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Federal regulators are all over Sprint Nextel right now, as the iDen technology of the Nextel branch is interfering with police and fire radios. This, of course, is detrimental to the safety of a certain number of Americans (we won’t venture a guess as to how many). So now Sprint has been given an ultimatum: Fix the problem by June 2008, or face the loss of Nextel and Boost. That should give Sprint enough motivation to get crackin’ on this one. It just comes at a horrible time for the company.

Posted in Sprint on November 19th, 2007
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Oh, we were so psyched up for WiMax. We often talk with friends in the wireless industry about the perils of Sprint, and in every conversation someone say, “yeah, but they’re getting WiMax.” It’s almost like a ray of hope for the nation’s No. 3 carrier. But that ray has been covered by clouds, as Sprint has announced that they are breaking off the agreement. While they haven’t made clear their reasons, it seems pursuant to the departure of CEO Gary Forsee (and we still lament that, because we really think he was the guy to turn around Sprint).

Posted in Sprint on November 9th, 2007
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This one flew right under our radar. Apparently Sprint announced that it would join Verizon and AT&T in offering prorated early termination fees at the same time T-Mobile did. Our bad. It’s the same deal as T-Mobile: It won’t be implemented until next year, and it only applies to new contracts. So if you are under contract with Sprint — say you signed up two months ago — you still have to pay a full ETF until your contract is up. The prorated ETF will go into effect when you sign a new contract, nearly two years from now. We’re sure a bit of strategic complaining can get your ETF prorated on your current contract, though.

Posted in Sprint on November 9th, 2007
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Despite our vocal disdain for earnings reports, we’ve actually been looking forward to Sprint’s. Why? Because along with the financial data come subscriber numbers. With AT&T and Verizon both reporting increases, we figured Sprint had to see a decline. And they did. The company reported losing 337,000 contract subscribers in the third quarter. We’ve actually read elsewhere that these losses mostly came on the Nextel-branded end. The company did add 67,000 customers to its Boost prepaid brand.

Posted in Sprint on November 1st, 2007
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As a result of class action suits in California and Florida, Sprint will now allow former customers to unlock their phones. This development comes as a settlement, not as a decision rendered by a judge or jury. According to spokespeople, Sprint wants “to avoid the uncertainties and expense of litigation.” While we don’t blame them, this decision should have little effect in the short-run. Yes, customers can have their CDMA phones unlocked when they leave Sprint, but they might find difficulty activating it with another network. As far as we know, Verizon won’t accept phones from other carriers, since they’re “not optimized to the Verizon network.”

Posted in Consumer Issues, Sprint on October 29th, 2007
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Here’s the thinking of wireless carriers right now: Apple didn’t just create a product everyone wants when they produced the iPhone. They created a type of product that everyone wants. And they’re basing this thinking on the relevant past. Once Apple created the iPod, for example, everyone wanted one. Thing is, the damned iPod was expensive. So other companies, thinking that people just wanted an MP3 player, created similar devices that sold at a cheaper price. And they found moderate success. So this is where Sprint’s new offering comes from.

Posted in Sprint, iPhone on October 18th, 2007
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We never thought we’d see the day: A phone with a full keyboard and decent-sized screen for under $100. But LG has developed one, and Sprint has picked it up. It’s the Rumor by LG, and we think it’s going to sell like hotcakes. It’s basically the Sidekick Lite…only a whole boatload cheaper. And if there’s one thing we like in the telecom industry, it’s cheap phones. Yeah, it’ll cost you a two-year contract, but what won’t these days?

Posted in Prepaid Phones, Sprint on October 12th, 2007
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The rumblings started late last week: Sprint was to commence a search to replace CEO Gary Forsee. We expressed our disapproval of the move at the time, noting that changing the figurehead won’t change the company’s direction. Beyond that, we thought Forsee had done a good job this year in trying to separate Sprint from its weightier competitors. But sometimes a company has to make that symbolic move in order to appease shareholders. Forsee beat Sprint to the punch, though, as he resigned on Monday.

Posted in Sprint on October 9th, 2007
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You know, we were just praising Sprint CEO Gary Forsee earlier this week for his audacity in pointing out the obvious: the wireless telecommunications industry is run by AT&T and Verizon, and we’re all just pawns along for the ride. That might have been the final straw for Sprint and its investors, though, as they are now seeking a replacement for Forsee. They’re saying that they want someone who can bring the company back to profitability. From what we’ve seen, we think Forsee can be that guy. Alas, he will not.

Posted in Sprint on October 5th, 2007
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Oh, AT&T, how we love bashing you. Thankfully, we’re not subscribers of theirs, or they might cut us off for it. Yes, AT&T announced a few days ago that it has the right to terminate customers that publicly criticize the company. This we kinda don’t understand from AT&T’s standpoint. If people complain about you, they’re probably thrilled to be out of that stifling contract. The news wasn’t taken that well by the public, though, which caused AT&T to recant. They say that they would only pursue those “promoting violence or peddling child porn.” Whatever, AT&T; we’re still sure that people wouldn’t mind if you allowed them to leave for a competitor.

Posted in AT&T, Sprint on October 3rd, 2007
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