Author Topic: Could Ting falter if Sprint doesn't upgrade its network?  (Read 1886 times)

PantsOnFire

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Could Ting falter if Sprint doesn't upgrade its network?
« on: December 05, 2013, 12:21:03 PM »
I've been a satisfied Sprint cellular customer for over 10 years.  While the Sprint network doesn't have the widest coverage, it's excellent where I live and work, and it has always been priced competitively against the other "big" providers.  Since I've been quite happy with the network and I already own Sprint devices, I've been considering the switch to Ting, which could save me $80-90 a month. 

My biggest concern is that Ting is at the mercy of Sprint's network--if Sprint doesn't respond to increasing network demands, both Sprint and Ting users *could* see a decline in quality.  I know that Ting is aggressively marketing to AT&T and Verizon customers right now (free $5 Starbucks card just for letting Ting analyze your account and show you how much you can save,) which begs the question, what would happen if hundreds of thousands of people made the switch?  Those people would be brand new to the network. 

Is Sprint's network already robust enough to handle a serious influx of new customers?  Would they impose some sort of cap on the number of customers Ting can bring in?  Would they upgrade their network?  Would Ting have to pay a higher rate for usage of the Sprint network?  Would they do nothing, and leave the users of Sprint and Ting (and any other MVNAs on their network) out in the cold with crappy service? 

I don't know the answers to any of these questions.  As a potential Ting customer and current TCX stockholder, I'm really interested in knowing where things might be headed. 

Daley

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Re: Could Ting falter if Sprint doesn't upgrade its network?
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2013, 02:53:59 PM »
First, I should point out that at least a third of Sprint's user-base is via in-house and third party MVNOs, IIRC (can't find the statistics currently), and SoftBank is pushing further into the MVNO territory.

Second, MVNOs aren't a huge business and they're still more niche because people prefer to whinge about their bills and contracts, and I doubt you'd ever see those sorts of influx numbers on the Sprint network in general, let alone Ting. Ting as of mid-2013 only has 25,000 subscribers total.

Third, since Ting has a roaming deal with Verizon, even if their business grew that big in the first place to where there might be Sprint reliability issues, it might be worth it for them to negotiate a transition over to Verizon as the primary carrier.

Fourth, if Sprint can justify building out the network further to support more customers, it'll happen, otherwise they'll likely get sold off and absorbed by either Verizon or AT&T (or yet another foreign telecom); at which point Ting might either have to transition to Verizon anyway or pull the plug if Sprint disappeared entirely.

Fifth, if it came to it, Tucows is sufficiently transparent with their Ting operations, customer friendly and responsible enough that I would seriously doubt they'd just pull the plug and go dark like a lot of smaller MVNOs do. They'll probably give notice to port out with a deadline if that sort of situation came about.

Sixth and final, Sprint coverage and reception in general already has a pretty low bar reliability wise in most areas. I'm sure it could get worse than it already is, but there's not many areas where they're top dog on coverage and quality. With expectations already set low with a lot of folks, I'm not sure it really matters. ;)

From those points reach your own conclusions.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2013, 02:55:48 PM by I.P. Daley »