Sprint in the Corner

No doubt that the chatter has centered around AT&Ts acquisition of T-Mobile. What has not been discussed much is the moribund state this has left Sprint in. This has left the Overland KS based company in a precarious state as its shares tumbled to a value of less than 99% of the S&P. Theories abound as to how Sprint will dig out of the hole and revive itself. One thought that occurred to me was that America Movil chief Carlos Helu Slim would finally decide to purchase Sprint simply for the value of its network. Sprint’s licenses are worth almost 20 billion versus their market cap of 13.6 billion.

If done for the sake of gutting the company, and using its network America Movil would be able to continue its run on lower ARPU customers that has already made it a very quiet yet potent player in the prepaid space. Yet life as an MVNO maybe where Mr. Slim wants his assets to stay, it has worked thus far, why tamper with success.

What is not clear is whether Sprint will stay passive and appeal the purchase (already confirming their weakened state) or pursue the purchase of MetroPCS and Leap. Analysts are quick to throw these theories out, yet it would only net Sprint an extra 2% of the market when all is said and done. The other views point towards taking over the remaining 46% of assets at Clearwire which could help both companies in the long run – that is if they actually have a long run in them.

One thing to ponder is whether it is worth to pay heed to the “bigger is better” bravado emanating from the market place or focus on the fall out from TMO. Not a lot of customers are happy at being returned or going to AT&T. Knowing the lack of coverage on both networks in rural areas it made me smirk when I heard an allusion to how service in these areas would be improved by the merger. I was there four years ago as a Sprint employee when customers came with letters from AT&T dismissing them owing to their living in a roaming area. With AT&T this happens more often than not – I would advise the market pundits to get off the interstate and take in the sites of country roads and form their own opinion. AT&T quickly drops to the GSM signal whereas TMO just disappears. A couple of miles down the road you have no bars to mention in spite of AT&T’s constant yammering on the media. AT&T is about deceit, make no mistake.

For Sprint to overcome this hurdle they may need to focus on trimming costs rather than adding. Purchasing smaller carriers seems to me to just be a big distraction, yet one thing that they can do it for would be to raid the piggy bank that MetroPCS may have. I doubt Leap (Cricket) has any as they were in foul condition just a few months ago. Yet this is just pocket change in the great scheme of things and cannot address incompetent management and flailing employee morale at Sprint.

Sprint sales employees are on very tight performance management programs and falling below 90% of quota nets a warning and a quick path out. Very little is done to help these people along – this has affected the company in spite of its great infrastructure. With executives living in the clouds they still do not get it and the appetite for mergers maybe lost on the rank and file. I see very little value in Sprint attempting a purchase of MetroPCS, and it would come at a premium. What may be more advisable is to work on syphoning customers away from TMobile like MetroPCS did over the past years – but this game only works if you are willing to shed more layers of management and shut down some facilities that are redundant throughout the country. Either way, not a pleasant thing to be a Sprint employee these days.

A purchase by Verizon is plausible if only for the reason gutting I referred to earlier. This may be what AT&T did it for with TMO – just harness the horsepower of the network AT&T neglected to build these past years. Yet Verizon has done quite well without touching Sprint. The meat has been on the table for a long time, and Verizon never had an appetite for it, why would they now?

App Developers Wrestle With Ratings – Kano May be the Answer

Kano Model Illustrated

Attending Mobile Camp in Boston this past Saturday I listened to a presentation by a developer that indicated that some mobile apps may be victimized by customer issues more than then apps actual functionality. It turns out that often customers rate apps negatively for reasons that have very little to do with the app. It struck me that if developers took more time to learn what elements of their apps will drive excitement and satisfaction then they may be able to elicit more positive reviews (the 5 star nirvana necessary to vault to the top of the ratings chart and garner more downloads).

With applications, just like software, some features are a given, such as ease of installation, compatibility with my OS (or OS flavor in the case of the Android), and of course how streamlined. In the past a “front-end” to a company’s mobile-enabled website might have been acceptable, now that is viewed as archaic and outdated. Customers seek speed, easy interaction and security (features defined as Execution). The Kano Model proposes there are several attributes that entice customers and will allow you to keep them:
Performance features are a function of Threshold or Required features
Required or Threshold features: This is what is expected. If you have a banking app you would expect to be able to access your accounts and at the very least verify balances and transactions and transfer funds between accounts at the same bank.
Excitement features could be the ability to transfer funds between two different banks, wire funds to a cousin via Western Union, etc. These are the unexpected features that a customer will rave over when reviewing an app.

You may have guessed – Excitement features will become with time required features. So give more thought as to how you can keep customers downloading your apps via going the extra leg without giving it all away (stay in the upper write quadrant).

With Glowing Hearts – How Wireless is Allowing New Reporters

How wireless allows people to tell their personal stories. With Glowing Hearts is a must watch movie about the impact of the Olympics on people that were disnfranchised before the games and much worse off during and after.

Foursquare – I deleted the app

Foursquare is about buzz. In my opinion the buzz is much ado about nothing. Having used the app for four months I found that it was frustrating (would not find or recognize my location) and it really had no usefulness. A combination with Yelp or another rating service might energize the app, what I think would be hotter is the ability to “join your friend”. Meaning that if I state I am at Capitol Grille in Chestnut Hill, then I have the option of stalking you there. Other possibilities are built in shopping leads (advise friend of a deal you just got at Kohl’s or that Starbucks in Nashua is giving away free lattes (they are not, just an example). Foursquare needs to be more dynamic, right now it is trapped in its four squares.

