Downward slide continues for Sprint, perhaps Dish will take another try at a purchase?

[nsafreak]

Well I was reading this story on Ars: http://arstechnica.com/business/201...-plans-job-cuts-and-cost-cuts-of-2-5-billion/ and I have to wonder at this point; perhaps Dish will get another chance to purchase Sprint? Maybe even cheaper than they were originally looking at? Softbank can't be terribly happy with their investment so far. They do have some subscriber growth but it's nowhere near the pace of T-Mobile. Their finances aren't looking terribly great and I have to wonder with the technology decisions they've been making if they're really the right ones. Dish has tons of spectrum, which any carrier would love to have really, and may be able to give Sprint a boost in marketing as well as a few other areas. So what do you guys think? Think Sprint may be up for sale in the next few months or that Softbank will keep trying to improve the company?

 

[ChadT41]

I don't think so just yet, but I'm not ready to consider that not an option. Let's just say the book remains open on speculation.

 

[stardust3]

My service with sprint is and always has been good, but pay them way too much. Would like to see someone buy them out and restructure their pricing and this lease only phones deal.

 

[ChadT41]

Is that how they get away with the "get the new iPhone every time it comes out" deal? If so, I wouldn't be against that. I don't care if it is owned or not.

 

[stardust3]

I don't remember exactly but it's an extra 20 something probably closer to $30 a month. I'd sooner pay the 1 time discounted upgrade fee & own the phone.

 

[ChadT41]

So it is like Verizon's edge plan it sounds.

 

[stardust3]

I personally don't think dish would do well in the cell phone business. As a silent partner with someone who does...maybe.

 

[ChadT41]

I think they would almost certainly need an advantage to succeed. Either a partner that is familiar with that particular game, a full executive team that is familiar with that game or a company that is already established. There is almost no chance to break into it alone with his marketing and business plans.
Now I do think he would bring a lot to the table, such as "customers with this service and dish get unlimited video playback on DA" or SlingTV. That would be a huge seller to millenials. We are almost entirely on cell phones and tablets anyways. I rarely even come to this site on anything other than my iPhone.

 

[nsafreak]

I think they would almost certainly need an advantage to succeed. Either a partner that is familiar with that particular game, a full executive team that is familiar with that game or a company that is already established. There is almost no chance to break into it alone with his marketing and business plans.
Now I do think he would bring a lot to the table, such as "customers with this service and dish get unlimited video playback on DA" or SlingTV. That would be a huge seller to millenials. We are almost entirely on cell phones and tablets anyways. I rarely even come to this site on anything other than my iPhone.

A very interesting point and I agree with you. It'd be very interesting if Dish did something where if you got a Sprint plan you also got SlingTV at no charge (not sure if they could do it permanently but I could easily see for the length of the contract) and it did not count towards your data usage. They'd have to improve the speed of the network but hopefully they could get enough customers to fund that.

 

[Tampa8]

Sprint is by far the worst carrier for signal unless you happen to live where they have a good one and do not travel much. It has been that way for years and years. I see no upside, no increase in Sling or DISH subscribers by tying the services. In fact I believe anyone who switched to sprint to get a deal with DISH would sour not only on Sprint but it would reflect on DISH services too.

If DISH were to use Sprint to get their wireless program underway that could make some sense. But they better find a way to make the Sprint service much better than it now is.
I believe people who say they have a good signal, but they are in the general minority, that's why the continued decline of Sprint. Tmobile passed them partly because they generally are compatible with At&t phones, but also because they have improved their signal saturation though they still lag behind Att and Verizon.

There are two major reasons At&t and Verizon stay on top and by quite alot, their signal is just about everywhere and they continue to improve their data speeds. Tmobile by improving themselves have forced the big two into giving better rates and more data, ironically then hurting Tmobile some.

 

[ChadT41]

Sprint is by far the worst carrier for signal unless you happen to live where they have a good one and do not travel much. It has been that way for years and years. I see no upside, no increase in Sling or DISH subscribers by tying the services. In fact I believe anyone who switched to sprint to get a deal with DISH would sour not only on Sprint but it would reflect on DISH services too.

If DISH were to use Sprint to get their wireless program underway that could make some sense. But they better find a way to make the Sprint service much better than it now is.
I believe people who say they have a good signal, but they are in the general minority, that's why the continued decline of Sprint. Tmobile passed them partly because they generally are compatible with At&t phones, but also because they have improved their signal saturation though they still lag behind Att and Verizon.

There are two major reasons At&t and Verizon stay on top and by quite alot, their signal is just about everywhere and they continue to improve their data speeds. Tmobile by improving themselves have forced the big two into giving better rates and more data, ironically then hurting Tmobile some.

I think Dish's biggest issue there would be changing people's perception of Sprint. I had them for near a decade and the signal was good, but the service speeds were crap. I was getting gen 1 speeds on 4G data. And I was lying $10/month extra for the capability to have 4g even though it was slower then almost any other service, including MetroPCS. Now I'm with Verizon. It's a world of a difference speed wise, same coverage for talk and text.

 

[stardust3]

My lte speed test in the boonies, not bad imo.

 

[ChadT41]

That's not a common result.

 

[DWS44]

Heck...I live near and work inside of a pretty big city (Charlotte) and I rarely saw those kind of speeds...and that was when I could maintain a 4G connection for any length of time. I was a big supporter of Sprint for a long time (15+ years), but my patience ran out as they got worse and worse in recent years to the point where I dropped calls nearly every day...and miserable 4G experience for the most part. I rode out my last contract, and this spring switched to Verizon. The signal strength and fast, stable 4G are heavenly in comparison. I have no doubt there are places where Sprint is still competitive, but it wasn't in the areas that I live and work in.

 

[Tampa8]

Heck...I live near and work inside of a pretty big city (Charlotte) and I rarely saw those kind of speeds...and that was when I could maintain a 4G connection for any length of time. I was a big supporter of Sprint for a long time (15+ years), but my patience ran out as they got worse and worse in recent years to the point where I dropped calls nearly every day...and miserable 4G experience for the most part. I rode out my last contract, and this spring switched to Verizon. The signal strength and fast, stable 4G are heavenly in comparison. I have no doubt there are places where Sprint is still competitive, but it wasn't in the areas that I live and work in.

Very common comments.