP-3200 flips
Sprint's midrange line gets a little beefier today thanks to the introduction of Sanyo's SCP-3200. Available in Midnight Black, Playful Pink, and Atlantic Blue, the clamshell foregos EV-DO ("Power Vision" in Sprint lingo) but offers Bluetooth, a VGA camera, GPS, speakerphone, traditional Sprint Vision services, and -- if you're really hard up for a tethered modem -- you can still connect it to your lappie in 1xRTT mode. Look for it at $200 contract-free or $50 on a two-year agreement.
