Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) Monday reported results for the fiscal year 2019 second quarter, including stability in postpaid wireless service revenue and continued growth in postpaid net additions. The company also reported a net loss of $274 million, operating income of $237 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $2.6 billion.
“I am proud of the resiliency of the Sprint team as they work to deliver results in a challenging environment,” said Sprint CEO Michel Combes.
“However, I remain convinced that merging with T-Mobile and building one of the world’s most advanced 5G networks is the best outcome for all consumers, employees, and shareholders.”
Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson noted when SoftBank acquired a controlling interest in Sprint in 2012 (the transaction closed in 2013), they were betting on three things. First, that Verizon and AT&T were “too fat,” as Masayoshi Son (SoftBank CEO) put it at the time, to compete. Second, that Sprint’s 2.5 GHz spectrum would provide a distinct competitive advantage. And third, that Sprint could quickly be merged with T-Mobile.
“It hasn’t worked the way,” Moffett said.
Sprint made continued progress on executing its Next-Gen Network plan.
- Sprint has 2.5 GHz spectrum deployed on approximately 85 percent of its macro sites.
- Sprint has approximately 35,000 outdoor small cells deployed including both mini macros and strand mounts.
- Sprint has continued the rollout of Massive MIMO, a technology that improves network capacity, enhances LTE performance, and allows for simultaneous use of spectrum for LTE and 5G. The company has thousands of Massive MIMO sites on-air.
Sprint completed the initial launch of its True Mobile 5G network and recently announced that the service now covers approximately 16 million people within nine metropolitan areas – Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., Inside Towers reported. In these areas, customers with 5G devices are experiencing dramatically faster speeds, with initial 5G performance results showing a nearly 6X increase in average download speed compared to Sprint LTE, according to the carrier. Sprint is offering 5G capable smartphones from LG, Samsung, and OnePlus, along with a hotspot device from HTC.
Sprint continues to advocate for its merger with T-Mobile to deploy a ubiquitous, nationwide 5G network that includes coverage in rural locations. Sprint says its existing 5G deployment shows the potential of 5G. It predicts the combined company will have the resources and technology to build a 5G network that fuels innovation across every industry, dramatically increasing competition, unleashing new economic growth, and creating thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in U.S. economic value.
November 5, 2019
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