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Sprint Fortunes Improve Slightly, CEO Afraid of Price Cuts

Sprint's latest earnings indicate that fortunes have improved slightly for the company, but there's a lot of work left to do. Sprint posted a net income of $23 million on revenues of $8.8 billion, the best result seen in seven years. Still, Sprint lost 245,000 postpaid customers on the quarter, though that's down from the 1 million lost during the same quarter one year ago. Sprint continues to build out their LTE network, which the company states now covers 254 million potential customers.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse tells CNET he's caught between a rock and hard place in terms of offering lower pricing, fearful that lower prices will lower revenues at a time they need every penny to upgrade the network:

quote:
So why the cautious attitude? Hesse explained that the newer, cheaper rate plan would help lower prices, but also lower revenue. Any new plan would have to bring in enough new customers to justify that loss in service revenue -- a tactic that T-Mobile is employing with great success from a subscriber growth perspective.

Sprint has to contend with the progress of its network upgrade efforts. The company said it has finished the replacement of its 3G network, but it still lags behind its rivals when it comes to faster 4G LTE wireless coverage.

"If your network isn't where it's going to be, you won't have new customers coming in," Hesse said.
Sprint's network has lagged the other three major networks in terms of both speed and latency, something that isn't exactly a siren song for the users Sprint hopes to attract.
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existenz
join:2014-02-12

1 recommendation

existenz

Member

They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

They are saying they will be finished with LTE rollout by end of year but it's 1900LTE only. They have a long way to go to get triband Spark completed (800/1900/2500). Works very well in completed Spark areas but they need 100% of sites completed, not 70% within a market. When Spark is truly complete, will then be in good shape. Am typically getting 15-30M with peaks to 60 between home/work, which is entirely Spark area. 800 voice also helps a lot, now works in deep underground garages at home/work.
78036364 (banned)
join:2014-05-06
USA

2 recommendations

78036364 (banned)

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

How about getting LTE finished first before doing Spark. We have Sprint here and besides on having less coverage than at&t and Verizon has, it's all 3G. "Unlimited" 3G data is useless to me especially when you top it off with less coverage. Until then Sprint isn't getting anyone to switch form at&t or Verizon in my area.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

1 recommendation

elefante72

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

Covers 254 million people. Please, a majority of NYS isn't covered and it's not a small state. Everyone knows their network is the worst, unless they are saying 1 Mbps is 4G, because in my area it is for Sprint...

I just speedtest my kids Photon 4G and a whopping 126kps on an "upgraded" tower. Good thing I only pay $3 a month, otherwise I would be disappointed.. I used to have Ting, but it wasn't worth it because the network is only good for voice and an occasional text.
78036364 (banned)
join:2014-05-06
USA

78036364 (banned)

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

said by elefante72:

Covers 254 million people.

Even if true the US population is 314 million Verizon covers 97% or 304 million. When Sprint and T-Mobile are just GIVING at&t and Verizon 50-70 million potential customers it's no wonder they don't worry about competing with either.

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton to elefante72

Member

to elefante72
The Photon is not an LTE phone, it's a WiMax phone, which Sprint switched away from in order to focus on LTE. So, it's no wonder you're not seeing 4G speeds because WiMax was never fully developed.

"Everyone" who says their network is the worst are comparing it to the old network. If Sprint doesn't work for you, leave and go somewhere else. Bitching about it online isn't going to change anything.

mackey
Premium Member
join:2007-08-20

mackey

Premium Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

said by pjsutton:

"Everyone" who says their network is the worst are comparing it to the old network.

Um, no. I have a Spark-enabled phone (LG G2) and am in a Spark market (L.A.). At home I'm lucky to get 1 mbps over Spark-enabled LTE. 1/2 mile away I had 5/6 bars (again on Spark LTE) and webpages were timing out a lot and my banks' app refused to even connect. I finally got a speed test to complete - 0.25 mbps down and 1.9 mbps up. Isn't this new Spark network awesome?!

/M

memnoch903
@206.174.68.x

memnoch903 to elefante72

Anon

to elefante72
Photon 4G is a WiMax device, so unless you are in one of the few WiMax areas left it's running on 3G.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan to existenz

Member

to existenz
Agreed. The Spark rollout is way too slow.

I thought all this SoftBank money was supposed to help.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

1 recommendation

ITGeeks

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

Softbank and Hesse only wanted you to believe that. The same as they want everyone to think at Sprint-TMO USA will make VZW and AT&T Mobility change. When in fact Hesse does NOT want lower prices, guess what that means, every gets a rate hike that would be on TMO currently- since those customers are generally without a contract.

Softbank would be better to sell this company off and get their money back before they bleed anymore. They're too slow at building anything let alone being an actual carrier to compete.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

Did SoftBank truly understand how much repair and rebuilding Sprint's Network needed?

