Sprint may be acquired by Japan's SoftBank

yeah, they got an ace somewhere

I disagree, it was only last year they announced Network Vision and are expected to be completely finished by end of 2013... according to their last quarterly report, they are beating expectations and turning on anywhere from 25 - 60 towers with LTE a day out of 38,000. They will also have 100 markets launched in the next few motnhs. This is actually one of the fastest rollouts I've ever seen and almost double that of AT&T considering their rate of progress. Furthermore, They don't need the japanese, they are only likely considering the offer which isn't worth it for $20 billion. Sprint is worth about $15 billion more then that if you consider all their assets and revenue.

True dat. Sprints balance sheet reports nearly$50B. No way would they consider a $15B bid. Also the city where i live and a few surrounding towns already have consistent 25+mbps lte. Im just waiting for them to flip the switch where i go to school. I have gotten 4g there but its gone as i write this.

True...however I would believe that many people (analysts, critics, etc.) would focus more on the fact that AT&T and Verizon have more LTE markets than Sprint, and they are too little too late to catch up. I do still see potential in Sprint, but they will not only need good-quality phones (other than the S III, of course), but a strong focus on providing customer satisfaction and reliable networks. Rolling out these LTE markets is a start; they just have to stay focused and keep working at making things better.

Yea, its true they have a larger and faster LTE network at this time, but LTE on a 2-3gb data limit is like having a Ferrari with only 2 gallon gas tank capacity, it may get you there fast, but it wont get you far.

I think they're covered on the good quality phones. Evo LTE(better than the One X), Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Photon Q for the qwerty crowd, iPhone4, 4S and 5 and the aforementioned GS3. The only deficiency is Windows Phone devices in which I believe they have 2. They are in the midst of Network Vision so that is their focus on reliable networks. Also, customer service in which J.D. Power just awarded Sprint a customer service champion award last year.http://phandroid.com/2011/02/17/sprint-receives-customer-service-champion-award-from-j-d-power/ I'd say they're pretty much right on track with everything you mentioned.

thunder18, your post pretty much sums up the fact that Sprint is on the right track. They will prove all the haters wrong next year.

Da fuq? Did I just read?

Yes, Pearl Harbor really prepared them for Mobile phones. Are they going to beat other carriers by bombing them while they sleep too?

I remember that too! Only, in my day, we didn't call it World War II, we called it The Great War Episode 2: America is the Best Country to Ever Exist. Boy, I'm so glad the Japanese military of 1941-45 is taking over the Sprint of 2012, maybe that'll knock some sense into 'em, daggummit!

actually I think AT&t would welcome it. They could then proudly claim (and correctly) that they are the only US Carrier not owned by an overseas company.

It's an interesting point, but it's not like Sprint is going and buying up a bunch of regional carriers to consolidate and enlarge it's position in an effort to make itself a virtual monopoly... If AT&T had gotten away with the T-Mobile purchase, they could for all intents and purposes set market trends they way they want them rather than natural market competition forcing them to conform to their competition.

Cause German is Europe and Sofbank is Asia...we all know the story...hahaha

That was a bunch of small (real small) regional. Aerial, Voicestream boom T mobile never hit 50 million probably not even 40 Sprint was well towards 60million before the f'ed up the Nextel merger. Even Vodafone was not allowed more then 45% of VZW