Those who think the merger was a bad move

[vikingjunior]

I for one do not think this was the best move in the world for sprint or nextel.

I have read the presentation and hundreds of threads, posts, and the more I read the more it has become obvious that we are going to become guinea pigs for all this new, unproven, technology. There is so many different variables involved here. This is gotta be the most complex merger I have ever seen, there is no way all this converting of different technologys doesn't turn into a nightmare for us. As much as I hate verizon it would of been a much much easier transision. There wouldn't be near as many problems as we are GONNA experience in the upcoming years. There is gonna be some serious growing pains with this, but am sure in year 2010 they will have it running quite smoothly. This is realty.

[Deval]

I dont think we (as sprint customers) will have issues, rather, the nextel customers will have some growing pains as they switch over

[jeff94]

Wirelessly posted (vm4050: VM4050/132.037 UP.Browser/6.2.2.4.e.1.100 (GUI) MMP/2.0)

I think it'll be find. Don't forget this will take place over the next few years. All the technology that has to be changed will be gradual. That's not how it seems in the report though. Sprint and nextel simply wouldn't be able to have the transition be a nightmare for us because they risk dropping subscribers. I'm excited for the merger. I wish it would take place faster. Combined push to talk and sextel to sextel would be great for me. Only thing i worry about is the new prices. Luckily i have a nice long contract though.

[vikingjunior]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041216/ap_on_hi_te/sprint_nextel_tech_6
Further evidence.

[wanga]

it is virtualy impossible for sprint and nextel to synchroniize all their stuff overnight, this will take years to settle, especially all the nextel customers having to switch phones, it's my personal opinion that the nextel customers are the ones that are going to be hit hard.

[monkeyboy]

iit's my personal opinion that the nextel customers are the ones that are going to be hit hard.
I think that's the point... if Nextel customers are "hit hard", well they will go away (port away). The barriers for porting are so low now that you don't want to be hitting any customers "hard". That is what, in part, Sprint is paying $$$ for: Nextel's customer base, and losing that is equivalent to devaluing the company. So, yeah, I'm not sure this merger is/was the best thing for Sprint, although I think it is/was the only decent option for Nextel.

That's why, in some ways, I think it would have been easier to merge with Tmobile. Let your Tmobile customers roam on Cingular while you slowing convert the old Tmobile towers (which are all normal PCS) to CDMA and transition your customers to CDMA. After a few years, the CDMA network is much bigger and you let Cingular carry the ball for you in the meantime. Can't do that with IDEN... and Sprint is going to be left with a bunch of oddball spectrum that it is going to have to retool ALL of its customers to use since NONE of the Sprint nor Nextel phones can currently use the new Nextel spectrum.

[fl00d_pr0z]

I was just reading my local paper, and it said here in NC Nextel was testing a new high speed data system. Now because of this merger, it may be lost, or just dropped.

[bluecoyote]

That was FLASH-OFDM. Flash-OFDM was super-awesome, and I'm sad to see it go. It made EV-DO look like crap, too.

Now, Nextel had to upgrade its network, anyway. Nextel approached Motorola about this two years ago... - two years. - By the time Nextel's ready to close up their 800Mhz lineup, they'll have been carrying the dual-mode phones anyway. Nextel still has an upgrade path, but the destination has been changed.

[fl00d_pr0z]

Ah, I had never heard of it. Guess we'll never seen that now.

[SaNyO911]

I think that's the point... if Nextel customers are "hit hard", well they will go away (port away).

Kinda like AT&T did to US Cellular customers right before they were assumed by Cingular. History repeats itself again. Oh well......

[JoeGuru]

Yeah, the happiest company in the world with the merger right now is Cingular. It means they won't get their a** handed to them on a platter next year by Sprint who will be worrying about what to do with a divergent, expensive network with angry customers looking to change.

Bad move. I know why they did it, but bad move.

[biker16]

I dont think we (as sprint customers) will have issues, rather, the nextel customers will have some growing pains as they switch over

Nextel user will have at least 4 years to switch over. First to CDMA voice/Iden and later to CDMA voice and CDMA DC phones. To the customer There is a great upside to it, better Voice coverage and better Data services.