I have a feeling it didn't...
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

Spark works great, they just need to get it done.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

But you can't do that when you have no $$$, and why work on Spark when the LTE network is NOT complete either, they still have Clear to absorb and refarm that network. Sprint is going to keep bleeding money and customers until they actually can get their act together and Dan and Son is not the ones to be in charge.
ITGeeks

ITGeeks to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan
Nope! They wanted to make a quick buck and now they don't care about Sprint, they just want the $$$ its rolling in. They'd be better off to turn Sprint into a MVNE and just allow people to resell the network. That's where most of their customers are from.

xPCStech
@74.115.237.x

xPCStech to IPPlanMan

Anon

to IPPlanMan
Nope.. about the same kind of approach Sprint did when acquiring Nextel. Not till months later when the dust settled did Sprint realize just out screwed up nextel's network (and equipment, and fudged numbers) were. Now, it's come around to bite them in the azz.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: They need to finish Spark (triband) rollout

months? try years!

Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium Member
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT

Subaru

Premium Member

sprint passing me off

So I've been getting text messages to my phone saying work on the towers I use most will be worked on and might have some service interruption. . OK.. so the other day I got a email this time saying LTE is now live in my area and to enjoy the new speeds. . So I got home thinking I was going to see new speeds because the map shows my area with 4G LTE speeds but nope I still get full bars of 3 speeds.

I'm wondering if they are doing this to keep people from leaving
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: sprint passing me off

4G not available in all locations.

Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium Member
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT

Subaru

Premium Member

Re: sprint passing me off

it's showing on sensorly but a narrow path.. so they still lied.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: sprint passing me off

If it still shows up, it is still there, their map and contract both say not available at all addresses, etc. even if your neighbor has it doesn't mean you will.

Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium Member
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT

Subaru

Premium Member

Re: sprint passing me off

I don't understand what you are saying.. im here in another town where I work and I have full signal of 4G LTE. . However at home where I kept getting messages saying it was coming and then finally live is nothing but the same old crap slow speed 3g signal

For fun I drove right past the tower that serves me and still no 4g signal

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton

Member

Re: sprint passing me off

That message has been sent all over the place without much regard. You should just ignore it.

Most of the problems they are having is getting backhaul to their towers. When CLECs like AT&T and Verizon are the only provider of landline fiber to the Sprint towers, of course they are going to be behind the others!

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

On pace to be 2 years late for officially deploying LTE in DC...

»s4gru.com/index.php?/top ··· ?p=22132

Washington DC
Status: Partial LTE Launch/NV Upgrades Languishing
NV Sites Accepted = 89%
LTE Sites Accepted = 53%
Anticipated LTE Launch = Summer 2014 (Northern MD Suburbs launched 7/2014)
Original Scheduled Completion = January 2013
Current Production Rate Completion = January 2015

Stop with the talking hamsters until then please...

grydlok
join:2004-01-06
Richmond, VA

grydlok

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

I take it the whole Bethesda launched baffled you as well. Not even the entire Montgomery county just the town of Bethesday. I guess next month it will be Rockvilles' turn

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

Bethesda isn't in the District. You should know that as you're in Richmond, VA.

But do go on please...

grydlok
join:2004-01-06
Richmond, VA

grydlok

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

yeah but my family lives in D.C. and I also work in Baltimore but please go on

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

Baltimore has LTE officially launched along with Spark.

DC itself has neither. What's your point?

grydlok
join:2004-01-06
Richmond, VA

grydlok

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

my points is why launch one town in the metro area? and for the record Spark isn't all over Baltimore like people think. Just in the tourist areas.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

Can't answer that... But that's besides the point. Why the hell is this estimated completion date 2 years late?

Are you saying Sprint's Baltimore coverage map for Spark is wrong?

»coverage.sprint.com/IMPA ··· G:HE:Cov

grydlok
join:2004-01-06
Richmond, VA

grydlok

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

Exaggerated, just like many other carriers exaggerate.

yeah look here
»network.sprint.com/MD/Baltimore/

this gives more of a tower breakdown and upgrades.

whfsdude
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Washington, DC

whfsdude to IPPlanMan

Premium Member

to IPPlanMan
said by IPPlanMan:

On pace to be 2 years late for officially deploying LTE in DC...

Sprint is basically giving the DC market to T-Mobile. What's funny is the Clearwire network here is better than Sprint's in terms of data speeds.

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 1852.png

I have T-Mobile for my smartphone and a Clearwire hotspot + home modem (backup connection for home internet).

It's going to be a shame to see Sprint shutdown the Clearwire network and covert all Clearwire plans to capped data plans. Then shove the users on their awful data network which has multiple layers of NAT.

I'm really not sure what the hell they are doing over there at Sprint. They have huge spectrum assets in urban markets. In theory they have a huge cash infusion from Softbank.

Shouldn't they be shaking up the market?

