Who care what Consumer Reports says.... Sprint!

[Trached1]

After reading the consumer reports article on Cellular service and phones I was alittle unsure about my choice of Sprint and the 5300. Well..... my doubts and worries were just a waste of time. I recieved my phone last week and service the same day. Sprint by far has better coverage and clarity than Cingular. I live in Litchfield County, Ct. and never had good coverage @ home or in areas such as Litchfield, Torrington and Winsted (not that I hang out there). With Sprint I have full coverage, no dropped calls and my last 3 calls to customer service has been a pleasure.

Anyone out there doubting Sprint take the chance I did and you will be happy. Go with the Vision. The 5300 is a GREAT phone and the camera is an added bonus.

[NYCDru]

Originally posted by: Trached1
After reading the consumer reports article on Cellular service and phones I was alittle unsure about my choice of Sprint and the 5300. Well..... my doubts and worries were just a waste of time. I recieved my phone last week and service the same day. Sprint by far has better coverage and clarity than Cingular. I live in Litchfield County, Ct. and never had good coverage @ home or in areas such as Litchfield, Torrington and Winsted (not that I hang out there). With Sprint I have full coverage, no dropped calls and my last 3 calls to customer service has been a pleasure.

Anyone out there doubting Sprint take the chance I did and you will be happy. Go with the Vision. The 5300 is a GREAT phone and the camera is an added bonus.

Any phone by Sanyp is a great phone and you will have service anywere that sprint has the slightest amount of signal. Now if you had a samsung or LG it would be different. If it ain't broke don't fix it. If Sprint works for you, keep them.

[DandyDon]

I don't buy that Consumer Reports study either, all wireless is what you make of it and each users opinion will be different. Glad you are happy with Sprint, to each their own.

Personally I wouldn't get it. Reception in this area is poor to non-existent, reason #1. In addition, I think Sprint will flop IF they try to get a PTT, the premature roll-out of Vision is an embarrasment marketing services before they were available, charging people to call Customer care???? (Idiotic decision later reversed), lack of new net subscribers quarter after quarter, futile attemps at signing people up with bad credit, aggresively offering $30 plans that will hurt them down the road, and the unlimited Vision controvery concerning connectivity kits, not to mention the loss of new subscribers due to slow activations through Radio Shack. Seems to me they are very desperate and rely too much on the "coolest" handsets to carry them.

Seems as though there is no real Leadership, maybe Laurer can turn it around. Now the latest news from Wall Street Journal:

Woes of Its Wireless Affiliates
Become Audible at Sprint PCS

By JESSE DRUCKER and MITCHELL PACELLE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Like many wireless carriers, Sprint PCS is plagued by dropped customer calls. Now, the mobile unit of Sprint Corp. is facing the threat of chunks of its network dropping.

The Overland Park, Kan., wireless provider, the nation's fourth largest, developed its network in part through independent affiliates. But these 10 affiliates, which cover nearly one-quarter of the population served by Sprint's wireless network, are burdened with more than $3 billion of debt, and several face liquidity crises. One of them, the iPCS unit of AirGate PCS Inc., said Wednesday it intends to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection early this year.

Creditors of these affiliates are looking to Sprint, in part, for a bailout. But Sprint, which is clinging to an investment-grade debt rating and can ill afford to foot the bill for a rescue, is balking. In a worst-case scenario, the standoff could cause large patches of its cellphone network to go dark abruptly.

The crisis highlights how the telecom meltdown that has devastated long-distance suppliers, upstart local carriers and equipment manufacturers is spreading to the wireless arena. For Sprint, which has depended on growth in its wireless unit to offset problems in its long-distance business, the timing is poor. In the past year, shares that track the performance of Sprint PCS have lagged behind wireless peers; on Thursday, the stock stood at $4.97, down seven cents, on the New York Stock Exchange, well off a 52-week high of $18.45.

