Sprint Sells Towers To Pay Down Debt Will then lease access to their own towers... Thursday Jul 24 2008 09:04 EDT According to a post in this morning's Wall Street Journal, Sprint is planning to sell nearly all of their cell towers to a private-equity-backed firm called TowerCo. The deal will bring a $670 million cash infusion to the struggling company, which they'll be using to pay down some of the company's $24 billion debt load. Sprint will then lease back its own towers, expected to be around 3,300 total, from Towerco. |
kapilThe Kapil join:2000-04-26 Chicago, IL 1 edit
3 recommendations |
kapil
Member
2008-Jul-24 11:23 am
The TruthMost wireless carriers already lease, not own, the towers the hang their equipment on.
The difference is that Sprint was the first company to build out a nationwide PCS network and back then it decided to build its own tower network because leasing wasn't always an option where it needed towers.
There is actually a Sprint subsidiary that leases out space on Sprint towers to other interested parties.
So, this is more about shedding a business that is not a core competency so that it can better focus on its core business than it is about getting rid of assets to raise cash...although cash from the sale is a welcome benefit.
Sprint has always been very good as an engineering company...always first to market with new technology and always very good at making that new technology work. PCS, 1x, EVDO, REV A, ION, Sprint Wireless Broadband, and now WiMax...Sprint is on the cutting edge and should really get a lot more credit for getting things right than it does.
Sprint's downfall has been poor management on the business end. A management team that ran the company by looking at spreadsheets, putting customer service last, a poorly executed merger with Nextel, allowing credit challenged customers to become a sizable chunk of its customer base...the list goes on.
But that doesn't change the fact that Sprint's core network is one of the best, if not the best.
The new CEO and management are making a lot of right moves. Simplifying rate plans so they generate fewer calls to customer service, placing emphasis on customer service, expanding service options and handsets that customers actually want.
negative customer perception is a tough boat to turn around...any fool could tell you that.
I sincerely hope that Dan Hesse and company can do it for Sprint before it's too late. A marketplace without Sprint is certainly going to be bad for consumers...with only ATT, VZ and TMO left as major nationwide carriers. | | |
2 recommendations |
Mr Fingers
Anon
2008-Jul-24 10:16 am
TowersSprint was the only cell co. that owns most of their tower sites. All the telcos either own or lease their tower sites from Tower Co. or American Tower Corp. who buy, erect and maintain most of the communications towers in the USA.
Sprint isin't going anywhere, it may merge with SK Telecom in the future but it still generates huge amounts of income and has 50 million customers.
As for Wimax, one single tower and antenna can cover hundreds of square miles so a lot of towers isin't necessary for coverage.
Don't diss these guys, a new CEO and management and the customer service is getting better, they never had a problem with coverage. Now ATT on the other hand..... | |
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