OVERVIEW
Sprint Corporation , including its consolidated subsidiaries, is a communications company offering a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications products and services that are designed to meet the needs of individual consumers, businesses, government subscribers, and resellers. Unless the context otherwise requires, references to "Sprint," "we," "us," "our" and the "Company" meanSprint Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries for all periods presented, and references to "Sprint Communications " are toSprint Communications, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Description of the Company We are a large wireless communications company in theU.S. , as well as a provider of wireline services. Our services are provided through our ownership of extensive wireless networks, an all-digital global wireline network and a Tier 1 Internet backbone. We offer wireless and wireline services to subscribers in all 50 states,Puerto Rico , and theU.S. Virgin Islands under the Sprint corporate brand, which includes our retail brands of Sprint®, Boost Mobile®, Virgin Mobile®, and Assurance Wireless® on our wireless networks utilizing various technologies including third generation (3G) code division multiple access (CDMA) and fourth generation (4G) services utilizing Long Term Evolution (LTE). In 2019, Sprint launched fifth generation (5G) service in nine major cities, which is supported by our available 2.5 GHz spectrum. We utilize these networks to offer our wireless subscribers differentiated products and services through the use of a single network or a combination of these networks. Business Combination Agreement OnApril 29, 2018 , we announced that we entered into a Business Combination Agreement with T-Mobile US, Inc. (T-Mobile) to merge in an all-stock transaction for a fixed exchange ratio of 0.10256 of T-Mobile shares for each Sprint share, or the equivalent of 9.75 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share (Merger Transaction). Immediately following the Merger Transaction, Deutsche Telekom AG andSoftBank Group Corp. are expected to hold approximately 42% and 27% of fully-diluted shares of the combined company, respectively, with the remaining 31% of the fully-diluted shares of the combined company held by public stockholders. The board of directors will consist of 14 directors, of which nine will be nominated by Deutsche Telekom AG, four will be nominated bySoftBank Group Corp. , and the final director will be the CEO of the combined company. The combined company will be named T-Mobile. The Merger Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including certain state and federal regulatory approvals. Sprint and T-Mobile completed the Hart-Scott-Rodino filing with theDepartment of Justice (DOJ ) onMay 24, 2018 . OnJune 18, 2018 , the parties filed with theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) the merger applications, including the Public Interest Statement. OnJuly 18, 2018 , the FCC accepted the applications for filing and established a public comment period for the Merger Transaction. The formal comment period concluded onOctober 31, 2018 . OnMay 20, 2019 , to facilitate theFCC's review and approval of the FCC license transfers associated with the proposed Merger Transaction, we and T-Mobile filed with the FCC a written ex parte presentation (the Presentation) relating to the proposed Merger Transaction. The Presentation included proposed commitments from us and T-Mobile. OnOctober 16, 2019 , the FCC voted to approve the Merger Transaction. The Merger Transaction received clearance from theCommittee on Foreign Investment inthe United States onDecember 17, 2018 . OnJuly 26, 2019 , the DOJ and five State Attorneys General filed an action in theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia that would resolve their objections to the Merger Transaction. Since then, five additional states have joined the DOJ action. The Merger Transaction has received approval from 18 of the 19 state public utility commissions. The parties are awaiting further regulatory approvals and resolution of litigation filed by the Attorneys General of 13 states and theDistrict of Columbia seeking to block the Merger Transaction. The parties to the Business Combination Agreement extended the Outside Date (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) toNovember 1, 2019 , or, if the Marketing Period (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) is in effect at such time, then the Outside Date will beJanuary 2, 2020 . AfterNovember 1, 2019 , Sprint and T-Mobile each have a right under the Business Combination Agreement to terminate that agreement at any time because the Merger Transaction was not completed as of that date. Also, onJuly 26, 2019 , Sprint and T-Mobile announced agreements with DISH Network Corporation (DISH) in which new T-Mobile will divest Sprint's prepaid businesses (excluding the Assurance brand Lifeline customers and the prepaid wireless customers of Shenandoah Telecommunications Company andSwiftel Communications, Inc. ) and Sprint's 800 MHz spectrum assets to DISH for a total of approximately$5.0 billion . Additionally, upon the closing of the divestiture transaction, new T-Mobile will provide DISH wireless customers access to its network for up to seven years and offer standard transition services arrangements to DISH during a transition period of up to three years. DISH will also have an 44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
