Wireless News

Btw Nxtl4me quote: "I carried T-Mo all over the US (incl the Berkshires area in MA), and IMO it isn't worth having. Even where T-Mo does show coverage, they drop calls like mad and the sound quality is so bad that you couldn't finish the calls anyway."

On Sprint I also can not hold a call and travel through the Berkshires area in MA without calls breaking up and completely dropping altogether. I don't even bother making phone calls in that area because I know that they will drop. Another issue area is where I-90 and I-84 meet, almost zero coverage there, I have dropped calls in this area as well.

What you outline in your message for trying T-Mobile is my already my plan of action. But as I said before it can't be worse than what I have now.

Sprint's only 2 problems now are:

(1) Marketing

(2) Management disconnect

It seems that there's many tiers of management at Sprint and one tier has no idea what's going on 2 levels below it, or at the retail level, or what the customers are actually complaining about.  Sprint definitely needs a management revamp.  But the reason they're doing so poorly has to do with marketing.  Nobody cares about the FAD, which is the NOW NETWORK.  Nobody cares!!

Sprint is gonna have to start taking pages out of both Apple & Verizon's playbooks.  Build hype, show features.  Don't talk about something that isn't REAL.  The NOW Network is just as much the NOT Network, because nobody knows WTF it means.

Take a salesmanship class and see that people react to BENEFITS over ADVANTAGES over FEATURES.  You need to show how the features provide advantages and then give them specific examples, which would be the benefits.  Show how people NEED the phones, because they already know that they don't need Sprint from the looks of it.  They need the phones.  The only thing Sprint can truly advertise about itself is that it's the cheapest or best value, but still... people don't seem to care about any of that.

Getting back to what I was saying earlier, tho... Sprint needs to BE REAL with their commercials.  A little honesty never hurt anybody.  How about... "We might not be #1 in customer service [yet], but how many times do you need to talk to customer service anyway??  At least you should know we're #1 in terms of 3g data coverage, reliability, speed, least dropped calls, best features, cheapest price, best value, ... and so on and so forth."  That would REALLY work.  People respect honesty.  People already know that Sprint hires retarded people who don't know how to speak English.  Admit that to the few hundred million Americans who watch TV, and they might think they need to try Sprint again, because at least you recognized your mistakes and were humble enough to admit that to the ENTIRE country during the Super Bowl.  This worked with Avis car rental... "We're #2, so we try harder."  It was honest, and it actually increased their sales compared to Hertz, who was pretty much the only name in the business.  Sprint could greatly benefit from this because Sprint's own users say the same motto "Sprint's #1 in everything, but their customer service sucks."  It's nothing like it was, of course, but if someone expects it to be **** and they come to terms that they'll be getting more for less... and then they experience the "new Sprint"... well, only good things could come for Sprint.

Think REAL, Sprint.  THINK REAL!!!

QJ: I like your idea for the commercial. Clearly illustrates a few of the strengths that S-N has in their arsenal (CDMA 3G data, cool HTC hansdet, iDEN PTT, and that good old Nextel philosophy & trademark, "Done."). Kind of like the Nextel "Brand IT" commercial on YouTube. Done.

BTW, if you haven't yet seen the short video of the Nextel customer from Atlanta, Georgia talking about how he ran over his Nextel phone with his unloaded pickup truck and it still worked, you might want to take a look. The text "trailer" that appears after the customer video part is finished actually uses the words "...fantastic iDEN nework." The other notable thing is the customer calls the phone simply "my Nextel Direct Connect". Doesn't call it a phone or a handset, just "my Nextel Direct Connect". Which to me indicates that it is more a part of him than just being a mere phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQkpHaEjXN0&feature=youtube_gdata

(if the link fails, go to the Community homepage and scroll down to bottom of page, it's on the left)

  - Nxtl4me

Just as a side note FYI, even though Hertz and Avis had larger name recognition, Enterprise actually dwarfed the combined revenues of Hertz & Avis. The famous two were well known because of their great advertising and their presence at airports, but in reality Enterprise was in almost every neighborhood in the US, quietly making a lot more money than Hertz& Avis combined. That's off the point, but an interesting tidbit.