If any of Sprint's affiliates run out of cash and patches of its wireless network go dark, customers would probably defect. But if Sprint agrees to bail out iPCS or AirGate, other affiliates probably would seek similar support, which could spook credit-rating agencies. Problems with slowing growth already have knocked Sprint's credit rating down to a notch above "junk" status.

So far, Sprint has engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken with AirGate, refusing to negotiate and pushing it to work out its problems with its own creditors. Those creditors, however, are unlikely to give much ground without Sprint at the table.

[larry]

Originally posted by: DandyDon
lack of new net subscribers quarter after quarter, futile attemps at signing people up with bad credit, aggresively offering $30 plans that will hurt them down the road, and the unlimited Vision controvery concerning connectivity kits, not to mention the loss of new subscribers due to slow activations through Radio Shack. Seems to me they are very desperate and rely too much on the "coolest" handsets to carry them.

Seems as though there is no real Leadership, maybe Laurer can turn it around. [/b]

Lack of new net subscribers quarter after quarter?? It was only one quarter so far. Why does everyone want to exaggerate this problem? They led the industry in additions (by far) for 14 consecutive quarters from 1998-2002. No one seems to remember that do they? In fact the latest press release from their largest affiliate Alamosa PCS shows net additons of 31,000 customers for 4th quarter 2002. Seems like that's a good sign to me. Sprint themselves have yet to report but I predict that they will come out on the postive side this time. The situation with other affiliates as mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article is obviously a bad sign though. I hope they can work through it.

[NYCDru]

Very intresting situation for sprint. This will be a one to watch cause if they start loosing patches of network they are in HUGE trouble.

[larry]

I doubt they would let that happen.

[Kenster]

Well what could happen is that Verizon will buy and takeover these Sprint PCS affiliates and allow Sprint PCS users to roam. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[jmccrane]

Originally posted by: Kenster
Well what could happen is that Verizon will buy and takeover these Sprint PCS affiliates and allow Sprint PCS users to roam. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

You mean, in much the same way that Verizon users roam on Sprint in some areas? If Verizon did anything to charge Sprint users to roam where they used to call for free, Sprint would revoke any agreements with Verizon, and the America's Choice plan would have more holes (the A/C "shrinking coverage" issue, as I like to call it since areas on A/C that used to be free now rome in some cases).

Sprint won't let this happen. That's the bottom line. Sprint is not a dumb company; they know what would happen if they lost coverage.

[larry]

Of course they won't let that happen.

[Trached1]

Jeeez..... DandyDon must have some kind of vandetta against Sprint. Wish I had the time to quote Newspaper articles.

Staying with Sprint and Happy. as for Nextel. I've heard nothing good about them. If I want a walkie talkie I'll use my sons G. I. Joe's.

Ken

[SprintRocks]

I agree with all of you the Consumer Reports article was very moot. I also feel that the Wall Street Journal Article is moot. Sprint is not in perfect financial shape but from everything I have read and seen Sprint is going to be fine. The PCS divison is headed in the right direction financially and Len Lauer is working very hard to turn around Customer Care. I urge everyone to address customer care issues in the retail stores as they are all equipped to deal with these issues. Customer Service is #1 in Len Lauers and Sprints priority and any representative that fails to follow this will be held accountable.

Originally posted by: DandyDon
I don't buy that Consumer Reports study either, all wireless is what you make of it and each users opinion will be different. Glad you are happy with Sprint, to each their own.

Personally I wouldn't get it. Reception in this area is poor to non-existent, reason #1. In addition, I think Sprint will flop IF they try to get a PTT, the premature roll-out of Vision is an embarrasment marketing services before they were available, charging people to call Customer care???? (Idiotic decision later reversed), lack of new net subscribers quarter after quarter, futile attemps at signing people up with bad credit, aggresively offering $30 plans that will hurt them down the road, and the unlimited Vision controvery concerning connectivity kits, not to mention the loss of new subscribers due to slow activations through Radio Shack. Seems to me they are very desperate and rely too much on the "coolest" handsets to carry them.