option to take on leases for certain cell sites and retail locations that are decommissioned by the new T-Mobile, subject to any assignment restrictions. Under the terms of the arrangement, Sprint appointed individuals, subject to approval by the DOJ, to oversee the prepaid assets and maintain complete managerial responsibility, including the ability to make all business decisions relating to the operations of the prepaid assets independent of Sprint and T-Mobile. In connection with the execution of the firm agreements by and between DISH and the Company, as well as the agreements with the DOJ as outlined in the Proposed Final Judgment and Stipulation and Order, Sprint has not lost a controlling financial interest in its prepaid assets. The transactions with DISH are contingent on the successful closing of T-Mobile's merger with Sprint among other closing conditions. Leases The Company adopted Leases (Topic 842) beginning onApril 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective transition method. See Note 7. Leases in Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part I, Item 1. of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for additional information related to operating and financing leases, including qualitative and quantitative disclosures required under Topic 842. The impact to our consolidated financial statements of adopting Topic 842 is presented in Note 2. New Accounting Pronouncements in Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part I, Item 1. of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Wireless We offer wireless services on a postpaid and prepaid payment basis to retail subscribers and also on a wholesale basis, which includes the sale of wireless services that utilize the Sprint network but are sold under the wholesaler's brand. Postpaid In our postpaid portfolio, we offer several price plans for both consumer and business subscribers. Many of our price plans include unlimited talk, text and data or allow subscribers to purchase monthly data allowances. We also offer family plans that include multiple lines of service under one account. Under the Sprint brand, we currently offer our devices through leasing and installment billing programs, and within limited plan offerings devices may be subsidized in exchange for a service contract. Our Sprint branded leasing and installment billing programs do not require a long-term service contract but offer devices tied to service plans at lower monthly rates when compared to subsidy plans. The installment billing program requires the subscriber to pay full or a discounted retail price based on promotional activities for the device over the installment period. The leasing program requires the subscriber to pay a rental fee over the lease term. InJuly 2017 , we introduced the Sprint Flex program, which gives customers the opportunity to enjoy their phone before deciding what option (upgrade, continue leasing, return or buy) works best for their lifestyle. Depending on device type, certain leases carry an option to upgrade to a new device annually prior to expiration of the lease. The terms of our lease and installment billing contracts require that customers maintain service otherwise the balance of the remaining contractual obligation on the device is due upon termination of their service. The subsidy program, which has been de-emphasized, requires a long-term service contract and allows a subscriber to purchase a device generally at a discount. In our non-Sprint branded postpaid plan, we offer devices through an installment billing program while requiring service to be purchased on a prepaid basis. The majority of Sprint's current handset activations occur on our Sprint Flex leasing program. Prepaid Our prepaid portfolio currently includes multiple brands, each designed to appeal to specific subscriber uses and demographics. Additionally, a subsidy program is available within certain prepaid plan offerings. In our indirect channel, customers who activate service under certain prepaid plan offerings are able to purchase devices at a discount. Boost Mobile primarily serves subscribers that are looking for value without data limits.Virgin Mobile primarily serves subscribers that are looking to optimize spend but need solutions that offer control, flexibility and connectivity through various plans with high speed data options. InJanuary 2020 , we discontinuedVirgin Mobile service and have started transferring existing customers to the Boost Mobile brand. Under the Assurance Wireless brand, we provide service to Lifeline eligible subscribers (for whom it seeks reimbursement from the federalUniversal Service Fund ) and subscribers who have lost their Lifeline eligibility and retainAssurance Wireless retail service. The Lifeline program requires applicants to meet certain eligibility requirements and existing subscribers must recertify as to those requirements annually. Wholesale We have focused our wholesale business on allowing our diverse network of customers to successfully grow their business by providing them with an array of network, product, and device solutions. This allows our customers to customize this full suite of value-added solutions to meet the growing demands of their businesses. As part of these growing demands, 45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
some of our wholesale mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) are also selling prepaid services under the Lifeline program. We continue to support the open development of applications, content, and devices on the Sprint network. In addition, we enable a variety of business and consumer third-party relationships through our portfolio of machine-to-machine solutions, which we offer on a retail postpaid and wholesale basis. Our machine-to-machine solutions portfolio provides a secure, real-time and reliable wireless two-way data connection across a broad range of connected devices. Wireline We provide a suite of wireline communication services to other communications companies and targeted business customers. In addition, our Wireline segment provides data and IP communication services to our Wireless segment. We provide long distance services and operate all-digital global long distance and Tier 1 IP networks. Business Strategies and Key Priorities Our business strategy is to be responsive to changing customer mobility demands of existing and potential customers, and to expand our business into new areas of customer value and economic opportunity through innovation and differentiation. To help lay the foundation for these future growth opportunities, our strategy revolves around targeted investment in the following key priority areas: • our Next-Gen network plan will deliver competitive coverage, faster speeds and more capacity;
• create a compelling unlimited value proposition;
• provide the best digital customer experience; and
• engage our employees by making Sprint a great place to work.