I'll probably be dropping my data with Clearwire if I get moved to capped data (I can deal with unlimited + throttled). I have no real reason to stay with them. T-Mobile offers acceptable speeds, no overages, and IPv6.

Sprint, enjoy losing $1020/year from a customer who never has to call support and always pays on time.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Still lagging in DC LTE launch...

Agreed. Something is seriously wrong with Sprint's DC area deployment.

I don't know whether it's Backhaul or something else, but none of the other carriers had such delays and difficulty launching LTE in DC. All of them have very robust LTE networks up and running, but not Sprint.

The DC market really is a Sprint backwater...
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

Good for them

Their plans are still the kind of wacky.
For an individual, the choice is "unlimited" at not a great price, or "unlimited" at "what the hell are you smoking?" price. For more than 2 lines, things even out a little bit, mostly seemingly on par with other carriers.

I do hope they can get their network a little more solid. Glad they also recognize this fact.

I just hope they don't screw with too many of the MVNO's out there, notably, Republic Wireless. I'm still thinking about signing up for that service, as it not only appeals to me on price, but on principle of not giving any of the big 4 more money than is necessary to deliver what services I use.
ITGeeks
join:2014-04-20
Cleveland, OH

ITGeeks

Member

Re: Good for them

Sprint won't hurt the MVNOs too much as that is where their bread and butter comes from. They're the easiest to work with of all of the carriers. Also the cheapest when getting on the network to become an MVNO.

The thing is Sprint needs to figure out what they are doing in terms of a network, and work on one before they start doing 2 and 3 more. Finish LTE then work on Spark. Then compete on price like TMO, if they think the lower prices are going to hurt them, then why are they wanting TMO-USA they're already much lower than Sprint.

josephf
join:2009-04-26

josephf

Member

New merger bid for T-Mobile US competing with expected Sprint bid

»online.wsj.com/articles/ ··· 06822189

»dealbook.nytimes.com/201 ··· ile-usa/
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin

Member

Re: New merger bid for T-Mobile US competing with expected Sprint bid

Holy frack. Iliad wants T-Mobile? That would be freaking amazing. Iliad is known for absolutely capsizing both the wireline and wireless markets in France. They've destroyed the incumbents by offering services at less than half the price. It would be so, so amazing if they ended up in control of T-Mobile. They would be in it for the long haul and present serious, massive competition in the US market.

robbyglack
@50.243.146.x

robbyglack

Anon

sprint needs a huge price cut

Dan Hesse is correct that a small price increase would hurt revenues with little customer growth.

what sprint needs to do is massively reduce prices to create a new category of low cost carrier, and attract customers looking for rock bottom prices.

if sprint offers say prepaid unlimited everything for $25/month they would be likely to quickly acquire a massive customer base and increase revenues from customers willing to sacrifice service quality for low price.

mackey
Premium Member
join:2007-08-20

mackey

Premium Member

Re: sprint needs a huge price cut

NOOOOOO! The network (even "Spark" LTE) is slow enough now (just speed tested at 251 kbps) any serious subscriber add will collapse it completely

/M

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

bobjohnson

Premium Member

Re: sprint needs a huge price cut

said by mackey:

NOOOOOO! The network (even "Spark" LTE) is slow enough now (just speed tested at 251 kbps) any serious subscriber add will collapse it completely

/M

^^This! That's the problem that Sprint has now, a bunch of MVNO's on a network that wasn't so good to begin with. And now with LTE and spark kicking off without added backhaul is giving the customers that are willing to pay hell at this point.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Time for trench coat Dan!

Dan, ditch the talking hamsters and bring back the Trench Coat ads.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: Time for trench coat Dan!

said by IPPlanMan:

Dan, ditch the talking hamsters and bring back the Trench Coat ads.

ditch the ads altogether when they actually have a decent network to sell.. $$ spend on the network $$ Sprint doesn't ONLY have to buy backhaul from telcos. It can buy from cable companies or anyone else, hell, even google fiber.. (texas)
trying to buy another company is not going to happen if they can't fix what they already have.
jpgr
WAR
join:2011-08-18
Clyde, OH

1 edit

jpgr

Member

Just got Sprint 4 glte in ohio 4 miles from Tower rural folks are happy here

Sprint just got a costumer a rural customer like me who only gets Frontier Dsl slow speeds . But now my Samsung Note 2 uses allshare to watch Hd movies on my Hdmi T.V.
Basicaly mirrors my phone to my Hdmi T.V wirelessly. Sprint is gonna get alot of rural folks that live near the Ohio turnpike cause they built 8 new towers all down the ohio turnpike from Toledo to Cleveland. I live 4 miles from the new tower and got a clear sight of the blinking tower lights. The unlimited data, 4G Lte and allshare is a godsent ! thanks Sprint many more rural folks coming your way!

Sprint 4g lte test
»www.speedtest.net/my-res ··· 62956960

Frontier Dsl speed
»www.speedtest.net/my-res ··· 63656090