The first thiing SprintNextel has to do is determine what They want the network to look like, and then phone manuacturers will make the phones for it.

The number one benifit for Nextel customers Is a far better dealer network, Come on sprint has Radio shack, Best buy, costco, and Sams Club as major Third party dealers, not nextel's corner Store, dealer system.

yesterday I had a Nextel user Run into my store (radio shack) smiling asking for help with his service, I said not yet. there aren't nextel stores like there are Sprint or verizon stores, Its more difficult to get things fixed on a local level with nextel.

I just don't see people running From Sprint nextel. The service will be better , and the current nextel users will only benifit from it.

[bluecoyote]

Nextel user will have at least 4 years to switch over. First to CDMA voice/Iden and later to CDMA voice and CDMA DC phones. To the customer There is a great upside to it, better Voice coverage and better Data services.


The first thiing SprintNextel has to do is determine what They want the network to look like, and then phone manuacturers will make the phones for it.

The number one benifit for Nextel customers Is a far better dealer network, Come on sprint has Radio shack, Best buy, costco, and Sams Club as major Third party dealers, not nextel's corner Store, dealer system.

yesterday I had a Nextel user Run into my store (radio shack) smiling asking for help with his service, I said not yet. there aren't nextel stores like there are Sprint or verizon stores, Its more difficult to get things fixed on a local level with nextel.

I just don't see people running From Sprint nextel. The service will be better , and the current nextel users will only benifit from it.

We've got about 10 Nextel stores in Cincinnati, and I know of two in South Carolina.

[monkeyboy]

The number one benifit for Nextel customers Is a far better dealer network...
I just don't see people running From Sprint nextel. The service will be better , and the current nextel users will only benifit from it.This being a Sprint forum, I think the original question, now paraphrased, is: So just what is the "number one" benefit for Sprint customers (of this merger) ? I think it is a bit less clear what Sprint customers are going to get out of this merger that is going to be worth the risk and uncertainties of helping Nextel out of its deadend future.

[Noodle]

think of your average customer though. Most people (my parents included) just want coverage and what not. they don't care about the frills. The Nextel customers will be more worried if they have to get new phones and such.

Ovar all it's all about keeping customers along with the blending of two corps.

[kccasey]

I think that's the point... if Nextel customers are "hit hard", well they will go away (port away). The barriers for porting are so low now that you don't want to be hitting any customers "hard". That is what, in part, Sprint is paying $$$ for: Nextel's customer base, and losing that is equivalent to devaluing the company. So, yeah, I'm not sure this merger is/was the best thing for Sprint, although I think it is/was the only decent option for Nextel.

That's why, in some ways, I think it would have been easier to merge with Tmobile. Let your Tmobile customers roam on Cingular while you slowing convert the old Tmobile towers (which are all normal PCS) to CDMA and transition your customers to CDMA. After a few years, the CDMA network is much bigger and you let Cingular carry the ball for you in the meantime. Can't do that with IDEN... and Sprint is going to be left with a bunch of oddball spectrum that it is going to have to retool ALL of its customers to use since NONE of the Sprint nor Nextel phones can currently use the new Nextel spectrum.

I think sprint and t-mobile would have been a good fit, despite the Totally different Networks, sprint with CDMA and t-Mobile with GSM, cause one of sprints focuses over the last couple of years have been international service and stuff for US customers and expanding biz in international territories. But then again if we think about it, sprint wouldn't be aquiring T-mobile, it would be more or less the other way around t-mobile is huge.. They may not be the biggest in the US, but they are the biggest internationally.

[rjflyn]

This being a Sprint forum, I think the original question, now paraphrased, is: So just what is the "number one" benefit for Sprint customers (of this merger) ? I think it is a bit less clear what Sprint customers are going to get out of this merger that is going to be worth the risk and uncertainties of helping Nextel out of its deadend future.


Were getting not having to be Verizon users. :eek:

[bluecoyote]

Exactly. Considering how hard it is to put up a new tower these days, it makes more sense for them to share towers. It also means we will soon be able to call Nextel customers for free. That's a major plus. Who cares if, for now, it means they'll be running two networks? Nextel is offering a service no other provider can match, and it's profitable beyond belief.

