What does this mean for Sprint Subscribers? Free international calls to Japan? Who knows. SoftBank is a Japanese company but that doesn’t mean that their going to merge their networks. Sprint Subscribers probably won’t have anything much different. Japanese management doesn’t mean better, just different. Now if SoftBank could could increase download speeds, or offer an international plan that covers not just the US and Japan but the world, now that would be something to boast about. As I see it now, its just the changing of the guard, but at the end of the day, its still the same guard.
Should AT&T and Verizon be worried about about Sprints new global partner. Not really. Even if SoftBank and Sprint merge their networks, their only capturing a niche market of Japan/US business men or students or expats. The market that everyone should be looking at is China, India and Brazil. That’s where the real business is happening. The first carrier to integrate all 4 countries will rule them all. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out where all the money is coming from and where to set up shop. Just takes a leader.
-Michael Noverre
