With AT&T buying T-Mobile, there are three national carriers left in the USA. Sprint’s the odd man out now. As a current Sprint user, I think they need to do 3 things in order to stay competitive:
1. Switch from WiMax to LTE yesterday. They need to get themselves onto the same data network as the other providers. Verizon learned from the mistake that is CDMA, and now Sprint needs to as well. When the entire world uses one standard using anything else hurts you. AT&T’s spent a long time being a favorite with travelers. Although they’re not a huge market share, they’re out there. LTE is going to be the new GSM, and although WiMax has it’s advantages, LTE will win.
2. Become the “anything but iPhone” provider. With AT&T and Verizon both having the iPhone, there’s already people calling Sprint a dead man walking. If Sprint can’t get the iPhone, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to become the niche for people that don’t want an iPhone. Get the latest and greatest Android, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, and Nokia smartphones, and they have a chance of being what AT&T was before the iPhone existed: Maybe not the best, but definitely had the best selection of phones. Just having the phones isn’t enough, though…
3. Become the nerd’s paradise. With AT&T and Verizon both becoming more and more restrictive on their data plans, Sprint needs to go in the opposite direction if they want to stay afloat. They always promise there won’t be data caps, soft caps, throttling, etc, and that’s good. Next is including tethering for free on smartphones that support it, either USB or wireless. Tethering is a growing demand, and if they can shout from the roof tops that theirs is free and the other guys charge an EXTRA $30 on top of the data plan, they’ll turn enough heads. Grow this out to being more open and friendly to the jailbreaking/rooting/”I want full control of my phone” community, and they’re a bastion for nerds and geeks. We already have seen that where we go is where the public eventually ends up with gadgetry, and grassroots effort can work wonders if done right.