Seems as though there is no real Leadership, maybe Laurer can turn it around. Now the latest news from Wall Street Journal:

Woes of Its Wireless Affiliates
Become Audible at Sprint PCS

By JESSE DRUCKER and MITCHELL PACELLE
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Like many wireless carriers, Sprint PCS is plagued by dropped customer calls. Now, the mobile unit of Sprint Corp. is facing the threat of chunks of its network dropping.

The Overland Park, Kan., wireless provider, the nation's fourth largest, developed its network in part through independent affiliates. But these 10 affiliates, which cover nearly one-quarter of the population served by Sprint's wireless network, are burdened with more than $3 billion of debt, and several face liquidity crises. One of them, the iPCS unit of AirGate PCS Inc., said Wednesday it intends to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection early this year.

Creditors of these affiliates are looking to Sprint, in part, for a bailout. But Sprint, which is clinging to an investment-grade debt rating and can ill afford to foot the bill for a rescue, is balking. In a worst-case scenario, the standoff could cause large patches of its cellphone network to go dark abruptly.

The crisis highlights how the telecom meltdown that has devastated long-distance suppliers, upstart local carriers and equipment manufacturers is spreading to the wireless arena. For Sprint, which has depended on growth in its wireless unit to offset problems in its long-distance business, the timing is poor. In the past year, shares that track the performance of Sprint PCS have lagged behind wireless peers; on Thursday, the stock stood at $4.97, down seven cents, on the New York Stock Exchange, well off a 52-week high of $18.45.

If any of Sprint's affiliates run out of cash and patches of its wireless network go dark, customers would probably defect. But if Sprint agrees to bail out iPCS or AirGate, other affiliates probably would seek similar support, which could spook credit-rating agencies. Problems with slowing growth already have knocked Sprint's credit rating down to a notch above "junk" status.

So far, Sprint has engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken with AirGate, refusing to negotiate and pushing it to work out its problems with its own creditors. Those creditors, however, are unlikely to give much ground without Sprint at the table.

[DandyDon]

Originally posted by: Trached1
Jeeez..... DandyDon must have some kind of vandetta against Sprint. Wish I had the time to quote Newspaper articles.

Staying with Sprint and Happy. as for Nextel. I've heard nothing good about them. If I want a walkie talkie I'll use my sons G. I. Joe's.

Ken

I have no "vandetta" against Sprint, just pointing out the facts. Maybe I did exagerrate about the Quarter after Quarter, but to have negative net subscribers period even once isn't good at all.

BTW- by no means did my post compare with the bashing of Nextel that runs so prevelant among this forum. You even threw in a guick jab against Nextel, and did so out of no where... nobody even mentioned Nextel until you threw that jab. Don't understand your "vandetta" against Nextel. Where did that come from?

I try to follow what is going on with ALL the major providers and it seems to me Sprint has been walking a tightrope lately, combined with the mini fiasco's and problems they have dealt with indicate, to me, IMHO that they lack real leadership and direction. Maybe Laurer can do something to turn them around, and I hope so for subscribers sake.

[larry]

Laurer has already done plenty to turn them around. Most if not all of these news surveys were actually conducted before he took over as president.

I don't think it's that bad to have one period of negative subscribers. Basically they were getting rid of a lot of bad credit customers who weren't paying their bills. I'm pretty sure other carriers such as Cingular have had negative periods recently as well.

[larry]

Sprint affiliate Airgate PCS added 22,387 net new customers in Q4 2002. So far that's over 53,000 from two affiliates with two other large affiliates, Ubiquitel and Horizon yet to come.

[Airb330]

Don Sprint in Delaware is pretty good really. Weakest spots are out in the country side of Smyrna/Clayton, and Pike Creek. Otherwise there is Sprint wherever there is Verizon, though Sprint is usually weaker. I am actually quite impressed with Sprint. Try going to DC/BW with Nextel on 301 in MD, lotsa Nextel holes....I wonder why they don't fix that!

[DandyDon]

I live at the beach in Fenwick, Sprint goes to analog roam/ no service when you step off of coastal hwy. That surprised me because the ads all said digital service from the ground up.... thought that all digital ment just that. No biggie.

