Well first let's talk about some of the bad things going on with Sprint...

THE BAD & UGLY

(1) Loss of 1.09 million subscribers in the 1st Quarter of 2008 - This was not surprising, but continues to put pressures on the number 3 wireless company in the U.S.  If I were to just look at the top 4 (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, & T-Mobile), Sprint represents only 22.2% of the market based on revenues and 23.8 percent of the market based on subscribers in 1Q 2008.  For revenue market share this is about a 2.7% drop from all of 2007 and about a 1.9% drop for subscriber market share.  The other 3 market leaders all added subscribers in 4Q 2008.  AT&T is the leader based on subscribers and market share.

(2) Qwest will start marketing and selling Verizon Wireless services in the summer through a five-year contract.  Qwest's contract with Sprint ends in Feb. How much does this cost the company?

THE GOOD?

(1) Is Sprint on the Market? -  Deutsche Telekom  is considering a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel Corp. DT is testing the water on this deal, which will combine T mobile and Sprint to create #1 player  in the market.

(2) Will Sprint Spinoff Nextel and come full circle? - Cyren Call, headed by Nextel co-founder Morgan O'Brien, is working to put together a group of investors to buy Nextel.  The company talked about the creation of a nationwide, wireless broadband network that will carry priority public safety communications.

(3) The best thing for Sprint? - Dan Hesse appears to be taking Sprint on the fast track by bringing new leadership, new focus, and in my opinion is just what the company needs to get back on track.

Here are a few links on some of the stories:

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/05/05/daily10.html

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/05/technology/deutsche_sprint.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008050505

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/05/05/daily2.html?jst=b_ln_hl

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB121037292846081709.html?mod=googlenews_barrons

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5767962.html

http://www.sprint.com/investors 

I would love to get your thoughts on the market in general.  Where do you see things playing out?

Stephanie