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Today's Top News

1. Sprint loses 991,000 postpaid subs, promises additional webOS devices


Sprint Nextel continued to lose postpaid subscribers in the second quarter, and posted a wider net loss. However, the company had significant prepaid subscriber additions and continued to generate strong cash flow and pay down its debt. Further, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse confirmed to FierceWireless that Sprint would launch additional webOS-based devices in the future, following the introduction of the webOS Palm Pre last month (the carrier did not disclose Pre sales figures).

For the quarter, Sprint had a net loss of $384 million, wider than the $344 million net loss it had in the year-ago quarter. Sprint had...
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How is he in denial if they only lost a total of 257,000 customers thats no where near a million. Yes the lost near a million post paid subs but gained near the same amount of prepaid...So gta is not in denial he is just stating the facts.

Kayslay34 said:
How is he in denial if they only lost a total of 257,000 customers thats no where near a million. Yes the lost near a million post paid subs but gained near the same amount of prepaid...So gta is not in denial he is just stating the facts.

Comparing postpaid losses to prepaid gains is like comparing the number of apples you lose to the number of oranges you gain. Sure, in the end, Sprint only lost 200K fruits, but the reality is they lost 900K apples and gained 700K oranges.

Postpaid subscribers are the most important customers to retain in the cellular industry, so unless Sprint wants to become a prepaid phone company, they need to work on keeping their post paid customers.

GTAexpert said:
I hope that was a sarcastic comment.

The net loss of subs was 257,000. There was no net add in subs. Sprint is not going anywhere.

The actual loss of postpaid customers (which are the ones you really want) was 991,000 which is very bad. True, they added 734,000 prepaid customers, but prepaid is not as stable as postpaid because you never know when customers will leave, or how much they will spend on service, etc.

Sprint is replacing most of its postpaid customers with prepaid customers.

Metro runs a pretty good operation on just pre-paid. Flat rate monthly plans is what everyone will be on in 5 years.

Metro only really works in cities, and they don't offer data packages like a lot of contract companies do.

Metro's rates are lower because their coverage is 1/10th or less the size of Sprint.

Exactly....not quite the comparison I think Dan Hesse is shooting for!

They work in many major metro areas. Outside of those areas you can talk for $0.19 per minute and text for free. I very strongly recommend taking a look at their coverage map. I travel a lot and they've got me covered 99% of where I would go.

Additionally, they do offer data services and they're included on plans at the $45 price point. You can get a lot of roaming minutes for the $54 per month you save from the big boys.

I'm not knocking Sprint or anyone else for that matter. I just firmly believe this is a trend. You only need to look at Boost's $50 plan to know that his trend will continue.

But if that is the "future" they will need to really develop their native network.

Remember, they are roaming off of contract towers. And if they want to stay with current technology (4g/Wimax) they'll need to get the capitol from somewhere to build their network.

ATnT Nokia said:


The actual loss of postpaid customers (which are the ones you really want) was 991,000 which is very bad. True, they added 734,000 prepaid customers, but prepaid is not as stable as postpaid because you never know when customers will leave, or how much they will spend on service, etc.

Sprint is replacing most of its postpaid customers with prepaid customers.

I give you credit for not totally flaming me out.....but how can you say Sprint is replacing "most" of it's post paid customers with prepaid. Just shy of one million is not most.

The serious piece of news here is that the beginning of the uptick has come. No longer is it a question of whether or not Sprint will make it, just...
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Most of what Sprint is sending away is still former Nextel subscribers. That merger is about 80% of Sprint's problem.

acdc1a said:
Most of what Sprint is sending away is still former Nextel subscribers. That merger is about 80% of Sprint's problem.

I knew from the beginning that this merger was a very bad idea. I hate to see both Sprint and Nextel suffer like this. Nextel is one of the pioneers of cellular service and they have long been a good provider until the merger. I don't want either company to disappear because that means less competition which means Verizon and AT&T will get to charge more for their same services (which frankly aren't all THAT more stellar than Sprint and T-Mobile).

Verizon right now is the most expensive carrier. AT&T is next followed by Sprint and T-Mobile.

I do sincerely hope that...
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The problem is Nextel's network is so dated with no real path to true 3G let alone 4G. That's why Nextel was so quick to vote for a merger. They knew their days were numbered.

acdc1a said:
The problem is Nextel's network is so dated with no real path to true 3G let alone 4G. That's why Nextel was so quick to vote for a merger. They knew their days were numbered.

iDEN is a TDMA-like technology which makes it hard to offer 3G data services, etc. iDEN works well for voice and PTT, as well as SMS, but beyond that, there is not much more they can offer.

ATT and Verizon have the same price plans, the same costs for features, etc. The only place they differ is that verizon requires the data plan for new smart phones.

ATT does not require a data plan on their smartphones, but their per usage data charges are insane.

Tmobile is a great company, but their coverage is really lackluster for most people. Sprint is the same way in a lot of areas (though their network is a lot bigger than Tmobile) Tmobile and sprint also depend heavily on roaming agreements with ATT/Verizon for their rural coverage.

AT&T's family plans start at 59.99, Verizon's start at 69.99.

ATnT Nokia said:
AT&T's family plans start at 59.99, Verizon's start at 69.99.

all carriers have a 59.99 ft plan. it's just not advertised. does at&t advertise their 59.99 ft plan?

crackberry said:


all carriers have a 59.99 ft plan. it's just not advertised. does at&t advertise their 59.99 ft plan?

Yes, as does T-Mobile. If Sprint and Verizon have it, they don't list it on their sites.

Verizon has it, you have to request it though.

And there you have it. Metro will give you everything for $50 including roaming (granted on a much smaller scale). Most people don't need more than that.

Unless you live outside a major city. My parents house is less than 1 hour from a MetroPCS city and people with their service get no coverage.. even Tmobile has full bars there.