Again........... the Nextel bashing, I love it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[Kenster]

Originally posted by: jmccrane

You mean, in much the same way that Verizon users roam on Sprint in some areas? If Verizon did anything to charge Sprint users to roam where they used to call for free, Sprint would revoke any agreements with Verizon, and the America's Choice plan would have more holes (the A/C "shrinking coverage" issue, as I like to call it since areas on A/C that used to be free now rome in some cases).

Sprint won't let this happen. That's the bottom line. Sprint is not a dumb company; they know what would happen if they lost coverage.

Let me clarify what I was trying to say...Verizon could buy some of these affiliates (as they've been gobbling up small carriers one by one -- the latest one was NorthCoast) and work out a deal with Sprint PCS to let their users roam for free. In other words, we'd see some sort of reciprocal deal where Verizon is already roaming on some Sprint PCS networks and Sprint PCS users could do the same but without charges to the customers. Again, I'm talking about a reciprocal deal that would benefit both parties.

Verizon AC is not necessarily shrinking because of increases in their own coverage or partnerships that don't require as much Sprint coverage -- eg. recent CenturyTel and Northcoast dealings will help Verizon to cut some Sprint PCS SIDs.

[larry]

Originally posted by: DandyDon
I live at the beach in Fenwick, Sprint goes to analog roam/ no service when you step off of coastal hwy. That surprised me because the ads all said digital service from the ground up.... thought that all digital ment just that. No biggie.

Again........... the Nextel bashing, I love it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

It is all digital service from the ground up wherever they have service. Obviously no carrier can be perfect and cover every street and city due to a number or reasons which may be out of their control.

[WirelessBeachBum]

Fyi Airgate proper will most likely go into positive profits at some point this year...however IPCS books will most likely go into chapter 11...and be sold off at a major loss to airgate.....it was a really poor business decision to purchase IPCS, and many people at Airgate have had to pay the cost with their jobs recently. Airgate management was under the impression that they could wave a wand and magically make sales appear in the IPCS markets....however the neglected the obvious factors of coverage and population densities.....

[drivesreclined]

Cost for calling cust. service...features...coolest phones.

What does all this mean??? Bad Credit??? Isn't all credit good regardless of where it comes from?

Bottomline does the phone/service work? Can it make a phone call like a land line? Once we figure these things out then we can worry about leadership for sprint.

always reclining

[Airb330]

Don that stinks Sprint doesn't work there, I mean Fenwick is not that far from the highway...oh well you live at the beach! Well obviously Nextel is good, and so is Verizon, and I just don't care for Cingular, glad Nextel works for ya.

[DandyDon]

not to thread jack, but since it is of interest here is the rest of that article:

So far, Sprint has engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken with AirGate, refusing to negotiate and pushing it to work out its problems with its own creditors. Those creditors, however, are unlikely to give much ground without Sprint at the table.

"Sprint has a decision to make," says one person involved on behalf of an affiliate. "Either let all the affiliates go illiquid ... or assist them in getting to a financial situation that's viable. Sprint is terrified that if it makes a deal with one, every other guy is going to have his hand out."

Len Lauer, president of Sprint PCS, declines to comment specifically on his conversations with affiliates, but says: "We're very committed to the principle that we won't take actions with respect to affiliates which would weaken Sprint's credit rating or balance sheet." He says contingency plans have been made to ensure Sprint's wireless network stays running.

While many Wall Street analysts accept Sprint's view that it faces little risk, bondholders and bankers say they don't see how Sprint can emerge from the affiliate crisis without some dent to its bottom line, even if it escapes from the darkest scenario. While the affiliation fees represent a tiny sliver of Sprint's overall revenue, assuming responsibility for the affiliates' networks could add up to noticeable additional costs, especially when the company is trying to reduce costs and its overall debt load.

