Sprint sees Nextel write-off of up to $31 billion

[RJB]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday that it might have to write off all of the $30.7 billion goodwill value from its purchase of Nextel Communications and smaller deals as it struggles with customer losses.

The No. 3 U.S. mobile service provider said in a regulatory filing that it found in an annual goodwill review that the mobile unit's net book value exceeded fair value.

Sprint said that in a second review it would measure the resulting fourth-quarter impairment charge, which could represent "a substantial portion or potentially all" of the $30.7 billion goodwill on its balance sheet.

The charge will not affect the company's current cash balance or future cash flows, nor will it result in any violation of its debt covenants, Sprint said.

"We're sound financially," spokesman James Fisher said. "We've good cash liquidity."

Sprint has had trouble holding onto customers in the last few years as it struggled to integrate its 2005 purchase of Nextel Communications for about $35 billion. It has also had problems with its network and customer service.

The company, whose Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh left last week, also bought several affiliates to overcome legal disputes related to the Nextel deal.

It recently appointed Dan Hesse as chief executive, replacing Gary Forsee, who left last year.

Sprint shares, which have fallen almost 60 percent since the Nextel purchase, were up 7 cents at $10.43 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.

(Reporting by Tiffany Wu and Sinead Carew, editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Gerald E. McCormick)

Sprint sees Nextel write-off of up to $31 billion | Technology | Reuters

[TKR]

I realize this write-off is a fininacial/accounting exercise, but it also indicates to me how Srint has mishandled the whole post-merger branding (marketing) and frequency re-banding (technical) elements. I thought all along Sprint should have quickly deployed iDEN on a slice of their 1900 footprint (where they typically have the capacity to handle it) and quickly deployed 800/1900 iDEN capable phones. This would have allowed more breathing room on the 800 mhz ESMR band to better handle the ongoing frequency rebanding process. It would also have allowed for the eventual swapping (if desired) of iDEN to becoming primarily 1900 as it is phased out, rendering the 800 available primarily for the CDMA main product line. They also should also have developed and already have to market CDMA phones physically capable of utilizing (via firmware upgrade if necessary) the rebandd ESMR spectrum the very day it becomes avaialble in rebanded contiguous slices compatible with CDMA. I think they have failed to envision a suitable "end state" in the sense the failed to agressively plan for phase out of iDEN and along the way have muddled the product/brand way to much over the past couple of years.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

its a marvelousidead because i've noticed that in good coverage Nextel has the best call quality.......but the problem is is that iDEN can't handle data much faster than the 56K and data is the future...........they would then have to go with their plans of the Harmony devices that would be dual band iDEN/WiMax

[bobolito]

So basically Sprint threw $31 Billion down the toilet! About as much as they paid to buy Nextel. Geez, that's sad! I've always said the Nextel merger was a mistake and now it shows.

If they had spent $31 billion on the network rather than buying Nextel, I'm sure they would have an even better network than what they have now and be in a much better position today.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

like i've been saying.......Nextel is turning out to be a money blackhole........and once Sprint reaches the event horizon they are screwed

[Eric47]

Nextel was a great company, Sprint seemed to Run it into the ground by generally neglecting their network, never merging them over to CDMA and reallocating their cellular licenses, and never fully integrating their stores and customer service. Nextel subscribers are the ones truely getting the short end of the stick, not Sprint.

[RadioFoneGuy]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

its a marvelousidead because i've noticed that in good coverage Nextel has the best call quality.......but the problem is is that iDEN can't handle data much faster than the 56K and data is the future...........they would then have to go with their plans of the Harmony devices that would be dual band iDEN/WiMax

From a technical standpoint the audio is only comparable with TDMA as iDEN is based off of TDMA. Your Sprint phones even the crappy low end phones would probably sound better that having full bars on an iDEN phone. iDEN cant even be prepared to CDMA sound quality wise, I would venture to say CDMAone system probably still sounded better.

I agree that Nextel even as innovative as they were back in the day was an oddball buyout at best.

I think a 850 TDMA/GSM carrier would have been a better bet, they could have offered phones that would have been similar to the GSM/TDMA GAIT phones.

I think the best bet would be for Sprint to Sell off any iDEN only sites to some one else and keep what Synergy sites they have completed. The new SMR 800 band once complete will still complement a Cellular A or B band Carrier that may pick up the spun off iDEN sites.
Sprint could use the capital from the sale to get back on track.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

ugh just get rid of Nextel already!!!!!!!!

[Eric47]

i mean can anyone explain to me why in the past few years or however long that they have owned nextel that they never converted their sites over to CDMA and merge the company instead of trying to have a juggling act of confusion?

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

we have no freaking clue......apparently it's all about the Nextel brand.....apparantly the brand is great but it's pretty obvious that the network just downright sucks in most places

[Eric47]

they coulda kept the name but converted the technology and shared roaming with sprint. oh well. this must be reasons why they are booting their CEO's. bad management haha.

[cheddar]

Originally Posted by EricN4707

i mean can anyone explain to me why in the past few years or however long that they have owned nextel that they never converted their sites over to CDMA and merge the company instead of trying to have a juggling act of confusion?

The reason they haven't decommissioned the iDEN network is because they didn't have a replacement for Direct Connect. Qchat was supposed to be that replacement. We're still waiting two years later. If they knew they were going to have to wait this long they'd have probably paid *a lot* less for Nextel or not bought it at all.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

is QChat gonna debue within the next few months or not til next year???

