Why I Like T-Mobile and Sprint Together

So far, I’m not seeing a lot of love for a rumored Sprint and TMobile deal. Om Malik over at Gigaom says “Just say no…Now”. And thats pretty much the theme most bloggers are taking.

I think it could be a real powerful deal. Everyone knows Sprint really jacked up the Nextel deal. Walkie talkies are for children. On top of that, Thomas Edison had newer technology than iDEN! Push to talk is such a small part and niche of wireless. I think Sprint needs to take the technology and do something right with it. They launched these hybrid phones with cdma voice and data along with Nextel push to talk. The problem with that is, there are interference issues with the iDEN and cdma and the coverage area is restricting the phone to the 1800/1900 mhz network I think. This kills the service area. 1800/1900 mhz is a weaker signal than the 800 mhz network. Verizon and Alltel have a lot of 800 mhz I believe and thus eliminates these phones from roaming on those agreements. Action plan for Sprint: Drop the iDEN network completely.

Now, if Sprint sheds the troubled iDEN network but keeps the push to talk technology, they could be in a little better position.

Now enters TMobile! TMobile has a reputation for customer service and customer satisfaction. Sprint is probably the worst in the industry. I have worked with Alltel, Sprint, Att, Nextel, and Verizon. Sprint can take over 30 minutes to do an esn change(changing phones). 30 minutes?! What the heck are you doing for 30 minutes?! ESN changes should take no more than 5 minutes with system lag! I feel bad for Sprint customers because it takes this long to do everything and longer if you get an over seas call center! I think TMobile would help that DRAMATICALLY! Sprint could go from pissing every customer off to actually helping their customers!

Next big issue which I touched on with the Nextel problem is the network problem between Sprint and TMoblie. CDMA vs. GSM? Which one do you go with? Its a hard call. I’m a bigger fan of cdma in the US, especially with the roaming agreements Sprint has with carriers like Alltel and Verizon. Also, Sprint has an existing 3G network that TMobile currently lacks. TMobile can take their smaller than average GSM network and convert it to CDMA.

I know this isn’t the popular opinion but Sprint is hemoraging subscribers right now. They just wrote off more than they are worth! That is sick! Its like a mass exodus! I think TMobile has the financial backing and some other great assets that could help turn Sprint around into the carrier they could be. I mean, you have to admit, they have done some good things despite their recent track record!