The affiliation agreements seemed like a no-lose proposition when Sprint struck them between 1998 and 2000. The carrier would get coverage in smaller and medium-size markets, such as Fresno, Calif., and Savannah, Ga., and avoid costly capital spending. Affiliates would brand their services with the Sprint PCS logo, follow the carrier's pricing plans and share revenue with Sprint.

But, mirroring an industry trend, subscriber growth at Sprint's affiliates has slowed sharply, and the affiliates don't have large customer bases to cushion the impact.

To make matters worse, beginning in May 2001, Sprint eliminated deposit requirements for customers with poor credit, spurring enormous subscriber growth, but eventually forcing the carrier and its affiliates to cancel service to hundreds of thousands of subscribers who didn't pay their bills. The problem reached a crescendo in the third quarter of 2002, when Sprint PCS became the first national U.S. wireless carrier to report a net quarterly loss of subscribers.

Several affiliates say they asked almost immediately to opt out of Sprint's no-deposit program, but were turned down by the carrier. As a result, last year many affiliates began reporting sky-high "churn," the rate at which subscribers leave the service. The no-deposit program "was not very kind to us," says Larry Paxton, vice president of finance for Shenandoah Telecommunications Inc., of Edinburg, Va., which runs a Sprint wireless affiliate.

At the heart of the current dispute are revenue-sharing agreements, including a recent cut by Sprint in the rate that Sprint pays its affiliates for "roaming" onto their networks. Creditors don't want to make concessions on restructuring debt unless Sprint is willing to negotiate these fee arrangements. Their leverage: They can force the weakened affiliates into bankruptcy, which could trigger a host of complications for Sprint.

AirGate's iPCS unit already is in default of a bank credit-facility agreement, because it missed a deadline to file its 10-K last month. In the 10-K, filed late Wednesday, AirGate wrote: "While the lenders and noteholders have expressed willingness to work with iPCS, Sprint has informed us it is unwilling to restructure its agreements with iPCS." Given the high percentage of revenue it pays Sprint, the company added, "our ability to control costs through our own cost-cutting measures is more limited."

In the next year, financial woes are expected to deepen at several other affiliates as well. For instance, UbiquiTel Inc., based in Conshohocken, Pa., recently sent letters to bondholders related to a potential debt restructuring.

If Sprint were flush with cash, it might consider buying the struggling affiliates and paying back their creditors -- or at least pumping some extra cash into the operations. Sprint's agreement with its affiliates stipulates that if an affiliate defaults on the pact -- and insolvency or bankruptcy would trigger such a default -- Sprint is entitled to take over the affiliate's operations, or to buy its operating assets for 72% of what they are worth.

Just how those rights and obligations will affect the current standoff is unclear. Even a takeover of iPCS's operations would cost Sprint money. Moreover, Sprint acknowledges that a clause permitting it to cancel the agreement in the event of a bankruptcy filing may not be enforceable.

Sprint says it has backup roaming agreements with other carriers in at least some of the affiliates' areas. Still, that probably would entail higher roaming expenses for Sprint. Some suggest that Sprint could actually seize on a bankruptcy to acquire the network assets for a fraction of what they cost to build. Indeed, bonds of many of the affiliates trade at just pennies on the dollar.

Creditors of iPCS are currently looking for potential legal claims against Sprint that would allow them to force a buyout by Sprint, people involved with the matter say. AirGate's iPCS unit, which has its own bonds, has retained Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin as financial adviser. Meanwhile, iPCS bondholders have retained counsel at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Creditors may be loath to force an affiliate into liquidation since the most valuable assets of any wireless carrier -- the lucrative radio-wave spectrum licenses -- are actually held by Sprint, not the affiliates.

Another potential solution for Sprint: rejigger the revenue-sharing formula -- or defer the payments -- so that more cash remains with the affiliates, making it easier for them to pay their bills and making creditors more willing to renegotiate the debt. That would take a small bite out of Sprint's bottom line but wouldn't involve the added expense of paying to run the networks.

"We don't intend to negotiate on fees, but like anything else, I don't rule anything else out in the future," says Sprint's Mr. Lauer. He says the affiliates'_"biggest issue" isn't the operating fees but "the amount of debt they have."

refrence howardforums...stole it from there

[odyedog]

Well, here is my view of the subject.