[RadioFoneGuy]

Sprint has already had a PTT system available for at least 4 years that I know of and maybe longer.

All Sprint had to do is the same principal as EVDO and set up dedicated time slots and they would be able to emulate the quicker POC system that GSM uses. POC is almost as fast as Direct Connect minus the first connect opening the PTT call.

When bigger companies buy smaller companies its easier to swap out mis matched equipment but NEXTEL had tons of tower that need to have CDMA upgrades plus in the affliate markets they couldnt upgrade so the iDEN has been sitting at the towers by itself.

Alltel has been having problems keeping up with the old Western Wireless upgrades. WW had some Analog only sites, some CDMAone (no data), some TDMA and some hybrid CDMA/GSM sites. They have been getting hammered by the FCC for not being E911 compliant. This should have been an easier upgrade due the fact that most of the network was at least CDMAone.

When my company bought a CDMA carrier they immediately overlayed the whole area with GSM as the CDMA was in a poor state of repair because the company had been on the verge of bancrupcy for years prior. The overlay was aggresive as well as migrating customers over. The CDMA system didnt even support SMS or WAP. Imagine low end CDMA phones with nothing but voice capabilties.

My point is Sprint needs to do something quick so NEXTEL doesnt continue to drag them down.
IMO Sprint should sell any Nextel assets that are not Synergy sites off to the highest bidder along with the SMR band. Sprint could still use the Nextel name but use it as a MVNO similar to Boost now. To the common person they would never now except they would have high speed data and the direct connect would be slower but with todays better monthly plans not many people use DC except for businesses. Alot of companies have gone to Blackberries that support Corporate Email and you can SMS to mulitple handsets so the thrill of PTT IMO is in severe decline as compared to the late 90's

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

yeah.......but keep in mind that the Boost brand has started offering CDMA service to its customers on the Sprint Unlimited plan.........Boost is making the transition to CDMA......

[larry]

Originally Posted by RadioFoneGuy

My point is Sprint needs to do something quick so NEXTEL doesnt continue to drag them down.
IMO Sprint should sell any Nextel assets that are not Synergy sites off to the highest bidder along with the SMR band.

In many major markets which represent most of the US population Sprint has already converted MANY sites over to synergy sites. If they decided to sell off what's left the new company who buy's it would have some serious building to do.

I still say the Nextel merger was very beneficial to Sprint CDMA customers coverage wise and without it Sprint wouldn't have as of good coverage and call quality we have today. For example here in CA/NV if you take away the Nextel merger Sprint users wouldn't have coverage in places like:

Mammoth Ski Resorts
Bishop
Mojave
Boron
Tehachapi
Olancha
Randsburg
Morro Bay
The Salton Sea
Idyllwild
Weed
Susanville
Topaz Lake
Coarsegold
Lakeport
Hilmar

Plus 8 new synergy sites within a 5 mile radius of where I live.

You could argue that customer service, customer additions and profits would be better but I'd rather have the coverage and I bet a lot of sprint users are with me on that.

[bobolito]

Originally Posted by EricN4707

Nextel was a great company, Sprint seemed to Run it into the ground by generally neglecting their network, never merging them over to CDMA and reallocating their cellular licenses, and never fully integrating their stores and customer service. Nextel subscribers are the ones truely getting the short end of the stick, not Sprint.

How can you blame Sprint for the Nextel disaster? Nextel was already doomed when Sprint bought it. That's why Nextel agreed to the deal and their execs knew it! They had no 3G path because IDEN is a dead-end and they launched their Boost pre-paid service.which because of its popularity dragged the network's capacity to the ground. All this happened before Sprint acquired Nextel.

Then later on, Sprint faced a new problem: Sprint had no suitable replacement for the Nextel PTT. So how could they migrate customers to CDMA if they had no suitable replacement for the PTT service? Also, Nextel customers are very loyal to their trustworthy Nextel PTT service. They weren't going to migrate to CDMA unless there was a real replacement, and Sprint still doesn't have Q-Chat up and running.

So this is not Sprint's fault. This is the cause of several factors: Boost overloading the network, no 3G path, Sprint did not have a replacement for Nextel's PTT, and Nextel's customer's reluctance to migrate (with enough reason).

They were very different carriers with very different purposes. That's why I laugh when they used to call this a "merger of equals". You can't marry oil and vinegar.

The problem here was the top execs of both companies were so shortsighted that they only cared about the financials and the customer base growth and completely forgot of the consequences which led to a crash of incompatible products, customers, and marketing.

[RadioFoneGuy]

I was talking about them selling off what isnt already a Synergy site. There are still quite a few area that are Nextel only.

They could also sell off the SMR band which when re-assigned it will make more sense.

Sure there is alot of work to do but at the iDEN only towers all a new carrier would have to do it put GSM or CDMA in the tower, change out antennas and route the backhaul to the appropriate switch.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

so many ideas.......but no just to prove that they're the best they have to be stubborn and do it their way......first reband then make sure the WHOLE CDMA side is capable of QChat then migrate but no we have to use the Nextel brand name god forbid that Sprint might actually start to develop a reputation and put the Nextel brand out of business

[ponderpoint]

It's interesting to note the technical banter back and forth with the Sprint/Nextel debacle as if it was the only problem and the sole problem of why customers left. Almost blaming everything on system abilities and disabilities.

It's like two farmers disagreeing on how to make the corn chowder so vigorously - they forgot to grow the corn.....

Just a thought.........