CTIA Wireless 2011 is one we’ll remember thanks to the March 20 news of AT&T’s planned acquisition of T-Mobile USA. Those two operators dominated headlines, as did Verizon Wireless to some degree simply by association, leaving Sprint as the lone national operator out. But Sprint made its presence known in more ways than one.
On Tuesday, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse took the stage as the current chairman of CTIA to highlight the progress of the U.S. wireless industry – and make a plug for spectrum as the oxygen the industry needs. (He also said that by January 2012, all U.S. cellular phones will have a common micro USB interface to allow for universal power chargers. Time will tell…)
Hesse, in the spirit of “mixing it up” for the audience, also got in a few well-timed zingers during the keynote roundtable that CNBC’s Jim Cramer moderated. After AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega ticked off reasons for the acquisition to go through, including the ability to bring 4G LTE to more than 95 percent of the country, Hesse referenced the 4G definition battle going on and teased that he thought they – AT&T and T-Mobile – already had 4G. When Cramer complained to de la Vega about screens that freeze and asked who’s to blame, Hesse good-naturedly pointed out that Cramer earlier had revealed he’s on Verizon Wireless’ network. So, there you have it.
At one point during the discussion, Hesse gave props to his competitor – de la Vega & Company – and Apple for putting the U.S. in the driver’s seat. The U.S. is now in the lead in 4G, and the iPhone phenomenon really started it, priming the market for the data craze. Then, of course, Google got into the act with Android and the U.S. has changed the landscape even more dramatically in three or four short years. If Microsoft’s arrangement with Nokia is successful, it will be good for consumers by way of providing another choice in OS, he said.
Between all of this and that, Hesse also signaled Sprint’s concerns the AT&T/T-Mobile deal would stifle innovation and put too much power into the hands of two. If AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile does go through in some iteration, it’s not clear where that leaves Sprint other than in deep trouble. Under Hesse’s leadership, the carrier has made great strides in turning the ship around. But last week’s news was so surprising, Sprint likely didn’t have a chance to do any in-depth “strategizing.” Today, Sprint came out with a strongly worded statement stating its opposition and urging the government to block the deal.
Hesse did note during the discussion last week that the important thing for Sprint is to differentiate itself in the minds of end users, and part of that has to do with simplicity. Years ago, Hesse himself wore the AT&T Wireless logo (before, you know, some of these mergers & acquisitions) and that carrier had come up with the then-famously popular Digital One Rate, which set off a new pricing model in the industry.
Outside the keynotes, Sprint introduced the HTC EVO 3D (no glasses required) smartphone and the HTC EVO View 4G tablet. It also got together with Google to announce that a new integrated Google Voice experience will be incorporated in future Sprint CDMA phones. That means customers can set their existing Sprint wireless phone number as their Google Voice number without any number porting. The Nexus S 4G from Samsung, coming this spring and running Android 2.3/Gingerbread, will come preloaded with the Google Voice Android app.
While we’re on the topic of topics-not-solely-about-the-acquisition-but-also-everything-is-related-to-it, let’s not forget LightSquared. It’s introducing its share of turbulence in the market. CEO Sanjiv Ahuja promised to transform the industry with LightSquared’s nationwide wholesale-only LTE network + satellite, so we’ll have to see how that works out for Sprint and its majority-owned Clearwire.
Cramer also asked the operator executives if they considered the likes of Google, Twitter, Microsoft, Netflix and Facebook to be friends, foes or maybe frenemies. For the most part, the executives said they’re all friends, but if Facebook were to hook up with an operator – like LightSquared – and go more head to head with operators, then it would be more along the lines of a frenemy, de la Vega said.
As for Netflix – one little company that is “rocking this world,” according to Cramer and others – Hesse said he still thinks of Netflix as a friend, as is anyone that drives content over mobile, but what will be important over time is if the business models make sense for both carriers and content providers. That’s an issue that still needs to be worked out.
All of this is just to say – buckle your seatbelts. It’s going to be bumpy and crazy ride.