Sprint Nextel Merger

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Bob Buchanan

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Joined
Mar 3, 2005
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Philadelphia, PA
While looking for an alternative to Cingular (am getting bad reception in too many spots I frequent so they have "lowered" the bar for me), I had just about decided on Verizon. However, I just came across this link about the merger of Sprint and Nextel - to be known as Sprint Nextel. According to what I read here, it is to happen in the second half of 2005 and make them about the biggest - more customers total than any other carrier. This was first announced in December - so was wondering if anyone else had heard about it - or if it is still going to happen.

http://sprintnextel.mergerannouncement.com/?refurl=uhp_globalnav_merger

I really liked the coverage and on line success stories I hear from about Sprint, and like the idea of no charge for incoming calls by Nextel -- but either by itself was not enough to lure me away from thinking Verizon might be better for me. Now, I may rethink Sprint or Nextel now if this Merger is for real.
 
Bob,

Quote form the Triangle Business Journal:

The Sprint Nextel merger is awaiting the blessings of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. Sprint said in Tuesday's filing that the merger has been approved by every required state regulatory agency.

Also stated was that the board of directors have been named for the new company. Go here for complete article:
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2005/05/23/daily14.html
 
The technologies of Sprint and Nextel are totally incompatible.  Sprint is a true cellular (CDMA) carrier while Nextel uses a radio based system with cellular characteristics.  There is no reason to believe that the two systems can, or will, be merged into one.  Nor is there any reason to believe that features of one system will be applied to the other.  More likely, one of the systems will be phased out and I think you can guess which one most likely to disappear or kept completely separate.

I wouldn't base any immediate buying decisions on this propsed merger.  They have a long way to go before it's done and we know the outcome for the customer.
 
Bob

The coverage on SPRINT has a lot of holes, NEXTEL is worse. Friend of my says he can't get a signal in downtown NYC. I thiink Verizon has the better coverage. The Cingular merger was more to aquire customer base rather than network expansion.

Nelson
 
The combined coverage of Sprint and Nextel does not equal Verizon.  And as Ned points out the technology is not compatible.  Before I left my post retirement job at Radio Shack I was informed that there were no near term plans to combine the services and that they would continue to be sold as separate products.  Radio Shack sells both Verizon and Sprint.  They would never say this publicly, but I can tell you privately that it is hard for a Radio Shack employee to sell a Sprint phone in good conscience.  Sprint does have MUCH less stringent credit criteria, so Sprint does make sense for someone not able to get by the high credit check bar at Verizon. This is just my personal opinion based on my own first hand observations.  I do not claim to know all there is to know on this subject and there may be other issues I am unaware of.  And I would not repeat my observations outside the framily.
 
Smoky said:
This is just my personal opinion based on my own first hand observations.? I do not claim to know all there is to know on this subject and there may be other issues I am unaware of.?

Thanks, Smoky, I appreciate your observations. Am currently checking out Verizon with their 15 day return policy using the LG6100. So far, the reception is much better than Cingular in this pocket area north east of Sacramento.
 
Ned said:
I wouldn't base any immediate buying decisions on this propsed merger.? They have a long way to go before it's done and we know the outcome for the customer.

Thanks, Ned. The fellow that runs my help desk switched Nextel because of the high volume of incoming calls from users. And he rarely travels so the no charge for incoming calls saves tons of air time for him. Looks like I will be a Verizon person. Am trying the LG6100 for 15 days to see how it goes -- and so far so good.
 
N Smock said:
The coverage on SPRINT has a lot of holes, NEXTEL is worse. Friend of my says he can't get a signal in downtown NYC. I thiink Verizon has the better coverage. The Cingular merger was more to aquire customer base rather than network expansion.

Thank you, Nelson. During the merger and now that it has happened, didn't Cingular and ATT share all of their towers?
 
Bob:

When I went out to Montana last week I upgraded one of my old Samsung 310s to the 6100 to get a MT area code.  I LOVE it so far!  What improvements in technology over the last 2 years! 

When my wife goes with me back to Montana in July we will be upgrading her 310 to a 6100 as well.  I spent about 2 hours in the Verizon store, asking as many questions as I do on this forum  ;D, and the only other phone I considered was the Motorola 710.  I am now glad I chose the 6100.  The voice commands are awesome and much more advanced than the old Samsung, and should make driving and phoning really safe.  I bought the headset and DC charger kit that goes with the 6100.  I also ordered the Mobile Office Kit for the 6100 via Internet and it arrived in 24 hours with FREE shipping.
 
