Sprint Ready to Deploy 5G Without T-Mobile, Sees Positive Results
Despite Sprint complaints about its future as a stand-alone company if takeover by T-Mobile falls through (see 1806270068), the carrier said Wednesday it's on track to offer 5G in the first half of next year. Sprint also reported generally positive results in the quarter ended June 30. Sprint had postpaid net adds of 123,000 for its 12th consecutive quarter of growth. The company had profit of $176 million, its third profitable quarter in a row, and operating income of $815 million. Revenue was $8.13 billion. T-Mobile also reported, saying it had the best Q2 in company history.
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"Sprint continued to deliver solid results this quarter while embarking on our transformative merger," said new CEO Michel Combes. Combes said on a call with analysts he has been running the company day to day while former CEO Marcelo Claure is working to win approval of the T-Mobile transaction. The deal would “accelerate the U.S. leadership opportunity to rapidly bring the best national-wide 5G network to market with the breadth and depth needed to fuel a giant wave of innovation and disruption throughout the entire marketplace including rural America,” Combes said on the call.
Regulators still could approve the T-Mobile/Sprint deal, though conditions are likely, said Timothy Horan, Oppenheimer managing director, on CNBC Wednesday. “At the extreme, [regulators] could completely structurally separate the companies into two, almost a network company and the customers,” he said. “Between, there could be kind of versions of that.” The earnings were generally positive with no surprises, Horan said. Revenue for the whole wireless industry is increasing because of usage, he said. “We’re still seeing wireless data volumes going through the roof,” he said. “The health of the industry is good.” Horan said the deal wouldn't put pricing pressure on Verizon and AT&T.
“Top line has turned the corner; first sequential growth in a few years,” New Street Research’s Jonathan Chaplin emailed investors. “Churn is coming down, which is enabling them to maintain stable subs at lower cost.”
The carrier “upgraded thousands of macro sites to give customers our best network experience using all three of our spectrum bands,” Chief Technology Officer John Saw blogged. He identified 800 MHz, and 1.9 and 2.5 GHz. The company “expanded 2.5 GHz to nearly two-thirds of our macro sites, up from approximately half of our sites covered just a few quarters ago,” he said. The company has also deployed more than 15,000 small cells “to expand our 2.5 GHz coverage and provide faster data speeds,” he said.
“We've been hard at work upgrading thousands of cell sites and lighting up tens of thousands of small cells,” Saw said. “Our Next-Gen Network build is well underway as we invest billions to give Sprint customers an even stronger 4G LTE Advanced network and launch mobile 5G in the first half of next year.”
“We just recorded our best Q2 ever,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said on a call with analysts. Legere said he expects the transaction to be approved. “While we still have a number of steps remaining in the regulatory approval process, we are optimistic and confident that regulators will recognize the significant pro-competitive benefits of this combination,” he said. “We made it clear that this merger is pro-consumer and all about supercharging the uncarrier.” The takeover will increase competition and jobs, he said: “We’re making good progress.”
The company will deploy 5G in 30 cities this year, with nationwide coverage in 2020, Legere said. “It’ll be ready for the first 5G smartphones in 2019.”
T-Mobile said it had 1.6 million total net adds, the 21st consecutive quarter with more than 1 million. That included 686,000 branded postpaid phone net adds, about two-thirds of industry adds, the company said. Postpaid churn was .95 percent. Revenue increased 7 percent to $7.9 billion and profit rose 35 percent to $782 million.
T-Mobile is focusing on underserved areas, business customers, those over age 55 and the military, Legere said. It has 75.6 million customers. T-Mobile low-frequency spectrum now covers 289 million POPs, he said. The carrier has deployed 600 MHz spectrum in parts of 33 states, he said. Officials said they are sending retail trucks to markets not located close to a company store.