Sprint’s LTE transition – The Verge

Sprint expands LTE markets and shrinks losses in Q3

2013-10-30T07:09:17-04:00

Sprint Galaxy Nexus

After a financially rough second quarter, Sprint's fortunes have improved somewhat over the past three months. The company recorded a net income of $383 million in Q3 2013, though operationally it's still not in the black, with a $398 million operating loss. The odd numbers are explained by Sprint recording a one-time $1.45 billion gain related to its Clearwire dealings.

The nation's third-largest carrier sold nearly 1.4 million iPhones over the reported period, with 40 percent of them going to new customers. The all-important Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) metric reached a record for postpaid Sprint customers, however the bad news is that …

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Sprint Nextel is now Sprint Corporation as SoftBank completes takeover

2013-07-10T21:21:28-04:00

Dan Hesse

Sprint Nextel is no more. Japan's SoftBank completed its protracted takeover of the US's third largest mobile carrier today, giving it a controlling stake in what is now Sprint Corporation. The deal is worth $21.6 billion, including $5 billion in cash to boost the company's balance sheet and $16.6 billion to be distributed to Sprint shareholders.

The name change removes an albatross that had long hung around Sprint's neck following its $36 billion acquisition of Nextel in 2005. After failing to successfully integrate the two networks, Sprint wrote off $29.7 billion on the purchase in 2008, wiping out over 80 percent of Nextel's value. Nexte …

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Sprint finally shutting down iDEN network Sunday to make way for LTE

2013-06-29T01:55:02-04:00

Sprint Flatiron Logo

This Sunday, just after midnight, Sprint will finally pull the plug on the legacy push-to-talk iDEN network it inherited when it purchased Nextel. The move is designed to free up spectrum and cell towers for the carrier's growing LTE network. That means the last full day of iDEN service, for those still using phones running on the network, is Saturday. After that, iDEN devices won't work - even to make 911 calls.

Sprint pulled all iDEN phones from its stores shelves last year, and has been warning of the impending shutdown since 2010. The carrier has been pushing its CDMA Direct Connect network as the replacement for iDEN, because it featur …

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Sprint sues to stop Dish’s Clearwire acquisition plans

2013-06-17T20:03:51-04:00

Dish (STOCK)

Dish scored a major coup in its efforts to scoop up Sprint acquisition target Clearwire last week when it won the support of Clearwire's board. Today, Sprint is firing back in court with allegations that the proposed Dish deal would be illegal. "DISH has repeatedly attempted to fool Clearwire's shareholders into believing its proposal was actionable in an effort to acquire Clearwire's spectrum and to obstruct Sprint's transaction with Clearwire," it wrote in a press release.

The competing offer would give Dish veto power over major strategic decisions

The complaint hinges on Sprint's status as a majority shareholder of Clearwire's, entitled …

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Sprint LTE reaches 110 markets with launches in Miami, New Orleans, Tampa, and more

2013-06-17T11:24:35-04:00

Sprint Flatiron Logo

Sprint may be in the middle of a complicated set of acquisitions and mergers, but it's continuing to build out its LTE network. The company says that it has activated LTE service in 22 US cities today, including Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, and Raleigh, bringing its network footprint to 110 markets around the country. That compares to 278 LTE markets for AT&T and 497 for Verizon Wireless, which was the first to build the high-speed cellular network across the country. T-Mobile's nascent LTE network only covers seven cities. Today's announcement still leaves Sprint with major holes in its LTE coverage, however, with cities like New York, San Fr …

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Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE Advanced coming soon, but most carriers aren’t ready

2013-06-17T06:23:45-04:00

Samsung Galaxy S4 display (555px)

Samsung is planning to release a variant of the Galaxy S4 that supports LTE Advanced (LTE-A), the next generation of superfast mobile data. The device will come to South Korea within weeks, Samsung Mobile head J.K. Shin tells Reuters. The updated device could prop sales of its flagship up as Apple and other competitors bring new smartphones to the market. J.K. Shin also confirmed Samsung is in talks with "several overseas carriers" to sell the new phone, but refused to confirm where and when the device would go on sale outside of Korea.

LTE Advanced is often called 'true 4G'

Often referred to as "true 4G" - present LTE doesn't meet the origi …

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Dish tops Sprint’s bid for Clearwire (update: shareholder vote postponed)

2013-05-29T21:38:41-04:00

Dish (STOCK)

As Friday's shareholder vote approaches, the competition for Clearwire's spectrum continues to heat up, with Dish upping its bid to $4.40 a share in cash - nearly a third higher than Sprint's $3.40 bid from just last week, reports The Wall Street Journal. But while Dish is throwing out the higher dollar figure, the would-be deal is muddled by the fact that Sprint already owns half of Clearwire, and has had a standing agreement to buy the remainder since last year. As The Wall Street Journal points out, any deal would require Sprint to sign off, and while the financial incentives could make it worthwhile in the short term, Sprint and its pote …

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Sprint’s latest modems support more LTE coverage, including Clearwire

2013-05-21T11:48:02-04:00

Sprint Tri-Band mobile hotspots

Sprint has just announced two mobile hotspots and a USB modem from Novatel and Netgear that are the company's first devices with tri-band LTE, meaning they're able top operate on the 800, 1900, and 2500MHz bands. Most of its existing devices support 1900MHz alone, which is the only band of LTE that Sprint has currently deployed.

Clearwire is still locked in a heated tug-of-war

800MHz will be coming soon - it's being freed up as Sprint powers down its legacy Nextel network next month. The 2500MHz spectrum, meanwhile, would come from Clearwire, which is in the midst of switching over from WiMAX to LTE and is currently locked in a heated acquis …

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Sprint ups bid for Clearwire in continued effort to bolster its LTE spectrum

2013-05-21T10:38:03-04:00

Sprint store (STOCK)

It's an understatement to say that Sprint is in a period of transition - both Softbank and Dish are trying to buy the nation's third-largest wireless carrier. At the same time, Sprint and Dish are both trying to purchase Clearwire, and Sprint has just made a strong play for that spectrum. The carrier has just submitted a new, increased offer for Clearwire - the carrier is now offering $3.40 per share of the company that Sprint doesn't already own. That's up from the $2.97 Sprint initially offered and would value Clearwire as a whole at $10.7 billion - and it's a bit better than the $3.30 per share that Dish offered in its acquisition bid.

S …

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Sprint’s LTE network expands to 21 new cities including Los Angeles and Memphis

2013-04-18T10:49:40-04:00

Sprint Windows Phone stock

Sprint still has plenty of work to do before its LTE network can match the coverage Verizon and AT&T offer, but the carrier's latest rollout manages to scratch a few major cities off the list. The carrier has announced that it's today lighting up service in 21 cities including Los Angeles, Memphis, and Charlotte, North Carolina. From there, the new markets get a bit smaller in scope and population. In all, with today's additions Sprint's still-young LTE network is now available in 88 markets. America's number three carrier is also mapping out new destinations where it will enable high-speed data by the end of 2013. 34 markets in all have joi …

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