I'm a 5 year Verizon customer whose been getting tired of the friendly
but inflexible and mistake prone Verizon customer service. So I'm currently looking around
for a new carrier. I tried T-Mobile, but they didn't have solid coverage where
my wife works/goes to school at UPenn.

Cingular appears to be not one of the bigger services, so I haven't really considered
them. (A wrong conclusion?)

That leaves me with Sprint and AT&T.

After much consideration, I decided I would give Sprint a try. I was looking to get their
$50+$20 second/line month PCS Vision plan with 2 years activation and 2 new phones.

But before I sign up, I want to make sure there is a trial period from which I can
cancel with no early termination fee if their services doesn't cover everywhere we need.
And they do have a 14 day trial period. Great.

But here is the kicker.

The $35x2=$70 activation fee is non-refundable!!!!!!

This was told to me by Sprint PCS customer service on the phone. Amazed, I checked
with a local Sprint PCS store, and the sales guy said the same thing. In fact, he did a
typical slimeball salesguy and told me,'Everyone has the same policy' Well, I know T-Mobile
doesn't, since I just ended a trial service with them, and they only charged me for minutes
used, prorated. And AT&T tells me it is the same way for them.

Why on earth should I want to try them, I don't understand what they are thinking?!

How are they going to attract new customers with that policy? Maybe I'm just to unreasonable,
but it doesn't seem like they want my business very badly, or that they don't have much confidence
in their ability to keep new customers.

[WirelessBeachBum]

Some sales channels may waive the activation fee for you.

[DirectConnected]

Originally posted by: Trached1
Jeeez..... DandyDon must have some kind of vandetta against Sprint. Wish I had the time to quote Newspaper articles.

Staying with Sprint and Happy. as for Nextel. I've heard nothing good about them. If I want a walkie talkie I'll use my sons G. I. Joe's.

Ken

First of all, wireless coverage varies greatly by region. In Southern New England. Sprint PCS is garbage, garbage, and more garbage. What's the point of having a cool gadget phone with a camara if you can't get a signal? Well that exactly the case with Sprint PCS in Southern New England. In fact, my brother-in-law was showing me his friend's new Sanyo $400 camera phone from SprintPCS. I said, "cool, but Sprint coverage is bad". Sure enough, I look at the display, and it says "Searching for Service".

On the other hand, Nextel coverage in Southern New England is second only to Verizon Wireless. Coverage and capacity is above excellent anywhere and everywhere you go, whether your on the highway, at the beach, or in the countryside. Sprint would be "looking for service".

And as far as the PTT function of Nextel, believe me, it comes in handy. It also requires less of a signal strength than a regular phone call does. So if coverage should get spotty, many times, DirectConnect will work lovely. The other day my wife and I were at the airport picking up an aunt of hers. I drove around while she went in to locate her aunt. We stayed in frequent contact through the DirectConnect feature, and she alerted me as soon as she was at the curb ready to be picked up. DirectConnect works seamlessly. No wonder why SprintPCS is trying to copy the feature, but too bad their network isn't advanced enough to support it!

[mreg]

Why would Sprint waive their activation fee so that you can leave them with no cost? If you're leaving presumably you're not happy anyway, and are not going to be good word-of-mouth for them, so what would be the point?

[odyedog]

mreg, if you are referring to my post, perhaps I wasn't clear.

The point is that I'm thinking of leaving Verizon and going to Sprint,
but I have concerns about Sprints coverage being good enough.

Which is why I'd like to be able to 'Try Before I Buy', which seems like
a pretty standard american consumer expectation. But for Sprint to
tell me I have to give them $70 non-refundable to evaluate their service?
No way!!

Apparently depending on who you speak to at Sprint, you can get them
to 'deal' and waive/refund the activation fee, but I don't have the patience
to convince a company. They should be bending over backwards for my business,
I want to pay them $70 a month for the next two years!!!