Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure continues to insist that the company's plans to cut support staff and implement major network changes will only improve things for the company's customers. Claure today disputed recent reports that the company was considering a major plan to migrate towers to government land to cut costs, a project one Sprint insider claimed would be incredibly disruptive and actually reduce coverage for Sprint customers in outlying regions.
“We are going to do that without jeopardizing the customer experience,” Claure said on the company's earnings call.
"We are focused on densification, without jeopardizing the customer network," the CEO said. "We'll look at towers, rooftops, and monopoles and then choose the most efficient way to plan. Everything will make the network more dense. By no means is this rip and replace."
The company says it's examining all manner of changes to improve the network, including small cells and so-called mini-macro towers. Sprint's also making a concerted effort to lessen the company's reliance on incumbents AT&T and Verizon. That will include potentially using the company's spectrum to feed microwave links used to replace traditional fiber backhaul. Outside of that, Sprint's plan remains admittedly murky.
“We will tell you as much as we want to tell you,” Sprint Network boss John Saw said on the call. “I want to make sure we don’t give our playbook away.”
Sprint continues to promise that the Sprint network everybody wants remains just two years or so away. The problem? Sprint has been saying this for the better part of the last decade.