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This sucks. I've loved Nextel ever since I got it a few years ago, and its Direct Connect feature is unbeatable (Verizon's can't compare). I only hope this merger doesn't mean the DC feature is going to be history. Plus, I know a lot of people who are former Sprint customers--the operative word there being former. They all tell me Sprint's service sucked, though I can't vouch for it now.
How the hell are they going to accomplish this, considering Sprint and Nextel use entirely different technologies?
Full Version: Sprint and Nextel to Merge
Shares of Motorola, which supplies phones for Nextel, fell on the announcement last week. MOT shareholders, though, should be used to disappointment by now. The stock is up this morning, because ... well, I don't know why.
MOT
Forbes: Motorola at Risk in Nextel Strategy. It Would Lose Exclusive Deal on Phones If Sprint Gains Merger
[ December 15, 2004, 11:55 AM: Message edited by: twin58 ]
MOT
Forbes: Motorola at Risk in Nextel Strategy. It Would Lose Exclusive Deal on Phones If Sprint Gains Merger
QUOTE
The possibility of a union between Sprint and Nextel is \"a bonanza\" for Lucent and Nortel, said Susan Kalla, an analyst who covers the companies for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. If a merger occurs, she and other industry analysts say, Sprint will induce Nextel's more than 15 million subscribers to turn in their handsets, which use an unconventional technology called iDEN.
Sprint is likely to encourage these customers to buy its own handsets, which use a more common technology known as CDMA, or code division multiple access. And to handle the influx of millions of extra customers, Sprint will probably have to order more base stations, switches, routers and other equipment from Lucent, Nortel and other vendors.
Kalla said she expected Sprint to take as long as five years to shut down the iDEN network, giving it time to expand its CDMA network without pressuring Nextel customers to swap handsets. Sprint may also introduce dual-mode handsets that would allow its customers to roam between CDMA and iDEN networks. Such a phone does not now exist.
Since last Thursday, when news first broke that Sprint and Nextel were in merger talks, investors have focused most on the potential damage to Motorola. Its shares fell 7.8 percent on Friday, but they rebounded on Monday on news that Motorola had won a contract to supply equipment to China Unicom.
Oh, damn. I have a whole bunch of iDEN phones.Sprint is likely to encourage these customers to buy its own handsets, which use a more common technology known as CDMA, or code division multiple access. And to handle the influx of millions of extra customers, Sprint will probably have to order more base stations, switches, routers and other equipment from Lucent, Nortel and other vendors.
Kalla said she expected Sprint to take as long as five years to shut down the iDEN network, giving it time to expand its CDMA network without pressuring Nextel customers to swap handsets. Sprint may also introduce dual-mode handsets that would allow its customers to roam between CDMA and iDEN networks. Such a phone does not now exist.
Since last Thursday, when news first broke that Sprint and Nextel were in merger talks, investors have focused most on the potential damage to Motorola. Its shares fell 7.8 percent on Friday, but they rebounded on Monday on news that Motorola had won a contract to supply equipment to China Unicom.
[ December 15, 2004, 11:55 AM: Message edited by: twin58 ]
So will Sprint be able to provide the Direct Connect feature like Nextel currently does? Verizon's biggest problem with their "push to talk" feature is that it's not instantaneous, where as Nextel's DC is. If they shut down iDEN, will this mean the DC will become like Verizon's?
I sure hope not! :mad:
I sure hope not! :mad:
I guess KC's new arena will now be called the Sprint-Nextel Arena, and NASCAR will have the Sprint-Nextel Cup next year. Maybe they should just call it Sprixtel. wink
I live and work close to Sprint's headquarters in Overland Park, KS, so this is big news here. Locals are somewhat irked that the "corporate headquarters" of the new company will be in VA, meaning KC will no longer have a Forbes 100 headquartered here. But Sprint owns a massive brand-spankin' new campus here, and Nextel's offices are leased, so it's expected that the "operating headquarters" will remain here. Speculation is that the majority of corporate jobs would end up here.
Sprint's mobile phone service can suck. If you're in the digital service area, it's outstanding (no static, remember the commercials?), but get out of the digital area, and your call is dropped. It so happens that the center of my house is a non-digital zone, so I can be walking through my house and have a dropped call. They have analog service in the non-digital areas, but it's not included in the base service price, and is expensive to use. I hope the merger somehow ends up with improved service for customers of both companies.
I live and work close to Sprint's headquarters in Overland Park, KS, so this is big news here. Locals are somewhat irked that the "corporate headquarters" of the new company will be in VA, meaning KC will no longer have a Forbes 100 headquartered here. But Sprint owns a massive brand-spankin' new campus here, and Nextel's offices are leased, so it's expected that the "operating headquarters" will remain here. Speculation is that the majority of corporate jobs would end up here.
Sprint's mobile phone service can suck. If you're in the digital service area, it's outstanding (no static, remember the commercials?), but get out of the digital area, and your call is dropped. It so happens that the center of my house is a non-digital zone, so I can be walking through my house and have a dropped call. They have analog service in the non-digital areas, but it's not included in the base service price, and is expensive to use. I hope the merger somehow ends up with improved service for customers of both companies.
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MIB:
So will Sprint be able to provide the Direct Connect feature like Nextel currently does? Verizon's biggest problem with their \"push to talk\" feature is that it's not instantaneous, where as Nextel's DC is. If they shut down iDEN, will this mean the DC will become like Verizon's?
Probably. As bad as Sprint's infrastructure is (hence the dropped calls -- they've put their money into sales and ads), they have a ton invested in it. Besides, Nextel was looking at overhauling its infrastructure anyway (iDEN is getting maxed out), and what Nextel would upgrade to (newer CDMA with capacity for data) is what Sprint would upgrade to (and plans to). So will Sprint be able to provide the Direct Connect feature like Nextel currently does? Verizon's biggest problem with their \"push to talk\" feature is that it's not instantaneous, where as Nextel's DC is. If they shut down iDEN, will this mean the DC will become like Verizon's?
So yeah, expect Verizon-style push-to-talk on Sprint and Nextel, because Sprint can "add it on" the way Verizon did.
As for Moto, Sprint has announced plans to buy network equipment from them and is starting to buy their phones, which is why the stock rebounded. That and the China deal, and some reshuffling thing that for some reason impressed the Wall St. wonks.
Nortel and Lucent were both down a little today, so the windfall mentioned in Forbes may be a figment of the writer's imagination.
Sprint + Nextel = Sextel? hahahaha
Sprint already has push-to-talk service, but it uses a different technology then Nextel. The difference between what Sprint/Verizon/Alltel direct connect and Nextel's is that Nextel's DC is non-sercure transmission (you can pick up Nextel DC conversations on two-way radios), whereas Sprint push-to-talk runs as a simulated phone call thru their towers. As a former Sprint customer I know of the frustration of dropped calls, "creative" billing, and frustration with terrbile customer service. Hopefully all the current Nextel customers will have a better experience with it.
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