Bob Buchanan said:
Looks like I will be a Verizon person. Am trying the LG6100 for 15 days to see how it goes -- and so far so good.

Don't forget, with Verizons free InNet calling, you can call all of your friends on Verizon without using plan minutes. ?There are a lot of us here with Verizon phones.
 
Which raises a question...

Does anyone know if there is a way, by looking at your Verizon phone when it rings, if the incoming call is from a Verizon network phone? 

I know most of my inward callers but not all.  Several times this past week i answered a call I wished I had answered later in the evening when it would have been free.  So far I am unable to tell from the phone display if the call is originating from a network qualified caller.  Should be easy enough for the manufacturers and Verizon to do, but it may be something they have not done.
 
Aye Karl, I think all these cell phones have designed obsolesce built into them.  From my short radio shack experience, I learned that the average lifetime of a cell battery is 1.5 to 2.5 years.  The median matches the upgrade contract term for the good deals.  So when it comes time to buy a new battery, the best choice is usually to upgrade to a new phone and start the cycle all over again.

I am resigned to 2 year cycles on computers and cell phones.  Just having trouble trying to figure out how to fit that into a jobless fulltimer budget heheh.  Maybe with Ron's Directway system installed I can extend out the cell phone repurchase another year.
 
Karl said:
. Just ordered one under the "New in Two" plan, so it doesn't cost anything, and my Motorola T720's battery is going South and won't hold a good charge anymore. 

Karl

That's always the best time to get a new one ;D ;D
 
Smoky said:
From my short radio shack experience, I learned that the average lifetime of a cell battery is 1.5 to 2.5 years.

Interesting Smoky, and it confirms what I used to see. One thing I now consciously do is remove my cell phone from the car so it doesn't get exposed to very high heat. That appears to have helped battery life to some extent.
 
Tom:

Thanks for the tip on hot vehicles.? Not a problem now but I can see where it will be when I begin to travel more.

I don't know what the battery for my new phone costs, but the old Samsung was $60 and now I can;
't even find them in the local store any more.

Another thing I learned from Radio Shack was that few brick and mortar stores carry accessories for anything but the most current phones.? The reason is that the many different makes and models are so numerous, that a store would go broke trying to maintain such a large inventory.? Many of the cell phone sales we used to make were from unhappy people who had been going from store to store trying to replace an accessory.? I felt sorry for them and guilty when we sold them a new phone.? I think we now live in a throw away world.? Products don't get fixed any more; they get thrown away.
 
Karl said:
Glad to hear your 6100's are working well. Just ordered one under the "New in Two" plan, so it doesn't cost anything, and my Motorola T720's battery is going South and won't hold a good charge anymore.? ?

That's great, Karl. At first I backed off the Verizon store recommendation of the 6100 because it seemed overkill for what I do. Also, was disappointed when I discovered how different the menu system was from the Nokias I've had over the year. And finally, later in the evening of the purchase, I almost decided to return it the next day. I figured I didn't need a super low res camera, I don't want to have the phone go on the Internet or do ANYthing that will create charges outside of my plan minutes -- and I can't think of anyone that when they call, I would want my phone to play Mozart's 5th - and see their picture on my display. :-\

Then I started playing with some of the features. And guess what, I got hooked on all the toys that are included. It's amazing how far these phones have come. I can see that it IS true that eventually, this little guy will do everything. Anyway, now I really like the phone and purchased a nice belt carrier for it today.
 
Same experience here Bob.

Regarding ring tones, I have set "When the Saints come marching in" for the guy who is buying my land and home.  He is literally a saint and so easy to deal with.  The Admiral was assigned that fanfare thing, so I hop to it when it rings.  But I am considering downloading a hen clucking if I end up hopping around too much.

The web is really not that expensive if you stay out of prime time.  I pay $5 a month for it.  I am embarrassed that my main use of it is to have it send me the final scores each day of the Oriole game.  Plan to do same for Raven games and Wizard games.  Getting ready for leaving my local area when I won't be able to see all these games LOL!  Web is also helpful in finding movies in strange towns.  Seriously I used this feature on my Samsung when I was out in nowhere in Idaho.  I found where Seabuiscuit was playing, a movie I badly wanted to see.

But yes, these are all toys. <g>
 
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