Loving Pandora

I have a Zune, yet the Pandora has made that wonderful device obsolete or at least less desirable.

Why? I grew up with a transistor listening to baseball games and later on to soccer games when my family moved all of us to Colombia. The mobility back then allowed me to go anywhere the AM transmitter would allow me to go an not miss my favorite team’s game. TV’s did not have that power, they meant being shackled to the living room floor for the length of a game… yet my Zune should allow me mobility? True, it even has an FM radio if I get bored with my tunes. But the point is that with Pandora I am my own disc jockey. I provide my likes, the names of artists and customize the stations to my liking. Then, I download the applet for my Blackberry and yes, I go jogging, biking and even drive with Pandora streaming my stations and allowing me to discover new artists I would not have had I stuck to buying downloads for my Zune. It is an amazing experience and I also just let it stream at the office while I work…

I should also state that I am an former Sirius Radio subscriber. It was wonderful to drive through the country with your music streaming in regardless of where you are. The drawback? You had many stations to choose from, yet here again I was at the mercy of the Sirius programmer. Also, if you like Latin music, you had ONE channel… and they seemed to think that all latinos needed to listen to Bachata or Merengue all the time… it was excruciating and indicative of how limited their worldview was. I cancelled my subscription and for $14 bought an auxiliary audio cable at Best Buy, hooked it up to my Blackberry and piped in Pandora through the application. Now, I have MY station, my music and its free. I am streaming Pandora as we speak – with Sirius I would have needed a docking station, really convenient considering I am in my hotel room.

As 4G technology spreads throughout the country and 3G becomes a standard in less populated areas, this increased capacity for data transport will make radio stations obsolete unless you are a talk radio addict. I love Pandora.

One blogger extols the virtues of the Droid

http://ow.ly/2oxJy

I read the blog title with apprehension as I thought here was another indoctrinated iPhone freak telling me how cool their phone is, however this person has seen the light.

My AT&T Customer Experience

I walked into the store in Coolidge Corner (Brookline MA) seeking service for my son’s phone. Nobody made even a feeble attempt to acknowledge us. I was able to locate the “Customer Service” area at the back of the store as I glanced for somebody to say hello. We got a rookie it turns out. He called his co-worker who (again without as much as a “Hello Sir” instructed the newbie to wait while he retrieved a paper. On the paper was listed instructions for a DSC, some listed handsets they could swap the unit for and the sales person gave me the “option” of dealing with the manufacturer or going to the service center in Waltham (Bear Hill no less). Considering that most people in the Coolidge Corner area WALK or take the T I thought that was quite funny. So, here I was looking at the options – lowly MetroPCS would have given me two options that did not include dealing with the manufacturer: One immediate swap for $30 if they had the handset, another Exchange by Mail for $10. I went back, got my car and drove to Bear Hill to a service center not accessible by public transportation (at least not easily).

We were greeted by an enthusiastic young lady and a lethargic older man. She examined the handset (well, really listened to my son’s diagnosis) and then had Lethargo look up the account. Turns out he was looking at my son’s line and did not see the account level Asurion insurance. She, on Lethargo’s queue indicated we did not have insurance, so our “option” was to ask AT&T to make the line “upgradable” early (yeah, and sign on for two more years when the original phone did not make month 14 without dying in spite of being in MINT condition); our other option after I retorted that we did have insurance was  – “Well you probably do have it, just call this number and speak to “lockline” (apparently she had not been updated as to their provider) and they will help you. Great customer service. AT&T is about getting you out of the store if you are not there to sign on for their iPhone4 or a refurbished variant of iPhone. “On a scale of 1 to 5 how would you grade your customer experience with AT&T?”. Zero.

AT&T: Misses The Mark With Silly Responses to VZW

Verizon has punched AT&T in the gut and all you hear in response is a gasp for air. Their silly commercial using b-rate actor tries to confuse the issue by lying to people about their coverage. It misses the point: VZW was referring to their scant 3G Coverage. With 4G around the corner, it is time for AT&T to worry.

AT&T had a similar response to Sprint a couple of years ago saying they had more coverage around “the world” when Sprint also attacked them. Verizon should not shy away from AT&T and it misinformation, they should expose them.

Is T-Mobile About to Unleash an new Unlimited Plan?

After having been thrashed by MetroPCS, Boost Mobile (Sprint MVNO) and other competitors in the Northeast – T-Mobile is looking to release a plan at the end of the month that they believe to be a game changer. Details to follow below, however one asks why would they do this? Are they looking to depress the value of MetroPCS stock and then attempt a hostile takeover? Sprint has already lobbed a grenade into the wireless bunker with really not a lot of traction it seems. TMO has depleted distribution – reason for which the airwaves have the likes of Choice Wireless (a Master Dealer) aggressively advertising for new dealers. They will be holding an events in posh restaurants so if you are up for a free dinner – listen to your radio for details. Here is what we have learned about the new plan:

- 59.99 unlimited talk and text  for 1 line

- 79.99 For 2 lines and $5 extra for 2 more lines.

 All in – 4 lines for $90 Unlimited Talk and Text

This will prove to be a compelling offer. The new agreement between MetroPCS and US Cellular thwarts this plan in New England to the extent that TMO does not have robust coverage in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont – MetroPCS now has it at a $40.00 entry point.

We are trying to learn about the commission structure and that will require eating steak at Capitol Grille… The things we do!

As Quarterly Results Loom: Sprint likely to be a loser again

The bets are on as Sprint once agin hemorrages customers. No doubt we will continue to see the same dismal results quarter over quarter so my question is… how do I cash in these shares?