While the Company launched 5G in select cities in the first half of 2019 and we plan to continue to invest in our network during the next few years, many of the underlying service quality, scale, and financial challenges remain. We aim to use our spectrum to build our 5G network on 2.5 GHz spectrum. See Network below for more information regarding our network plans and potential challenges to our rollout of 5G. We aim to create a compelling unlimited value proposition by leveraging our spectrum holdings while remaining the price leader on Unlimited plan offerings and taking our brand to the next level. We plan to continue to invest in digital capabilities and artificial intelligence to improve the customer experience. We are focused on finding the right balance between physical and digital retail to serve customers wherever and whenever they want. We have recruited leaders in our industry from around the globe and employ an organizational focus to ensure Sprint has a work environment employees recommend. Network We continue to increase coverage and capacity by densifying and evolving our existing network toward 5G. Densification, which includes increasing the number of small cells and antennas, is intended to enhance coverage and capacity across the network. We are also deploying new technologies, such as Massive MIMO and carrier aggregation, which allows us to move more data at faster speeds over the same spectrum and eventually migrate customers to an all IP network, supporting both Voice over LTE and data. Additionally, our tri-band devices, including those with 5G capabilities, allows us to manage and operate our network more efficiently and at a lower cost. We have continued to see positive results from these infrastructure upgrades in keyU.S. markets. While Sprint will build 5G in a number of cities throughout the country, its current 5G build plans will result in coverage that is limited to major cities and the surrounding areas rather than coverage that blankets the entire geography ofthe United States . Sprint's ability to expand its 5G network footprint outside of metro areas will be limited by its financial resources, lack of scale and access to low-band spectrum. Moreover, Sprint plans to focus on creating a 5G ecosystem for smartphones and other mobile devices rather than stationary devices. The 2.5 GHz spectrum band carries the highest percentage of Sprint's LTE data traffic. We have significant additional capacity to grow the use of our 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings into the future. Sprint believes it is well-positioned with spectrum holdings of more than 160 MHz of 2.5 GHz spectrum in the top 100 markets in theU.S. Sprint's spectrum holdings allow us to introduce 5G in parallel with 4G service over the same 2.5 GHz spectrum band, supporting the early introduction of 5G devices without disrupting the capacity needed to support our 4G users. Overall, our densification and introduction of 5G technologies are expected to continue to enhance the customer experience by adding data capacity, increasing the wireless data speeds available to our customers, and improving network performance for both voice and data services, especially in the geographic areas where 5G will be provided. In the event the 46
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
Merger Transaction is not completed, our ability to provide a nationwide network capable of competing effectively with other competitors in the wireless industry will depend on our access to, and deployment of, adequate low-band spectrum, which we may not be able to obtain. As part of the evolution of our existing network toward 5G, we plan to modify our existing backhaul architecture to enable increased capacity to our network at a lower cost by either negotiating lower vendor pricing for existing Ethernet technology or replacing Ethernet with fiber. We expect to incur termination costs associated with Ethernet contractual commitments with third-party vendors ranging between approximately$25 million to$50 million , of which the majority are expected to be incurred byDecember 31, 2020 . As previously announced, in 2019 Sprint launched 5G service in nine major cities. Once 5G-compatible equipment is in place and activated, customers in those cities will have access to Sprint's 5G network if they are in range of a cell site that has been equipped with a 5G radio supported by available 2.5 GHz spectrum and have a 5G-capable device. As more and more sites are 5G-enabled, customers in those areas will be able to have an increasing percentage of their mobile experiences on 5G rather than on LTE or 3G. If the Merger Transaction with T-Mobile is not completed, it is expected that Sprint will not be able to deploy a nationwide 5G network on the same scale and on the same timeline as the combined company. For example, Sprint's standalone 5G network would be geographically limited to major cities and surrounding areas due to both Sprint's limited current network footprint on which to build 5G sites and the cost of utilizing 2.5 GHz spectrum for 5G. Significant changes to the Company's network deployment and business plans could negatively impact the Company's forecast of future operating results, which could result in asset impairments in future periods.
© Edgar Online, source