Sprint Needs to Fix Its Foundation, CEO Says

essentially “a merger of equals,” Claure said at Wells Fargo conference. “It came down to Masa wasn’t prepared to relinquish control of Sprint.” SoftBank wanted to maintain control of a player in the “largest market,” he said. Executives with T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom pushed for the deal but were unable to convince Son, Claure said. Claure said he was able to convince the SoftBank board, on which he serves, that Sprint has a “bright future” and would continue to grow its customer base. “We’ve proven that we have the ability to add customers,” he said. “We’ve proven that we can take costs out.” The talks weren't a waste, he said: “It was a fascinating experience, for the first time getting to know and meet the T-Mobile management team.” Claure views the Altice mobile virtual network operator deal as a test case for further wireless/cable integration. “It’s very different than a traditional MVNO,” he said. “We have full access to Altice’s backhaul, we have full access to cable infrastructure.” The deal will help Sprint expand in markets like New York, he said. “We’ve said it very publicly, we believe eventually there is going to need to be a tie-up between a telco and cable,” he said. Claure said Sprint will “dramatically increase” its capital expenditures next year to the $5 billion-$6 billion range. “We’re going to spend more if possible,” he said. Sprint wants to “accelerate” its network buildout and recognizes it needs to install more macro cell towers, he said. the carrier plans to put its 800 MHz, 1.9 and 2.5 GHz spectrum on all of its towers, many of which today only carry 2.5 GHz spectrum, he said. “I want to make sure that we fix the foundation.” T-Mobile didn't comment.