That is why there's no sense of urgency about combining the two networks immediately onto a single technology- rather, it's more competitive if Sprint can advertise in-network calling with 40 million people, as opposed to 20 some million, that's a major step up. Until QChat becomes a reality, iDEN's going to remain in the picture.

[Philby]

This being a Sprint forum, I think the original question, now paraphrased, is: So just what is the "number one" benefit for Sprint customers (of this merger) ? I think it is a bit less clear what Sprint customers are going to get out of this merger that is going to be worth the risk and uncertainties of helping Nextel out of its deadend future.

I think the biggest benefit is that we gain a bunch of business customers. this may not seem at face value a large benefit to us the consumers, but I think it gives us a wider spectrum of consumers, which means Sprint will have to Cater to more people, which means more phones with a wide range of capabilities. Also it will force Sprints Customer Service to Improve otherwise they will lose those business customers. It also strengthens our overall place in the market which means its less likely we'll get swallowed up Verizon, which makes me happy.

[biker16]

We've got about 10 Nextel stores in Cincinnati, and I know of two in South Carolina.

ok, Forget that nextel does have Stores, I just don't ever remember hearing about them.

Still having 7400 Radioshack locations can't be bad.

[joesacco1584]

ok, Forget that nextel does have Stores, I just don't ever remember hearing about them.

Still having 7400 Radioshack locations can't be bad.

ahem, it's 5200 corporate stores and 2000 dealer/franchise..... j/k (I wanted to be a smart-but)

[vikingjunior]

I dont think we (as sprint customers) will have issues, rather, the nextel customers will have some growing pains as they switch over
Are we as sprint customers not adopting a new technology, yes we are.
We are going to a whole new platform for RL or DC whatever you want to call it. We are going to have to purchase new phones with new technology in it to benefit from both companies. Customer service will be screwy for a while till they sort things out. Do you remeber when vision first came out , it was horrible, it took time to iron out the kinks. Even the new phones they need to make, to have this happen, The phone manufactors are just now producing phones that get decesent reception. My point is everyone will feel these growing pains not just nextel customers. Time will tell.

[Halo2Proz]

I think we only need to change the phones if we want to take advantage of the newer tech (qchat, or whatever)...but for the regular customers, their CDMA phones will work fine.

[monkeyboy]

I think we only need to change the phones if we want to take advantage of the newer tech (qchat, or whatever)...but for the regular customers, their CDMA phones will work fine.I hope, would predict and presume that that is the case, but we won't know until they figure out and announce exactly how they intend to use (if at all) Nextel's weirdo spectrum allocation. If it is only for optional and new features like Qchat, fine, I can do without Qchat (I think). If it is for something else, EVDO, more coverage, etc, then it is conceivable that being able to access those bands would be important to get the "whole Sprint experience" :-).

Frankly it seems simpler to sell off that non-PCS, non-cellular spectrum, or horsetrade it or something and just stay within the standard PCS and 800Mhz cell bands. I guess the days are pretty much gone that we could move phones between Verizon, Alltel, Sprint and other CDMA carriers, but this oddball spectrum will certainly put a nail in that coffin and may also restrict and impede getting the full range of phones for Sprint: we'll need quad or hex-oddball band phones, instead of just dual band phones. (Part of why I thought that Sprint should just try to grab Tmobile's standard PCS spectrum instead -- I know it wasn't an option...)

[gr84fun]

This being a Sprint forum, I think the original question, now paraphrased, is: So just what is the "number one" benefit for Sprint customers (of this merger) ? I think it is a bit less clear what Sprint customers are going to get out of this merger that is going to be worth the risk and uncertainties of helping Nextel out of its deadend future.

Well first of all we will be able to convert all the nextel towers(i'm sure the non leased ones) to cdma which means better coverage....nextel has a higher average MRC so that brings new revenue for sprint which means the can offer better plans...plus now the cost of running the two companys is more cost effective then the two running independently...I.E one employee for a task not two seperate doing the same job...readylink will now actually be useful if they can hook the two together temporarly...and as said before now nextel will be mobile to mobile...also sprint will get the spectrum offered to nextel...and last but not least better phones...

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