Merging

[Slickyy]

Not a whole lot will change.
They will still have the 55 dollar unlimited plan as well as some of the VM plans and everything will be re-branded

Oh I wouldn't discuss plans when we're not even sure the merger is going to happen.

 

[jmatherly411]

Sprint officially denied that the Nextel name isn't coming back and has been permanently killed off. The VM and Boost Mobile merger is still a "rumor" and hasn't been confirmed by Sprint Corporation. Yet it would very wise to merge both of the MVNOs into "Sprint Freedom" or some other name and kill off two names, 2014 is going to be a busy year for Sprint.

 

[jmatherly411]

I am excited about the idea of Sprint and T-Mobile becoming one. I think that could only help the network in terms of footprint.

Don't get your hopes up on a Sprint/T-Mobile merger, it first has to be agreed upon with Deutsche Telecom, T-Mobile US, regulators, FCC, and the Dept. of Justice...not to mention that AT&T will put their nose into the merger to attempt to stop it since they had a failed bid at T-Mobile. If Sprint attempts to buy T-Mobile and it fails wasting 7 to 10 billion dollars expect Sprint to go bankrupt within the year even with SoftBank keeping them financially stable. Also the fact these to companies run on two different networks GSM and CDMA which will complicate things even further. This whole merger stinks and sounds bad...

 

[MLSS]

Sprint officially denied that the Nextel name isn't coming back and has been permanently killed off. The VM and Boost Mobile merger is still a "rumor" and hasn't been confirmed by Sprint Corporation. Yet it would very wise to merge both of the MVNOs into "Sprint Freedom" or some other name and kill off two names, 2014 is going to be a busy year for Sprint.

I called Boost mobile and asked about a possible merger between Boost and VM and I will quote the csr I talked to. (keep in mind I never mentioned Sprint Freedom)
"I am sorry but we are not authorized to comment on Sprint Freedom at this time, you will be receiving information concerning this in the near future. "

 

[Slickyy]

I called Boost mobile and asked about a possible merger between Boost and VM and I will quote the csr I talked to. (keep in mind I never mentioned Sprint Freedom)
"I am sorry but we are not authorized to comment on Sprint Freedom at this time, you will be receiving information concerning this in the near future. "

This could be that he has heard the question a few times already and he just referred to it as Sprint Freedom.

 

[mydian]

I guess this is the one bad thing about not having a contract, not that I ever could now. But tomorrow they could say, "hey you can't use your phone next month unless you pay us X amount since we just merged." I doubt they would do that as the PR would be bad but it could happen. The price is all that keeps me with Boost.

 

[MLSS]

This could be that he has heard the question a few times already and he just referred to it as Sprint Freedom.

But then why did she say "you will be receiving information about this in the near future"?

 

[Slickyy]

But then why did she say "you will be receiving information about this in the near future"?

Maybe he missplaced his words, saying that there is no information on this. This is how bad rumors start and people make it invalid truth.

 

[MLSS]

Maybe he missplaced his words, saying that there is no information on this. This is how bad rumors start and people make it invalid truth.

It was a she and she didn't misplace her words.....
Take it for what you want though. I am just repeating what I have been told by Boost mobile twice.

 

[Slickyy]

We'll be hearing more on an announcement in late February. I cannot confirm that the rumors are true or not, but can say that there will be news on an announcement from Sprint in late February. The announcement is most likely to deal with it's pre paid carriers.

 

[kate]

We'll be hearing more on an announcement in late February. I cannot confirm that the rumors are true or not, but can say that there will be news on an announcement from Sprint in late February. The announcement is most likely to deal with it's pre paid carriers.

Will it just be regarding Boost and Virgin Mobile, or will it involve the other Sprint MVNOs as well?

Also, what is your source? Thanks

 

[mrnyjet]

Will it just be regarding Boost and Virgin Mobile, or will it involve the other Sprint MVNOs as well?

Also, what is your source? Thanks

my guess is that person is an employee, perhaps higher up the mgmt ranks than csr.
They know what is going to happen, but can not say . No desire to join the ranks of the unemployed is sufficient motivation, i assume.

 

[mrnyjet]

I am excited about the idea of Sprint and T-Mobile becoming one. I think that could only help the network in terms of footprint.

I am concerned however about the merger of Boost and Virgin. I don't think Boost or Virgin customers would be happy changing their policies. Maybe they will compromise in a good way. But it's also possible it might be in a bad way. I would be happy if they changed both policies to this format of three choices:

$35/mth 300 min unlitmited data and text;
$45/mth 1200 min unlimited data and text;
$55/mth unlimited everything with shrinkage;

But what are the chances of that?

they are going to have to do something to attrack people back.
kind of like the new store in town selling items at cost or loss, to get you into the store the first time.
after recent bad evperience/publicity, Target has that very same problem.

 

[Slickyy]

Will it just be regarding Boost and Virgin Mobile, or will it involve the other Sprint MVNOs as well?

Also, what is your source? Thanks

Source is pure speculation of the markets right now of where prepaid is doing well, what companies are doing the best, and who makes moves quickest. Quarter 1 is always the most active time for changes within companies to change things around internally. Quarter 3 is usually announcements for brand new products.

Sprint needs to make a move and with this news of merging (Both their Prepaid companies, and this possible merge/buyout with T-Mobile) it is a big indication that Sprint is going to do something in February.

