Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure on Tuesday said at an investor conference the carrier plans to ramp up its capital investment spending in the future, but warned it won’t be throwing cash at its network willy nilly.
According to Claure, Sprint will increase capex, but he said spending levels will never return to their previous heights.
“We’ve proven you don’t need to spend the crazy amount of billions of dollars to build an amazing network,” Claure said. “Now, as we densify out network, yes, we’re going to increase our capex and yes, we’re going to increase our opex, but never to the tune of the way it has been done in the past.”
“We’re being real smart on how we deploy our network,” he continued. “We’re going to be very disciplined to make sure we’re building a great product, attracting customers while at the same time don’t overinvest: be smart on how we invest our money.”
Claure’s comments addressed a major concern raised by analysts and investors after the carrier announced plans earlier this year to allot just $3 billion for capital expenditures for the full year.
Analysts expressed concerns that Sprint’s spending levels would leave it lagging behind other carriers, but Sprint countered by saying it has simply found smarter ways to deploy network technology without spending big bucks.
But Claure on Tuesday also offered Sprint’s perspective on a wide range of other topics. Highlights are below.
On Targeting Verizon Customers
Sprint came out swinging against Verizon earlier this summer when it snagged the rival’s former spokesman for itself. The carrier has also been targeting families on Verizon’s network with aggressive promotional offers. Why? Because Verizon has the customers Sprint wants.
“A prime customer will stay with you about two and half times more than a sub-prime customer,” Claure said. “So there’s a reason why our marketing campaign targets one specific carrier, which is the biggest one…That is because Verizon has a large amount of families that are prime. And if you can capture that, which is what we want – prime families are more than individuals with a single line – you start seeing the business provide a very different life customer value and profitability changes.”
On Continuing Sprint’s 50 Percent Off Promo
Almost a year into its 50 percent off promotion, Sprint apparently doesn’t see any reason to mess with a good thing just yet.
“We know we have to get off 50 percent off once we reach a certain point….(but) I’m not sure I want to get off the 50 percent off (plan) throughout the holiday season,” Claure said. “We’ll figure it out after the holiday season, because I think we have a really good value proposition.”
On Sprint’s Plan for Data Tiers
According to Claure, customers have asked for an option that gives them a single, fixed bill without the complexitiy of trying to trach gigabyte usage. And Sprint plans to deliver.
“We want to massively simplify our business by moving to three rate plans,” Claure said. “An entry plan, an Unlimited Freedom and an unlimited premium.”
Claure said he’s been surprised by how quickly people have been loading into Sprint’s unlimited plan, but could not provide a timeline for Sprint to fully load into its new structure.
Filed Under: Infrastructure
