Sprint executive calls for end to device subsidies

Sprint executive calls for end to device subsidies.

In an address at NXTcomm on Thursday, Sprint President of 4G Barry West
lauded WiMAX's cost efficiency, but he said end-user costs still needed to
be driven lower. Toward that end, West called for an end to device
subsidies, which he said forced carriers to use long-term contracts. West
said that consumers would be so attracted to mobile WiMAX devices such as
laptops and portable media players that carriers would not need to pay for
them.

http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/..._wimax_062107/

On Jun 23, 8:40 am, DTC <no_spam@move_along_folks.foob> wrote:
> Sprint executive calls for end to device subsidies.
>
> In an address at NXTcomm on Thursday, Sprint President of 4G Barry West
> lauded WiMAX's cost efficiency, but he said end-user costs still needed to
> be driven lower. Toward that end, West called for an end to device
> subsidies, which he said forced carriers to use long-term contracts. West
> said that consumers would be so attracted to mobile WiMAX devices such as
> laptops and portable media players that carriers would not need to pay for
> them.
>
> http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/..._wimax_062107/

Of course he would say that when is customer base is collapsing..JG

DTC <no_spam@move_along_folks.foob> wrote:

>Sprint executive calls for end to device subsidies.
>
>In an address at NXTcomm on Thursday, Sprint President of 4G Barry West
>lauded WiMAX's cost efficiency, but he said end-user costs still needed to
>be driven lower. Toward that end, West called for an end to device
>subsidies, which he said forced carriers to use long-term contracts. West
>said that consumers would be so attracted to mobile WiMAX devices such as
>laptops and portable media players that carriers would not need to pay for
>them.
>
>http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/..._wimax_062107/

He could put his money where is mouth is by saying "Sprint will allow
its telephone suppliers to sell phones on the open market, without
locking, and we will allow any unlocked, CDMA, E911-capable phone to
be activated on our network, regardless of the network it was
originally sold for. Monthly rates will be reduced by $5 (or another
appropriate amount) for customers who bring their own phones, and also
for current Sprint customers after their contracts expire."

That would be consistent with what he claims to want, but I don't
think I'll hold my breath.

There are some points made that I agree with but then some things tend to
run contrary to that same idea

I don't know how many things you find in this address contradictory but I
sure found a lot of things either contradictory or extremely ironic -


Some of the things that really stuck out:

saying the iphone is great but needs a faster network connection - Sprint
has the fast network but bad phones

Don't subsidize phones - this would be great as it would create equilibrium
in purchasing but only if you were allowed to buy any phone (not just sprint
store phones) and use it on Sprint's network - Sprint can't get away with
this model with bad phones.

West speaks of cost efficiencies and driving down costs for end users - How
many people here think that WiMax is going to offer cheaper data plans than
we get now?

if carriers ... start locking them to high-priced contracts or limiting what
services they use or how they access the network...then customers will flee,
West said. Hmmm - isn't that what PAM contracts are?

WiMAX's QoS features to offer limited throughput to lower-spending
ustomers - wait didn't he just say limiting their services will cause
customers to flee?


Don't lock people in with contracts - I think this is a great idea!
"Jack Hamilton" <jfh@acm.org> wrote in message
news:u9o883dun35rdta58a6ku7kbrhr2v6btjv@4ax.com...
> DTC <no_spam@move_along_folks.foob> wrote:
>
>>Sprint executive calls for end to device subsidies.
>>
>>In an address at NXTcomm on Thursday, Sprint President of 4G Barry West
>>lauded WiMAX's cost efficiency, but he said end-user costs still needed to
>>be driven lower. Toward that end, West called for an end to device
>>subsidies, which he said forced carriers to use long-term contracts. West
>>said that consumers would be so attracted to mobile WiMAX devices such as
>>laptops and portable media players that carriers would not need to pay for
>>them.
>>
>>http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/..._wimax_062107/
>
> He could put his money where is mouth is by saying "Sprint will allow
> its telephone suppliers to sell phones on the open market, without
> locking, and we will allow any unlocked, CDMA, E911-capable phone to
> be activated on our network, regardless of the network it was
> originally sold for. Monthly rates will be reduced by $5 (or another
> appropriate amount) for customers who bring their own phones, and also
> for current Sprint customers after their contracts expire."
>
> That would be consistent with what he claims to want, but I don't
> think I'll hold my breath.