I spoke with someone who is an editor at technology website, and one of our conversations turned into this basically. Verizon and AT&T are pretty much going to be silent this year until they hear the internal news of what Sprint and T-Mobile are doing...so unless they make some drastic move, expect something big from both Sprint and T-Mobile. Whether it's a merge/buyout, or something with their network, plans, etc.

Also expect an update soon on Sprint Spark. That information is already public, but people just aren't talking about it. I'm really hoping they make it available to Sprint MVNO's, but probably not.

One last thing, from reading comments on other forums and websites. Do not think that the FCC will get in the way of another T-Mobile buyout. FCC got in the way of AT&T and T-Mobile for 2 reasons...AT&T has a massive market acquired already, and T-Mobile was just a short cut to get them ahead of Verizon. Also they didn't want a dominant network type (GSM) with AT&T. Merging these 2 would put a lot of people at Sprint at a huge risk, and also allow AT&T to control too much. Merging AT&T and T-Mobile could be a pathway to only 2 companies running the entire wireless market...and we do not want that.

Sprint and T-Mobile merging is a different situation. Combined they have a little less than 30% of the market, (I think it's closer to 20 now) and they would be migrating CDMA and GSM together (at least temporarily). The FCC also HAS NOT commented on this on any level of blocking the deal, or letting it allow without trouble.

 

[Slickyy]

they are going to have to do something to attrack people back.
kind of like the new store in town selling items at cost or loss, to get you into the store the first time.
after recent bad evperience/publicity, Target has that very same problem.

Don't think about what already exists, maybe it could be all new original pricing for their plans.

 

[kate]

Also expect an update soon on Sprint Spark. That information is already public, but people just aren't talking about it. I'm really hoping they make it available to Sprint MVNO's, but probably not.

Sprint Spark is already available on one MVNO - Ting (blog post).

I guess my main concern was whether a Virgin/Boost or Sprint/T-Mobile merger would have any impact on the other Sprint MVNOs like Ting. Would you happen to know?

 

[Slickyy]

Sprint Spark is already available on one MVNO - Ting (blog post).

I guess my main concern was whether a Virgin/Boost or Sprint/T-Mobile merger would have any impact on the other Sprint MVNOs like Ting. Would you happen to know?

Honestly I won't find anything out until a day or 2 early, and even then Engadget, CNET, etc are going to be on it as well. All I can say, is that the ways companies are going now, Sprint and T-Mobile have to do something. Just hope it's not an investment with 5G Development.

 

[jmatherly411]

Many people believe that T-Mobile and Sprint merging would be great, here are the problems. One, you have to companies running two very different networks Sprint CDMA and T-Mobile on GSM. Two, management between T-Mobile and Sprint are like night and day. You have one company that is taking a pro-active approach to win customers (T-Mobile) and Sprint which is in re-active mode right now trying to play catch up. Three, we have seen what happened with Sprint when it purchased Nextel's iDEN network (pretty much an 800MHz trucked radio system). It caused mass confusion for Sprint's customers, almost bankrupting Sprint as well as the re-banding that had to occur to vacate public safety 800 SMR frequencies due to interference issues. This is just the surface, what will happen if Sprint invests billions on a T-Mobile bid to have it fall threw due to the Dept. Of Justice or AT&T running interference and contesting a merger? What about the spectrum that both of these companies own, what will happen to some of this spectrum because you know that it will have to be broken up. The biggest in my book is Sprint's Network Vision upgrades, years after the purchase of Nextel and the deployment of CDMA 3G Sprint is finally upgrading and overhauling its aging network, has re-configured its 800 spectrum holdings, and deploying LTE on three bands (800, 1900 PCS, and 2600). Sprint is about to fire on all cylinders within a year when Network Vision 1.0 has been completed, we are talking about an essentially brand new network with faster data speeds on 3G EVDO as well as expanded voice coverage due to the new equipment and with the help of 1x 800, and the completion of 1900 LTE. Sprint will have the best network compared to Verizon and AT&T...mark my words. A bid for T-Mobile has the possibility of hampering the completion of these upgrades. Sprint if you are reading this leave T-Mobile alone and only worry about Sprint right now its in the best interest for your customers, consumers, and investors. We need four major wireless providers, what happens if number 3 gobbles up number 4 and is still number 3 then number 3 suffers from financial issues then we only end up with number 1 and 2 and that is one more close to a monopoly.

 

[Slickyy]

To add to jmatherly, there is a recent timeline of events to explain Sprint and its decisions...

* 2009. Sprint and Clear Corp merge to make a 4th generation. With the hopes of making a nation wide network

* 2009 Sprint bets huge on Wi-Max. Ignores near future support for LTE nation wide

* 2010 Sprint buys contract with Apple.

* 2010 Sprint stocks drop 20% due to concerned investors about the costs of iPhones and how profitable they will be

* 2011 Sprint walks away from possible merger with Metro PCS (Metro PCS is Sprints biggest rival Prepaid company)

* 2012 Sprint talks with Softbank. Softbank to stake 70% for $20 billion (Later changed to ~78% in 2013)

* 2013 the deal is sealed with Soft bank (June of 2013)

* Days later, Sprint starts preparations to shut down iDEN network.

Betting on WiMax was a huge mistake, and is already obsolete. In 2011 they start to push for a major LTE overhaul. Unfortunately because the profits from the iPhone sales were reminisce, they ran out of money to just throw into the LTE expansion. This explains why the LTE launch in several areas has taken so long, but don't worry since Softbank is with them, they have been rolling out more and more.

Remember that the game has changed. Softbank has a major influence on Sprint's direction. Run by a man who went from riches, to rags, and riches again.