THANK YOU DEJAN!!  I couldn`t have said it better myself, i`ve always said that Sprint needs to stop namby-pamby`ing around and start doing some good ol` in-your-face dissing of the other providers and start running some ads that really belt out the advantages of things like IDEN PTT, and EVDO, and how good (in some places, actually most places ) their network is, among other stuff (i`m sure the brains in advertising could come up with more if they`d just get their heads outta that pylon it`s jammed into and smell the coffe), `cause if they don`t, we just might be seeing this company "exit, stage right" kinda soon, IMHO this "now network" advertising thingy is kinda weak...C`mon Sprint!  For goodness sake do some REAL ADVERTISING HERE!!!  Yes, folks want to hear and see honesty, but they also want to see some good ol mudslinging...why do ya think folks get off on watching campagian ads during election years?  Simple, they like to see the folks runnin` for office positively DRILLING each other into the concourse floor...even if they SAY that they hate the ads, they still watch `em.  Get it?  N9NRA

Here is a suggestion for a Nextel iDEN commercial that a bunch of us Nextel diehards collaborated on awhile back (you have to scroll down abouth halfway to get to the postings with Nextel commercial ideas):

http://community.sprint.com/baw/community/sprintblogs/buzz-by-sprint/announcements/blog/2008/07/31/get-more-from-your-nextel-direct-connect-phone-especially-during-an-emergency

re: " I just recently found out that Nextel phones can be used without towers between them... like long-range walkie-talkies."

   >>>   You must be referring to Nextel Direct Talk®, the off-network two-way radio system (Motorola calls it Moto Talk I believe). It is pretty handy if you're out of network coverage area but still want to stay in touch with the kids out in the sticks or your coworkers on a remote jobsite. However, the real-world range of Direct Talk® gets shortened very quickly by trees, buildings, hills, etc. The theoretical range with line-of-sight between handsets is advertised as up to 6 miles, but I would doubt that anyone has ever actually achieved that. My own experience in the dense pine forest is it limited itself to 1500 ft.

Also keep in mind that if you use the "channel" setup rather than using each phone's Nextel PTT number, the conversations will not be private. If you need or want privacy using Direct Talk®, make sur eyo uread the phone's user guide and set up communications between the handsets using the actual DC number, not by choosing channels.

   - Nxtl4me

    That's my point, mike... Sprint-Nextel is so big that they don't even know how to show you DIRECT marketing of all the benefits they offer.  Walkie-talkie mode (DC for private convos up to 6-10 miles, depending on the topography)... Roaming on Verizon's network... fastest 3g.... most reliable 3g... etc.  That is DIRECT marketing.  People can relate to features, advantages, & benefits.  They DO NOT relate to GENERAL marketing of Dan Hesse and the NOW Network.  It's not REAL to them.  They associate Sprint with horrible customer service, and the NOW Network does nothing for their associations either way.  Sprint needs to try spending less than $100 on a commercial (like Hardees simply having a Big Hardee -vs- the Big Mac in a white room, talking to each other; that's all it cost was the price of two hamburgers! -or- like Geico simply having a HUGE wad of cash on the ground texting that chick's cell phone to let her know how much money she's saving with Geico).  I'm sure they're spending MILLIONS on their beautiful commercials, but they're not efficient or effective.  No joke... they need to hire the Free Credit Report Dot Com guys and tell them they can have MILLIONS if they design a series of effectiv commercials.  Sprint needs to get back to the basics, and that means DIRECT MARKETING -- features, advantages, & benefits.

    You're also right that no other competitor mentions Sprint-Nextel, because they are AFRAID that they'll wake a sleeping giant, which they would.  They'd rather just like Sprint-Nextel sink their own ship all by themselves.  T-Mobile won't mention that Sprint gives you more for less... Verizon won't mention that Sprint gives you more for less... and AT+T won't mention that Sprint gives you more for less.  WHY SHOULD ANYBODY NEED TO ADVERTISE THAT SPRINT GIVES YOU MORE FOR LESS OTHER THAN SPRINT?!?!?

    Also, Mike... about staying on your legacy plan.  You shouldn't need to go to RS or BB to stay on one.  You can go to the Sprint store, call Telesales, or go to Sprint.com.  Either way, they won't make you get rid of your legacy plan unless you're trying to get a phone with Android or WebOS.  And if you do go to RS or BB, they MUST activate the phone for you before you walk out the door with it, so you wouldn't be able to go to My Sprint to activate it like you planned.  Just a FYI.

