AT&T Tech Support 360
January 29, 2007 4:00 AM PST
Broken connection for Sprint Nextel
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After Sprint merged with Nextel Communications, Leigh Elliott noticed that her Nextel phone started dropping calls in places where it used to get coverage just fine.
"On my 20-minute drive to and from work everyday, I'd lose a call up to five times," the 35-year-old New Hampshire resident said. "This never happened before the Sprint-Nextel merger."
In September, after more than a year of poor service, Elliott canceled her monthly contract and switched to Verizon Wireless.
Elliott isn't the only former Nextel customer to get frustrated with poor service quality and cancel her subscription. According to Sprint's latest earnings report, about 300,000 customers dropped their service in the fourth quarter of 2006, most blaming the poor service quality on the Nextel network.
Problems with the Nextel network and with integrating the two companies' networks and technologies have come just as Sprint is trying to expand and upgrade its 3G wireless network, deliver new services--like over-the air music downloads and mobile TV--and build a new 4G network based on a technology called WiMax.
While its main rivals, Cingular Wireless and Verizon Communications, are generating huge profits, Sprint projects flat revenue growth this year, according to a warning issued this month. Executives said the company generated about $41 billion in revenue in 2006 and warned that revenues would be about the same for 2007. They also said they expected profits to be $11 billion to $11.5 billion in 2007, compared with earlier estimates of $12.6 billion to $12.9 billion. To keep costs under control, executives announced Sprint Nextel would lay off 5,000 employees.
Meanwhile Cingular Wireless, which is now owned entirely by AT&T, reported last week that it had the best quarter ever in terms of new subscribers. It added 2.4 million new subscribers for a total of 61 million. Sprint reported only 742,000 net additions for the fourth quarter of 2006, for a total of 53.1 million subscribers. Cingular also reported it almost quadrupled profits, gaining $782 million on $9.76 billion in revenue.
"Sprint Nextel has so many plates spinning in the air at the same time, it's not surprising there would be some breakage along the way," said Andrei Jezierski, a partner at the consultancy i2 Partners.
The problems Sprint faces by accommodating Nextel subscribers comes as little surprise. When Sprint closed the $35 billion purchase of Nextel in August 2005, it inherited a customer base that uses a totally separate network based on technology called iDEN (integrated Digital Enhanced Network). Sprint's own network uses a different wireless standard, called CDMA (code division multiple access).
A Boost to network congestion
Maintaining incompatible networks that use iDEN and CDMA technologies has meant that Sprint must invest separately in each network to keep things running smoothly. The company says that it added 1,800 iDEN cell sites throughout the country to keep up with capacity. But this was about 400 fewer cell sites than the company added for its CDMA service in 2006.
Sprint executives have acknowledged that capacity on the iDEN network has been problematic, especially right after the merger, when Sprint was also adding customers from its prepaid service, called Boost, which also uses iDEN.
"We found a high volume of calls going through that network right after the merger," said Roni Singleton, a spokeswoman for Sprint Nextel. "A lot of this was coming from thousands of our prepaid customers. And that caused congestion on the network, which ultimately led to some customer defection."
To remedy these issues, the company recently introduced two CDMA-iDEN handsets made by Motorola to enable Sprint customers to use both networks. With these handsets, customers use the iDEN network for the popular walkie-talkie Nextel service, which will work in the United States and five other countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Peru.
Standard voice and data services will be delivered over Sprint's CDMA network. But even though subscribers will be able to use SMS text messaging and GPS navigation, they will not have access to any of Sprint's 3G services, such as mobile video and music downloading.
It's important for Sprint to migrate these Nextel customers away from the iDEN network to keep operational costs under control, but analysts say the bungled migration is coming at a hefty price.
"The Nextel customer base is a highly valuable one because they generated a lot of revenue per user--in the neighborhood of $60 per subscriber," Jezierski said. "Nextel was very good at targeting small businesses and fleet field workers. These customers were loyal and paid a lot for the service."
Meanwhile, other wireless service providers, such as Cingular, recently reported average revenue per user of only $49.
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Cingular Wireless
Wonder if that will make a difference in the next quarter profits.
I recieved my final bill from Sprint and had a 400 dollar charge on it for canceling my service(I was a year into a 2 year contract). I contacted sprint and asked to have the charge removed, as I canceled due to poor service. The would not reverse the charge, as thier contract does not provide for a clause for poor service. It seems that SPRINT only has a guarntee on coverage, and not on acutal service within thier coverage areas. I asked what they expected me to do with phones I could no longer use, and they stated that I should just pay the 150 a month I was spending with them, and wait for them to "fix" the issue, which they said they were not going to do anyway.
So SPRINT wants me to pay for a service that they admited that they could not provide due to the fact that they have thier contracts worded so that you can not use poor service/no service as a reason to break the contract.
This is just not right. I would never go back to them now. SO LONG SPRINT
and apparently are able to access your information without a login being documented. So any third party rep claiming to be Sprint/Nextel can access your info and do who knows what with it. Identify theft!!? How honest is the guy that is lying to you and hanging up on you? We are supposed to trust that this is not the guy that helped commit the identity theft that cleaned out your account. Is Sprint/Nextel listening to the customers about the customer service debacle. Sprint needs to evaluate the security and performance of their third party customer service vendors.
Now a days these kinda companies are out sourcing the services to save the money but releasing the critical/secured data to unsecured places.
because we get the run around. like today i stayed on the phone to resolve and old issue and was sent here, there and everywhere including
the "spanish network". over 2 hours later i recieved the same runaround. i really couldn't say
whos fault it is but it seems wierd that it didn't start untill the merger. i don't blame you it's the upper management. that's why your there, to take the abuse. you don't think they want it do you? thankyou for your support
The tipping point for me was when a Sprint manager threatened to call *my* boss because she was mad I wouldn't accept her answer that there wasn't an address I could mail a formal complaint to.
Read my open letter to Sprint here:
www.dear-sprint.com
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by lynne30
August 13, 2008 9:03 AM PDT
- I recently upgrade my telephone form just nextel to sprint/nextel and I have had nothing but aggravation from day one. Phone service works fine, but nextel direct connect & web access do not work. I have spent countless hours on the phone and in repair centers no one can help me, yet I am told that I pay for phone service, and that they dont have to provide me with the other features included in my plan. Word of warning to anyone tempted to sign up with sprint/nextel dont do it!!!! Customer service is the worst , and you will end up cancelling and going to another provider.
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