Sprint head thinks $15.5 billion iPhone deal was the right decision, does not regret it

Sprint’s chief executive, Dan Hesse, is the person who argued that without the iPhone the carrier simply wouldn’t be competitive, and finally last year, Sprint got it. But carrying the iPhone came with a hefty price. It’s $15.5 billion over four years, all cash that Sprint has committed to Apple agreeing that it’d sell a certain number of devices and an immense investment. Add to that the fact that Sprint is spending billions on deploying its own 4G LTE network in place of the failed WiMAX attempt, and the costs start to really look huge.

Nearly a nine months after Sprint got it, does Sprint’s head Dan Hesse regret it got the iPhone? iPhone sales have helped the carrier gain subscribers, but can’t match the rate at which the iPhone sells at AT&T and Verizon. Hesse says he doesn’t regret getting the iPhone and it was just too good of a deal to pass on.

“I think the number-one thing was getting the call from Apple that they were interested in at least having the opportunity,” Hesse said. “We saw no reason to bet against Apple… Today, looking back, I think it was the right decision.”

As always, on a different note, Hesse also stressed that Verizon and AT&T have grown way too big and command a duopoly in the United States. Sprint has around 50 million subscribers compared to more than 90 million for AT&T and Verizon, and that’s a huge gap.

“The industry has to deal with the issue of the duopoly,” Hesse said. “The gap beween the number two and number three players is enormous. We always have been and always will be open to further consolidation, as long as it isn’t AT&T or Verizon Wireless.”



source: AllThingsD