Actually, I have to disagree with you regarding the PowerSource phones.  Historically, the ONLY people who really bought into those phones were previous Sprint CDMA users that wanted access to Nextel's PTT.  However, when they found out that the CDMA phones wouldn't roam onto the 800Mhz CDMA network....they dropped it like a stone.  True Nextel iDEN users never cared for the Sprint interface and very few ever converted over.  So promoting a phone that NO ONE wants is really a waste of time and money.

What Sprint needs to do is slap on WiFi on all of their CDMA and iDEN phones.  While I do think an iDEN with a slide out keyboard could be a big seller (esp if it was a touchscreen phone), I'd personally prefer something like an i9 with external and internal touchscreens.  But honestly, in my view, WiFi (and WiMAX) is simply a must on any new phone.  And that should really be the focus of any and all new phones.  In the mean time, can us Nextel iDEN folks get some love and get more than merely 2 phones per year???  Last year, all we got was the BB 8350i and the i9.  This year, all we have is the i465 and and the i835 (sorry folks, the reworked i776 doesn't count even if Sprint slapped a "w" on it).  Heck, even Nextel pre-merger was able to push out at least 6 to 8 new phones per year.  And given how well so far Android is performing and how Motorola is testing an Android-based iDEN phone in Israel, why can't Sprint get Android-based phones for us Nextel users already?  Touchscreen please?  Wifi/WiMAX?  Slide-out keyboard?

I hear ya, but the problem is in that the two networks drain the batteries already enough as is.  If an PoS phone was able to roam onto 800Mhz frequencies, then the Sprint 800Mhz CDMA signal would always over power the Nextel 800Mhz signal for PTT...rendering (based on what little physics I know) the PTT on that phone essentially worthless.

I think the smarter move actually is to keep the networks for the phones separate.  Let's just get PTT on all phones.  Use Q-chat for the CDMA side and expand its availability to all phones everywhere.  How can you do that? Simple...it's merely a $10 formfactor upgrade/handset.  Not all that expensive really.  Now, imagine a Palm Pixie with Q-chat?  Can you say....a big seller?  I think it would be.  How about a i355 with slideout keyboard AND WiFi?  Again, big seller.

But mating the two networks onto one phone has proven to be problematic in terms of which signal to use for what item.  So, your idea is a good one, but why bother with iDEN when you have Q-chat awaiting deployment once EVDO rev A is thrown all over the CDMA network?  What's sad though is that Verizon (despite having a FAR LARGER network in terms of geographic area and POPs covered) has a much larger EVDO rev A blanket than does Sprint.  There really is NO EXCUSE for that to have ever happened.  Sprint dropped the ball there.  And it's time it stood up, dusted itself off, and started really showing how it wants to win.  Tell the people why Sprint is better than its competition.  And get it done.

Want or need PTT?  Only SprintNextel can deliver that connectivity in sub-second times consistently.  Want the most reliable 3G network...where your phone actually does download (and upload) at true 3G speeds continuously rather than in spurts?  Only SprintNextel can guarantee that, and they have independent studies that can back that claim up.  So, while AT&T's network might be able to peak at a higher level than Sprint, Sprint keeps you at/near that peak far longer than AT&T or Verizon ever could.  Need off-network communications capabilities?  Try our Nextel iDEN lineup.  The phones can operate as true walkie-talkies should the need ever arise and its user(s) is (are) not close enough to get a signal from the network.  Want the latest, greatest phones?  Well, at SprintNextel, we may not have the Apple iPhone nor the BB Storm/Storm2, but we do have Google Android-based phones from HTC and Motorola (well, hopefully SprintNextel will), and we are the exclusive carrier of Palm's WebOS-based phones, like the Palm Pre and the new Palm Pixie.  Furthermore, we have a robust line up of slider, flip, candybar, and smartphones to choose from.  And who can offer you better plans for those phones than SprintNextel?  With our "Any Mobile, Any Time" plans, you can use your phone for all the data and messaging capabilities AND you can call any mobile number in the US at any time, and you won't use up your anytime minutes.  Now that's getting things done.  No, that's getting things done NOW.  Only on the NOW Networks. And if you think that's impressive, just wait until we roll out our 4G capabilities in your neck of the woods.

To me, that could be one very effective campaign.  But again, that's just my opinion.