斯普林特能否在夹缝中生存下去？

    斯普林特（Sprint）是美国第四大电信运营商，多年以来，它一直在苦苦寻找能使自己盈利的细分市场。该公司耗资数十亿美元构建了一个4G的WiMAX网络，但却未能成功盈利。此外斯普林特的客户也在流失（即许多客户与公司解约），而且它的客服口碑也不尽如人意。假设反垄断监管机构最终批准了美国电话电报公司（AT&T）对T-Mobile USA的收购，那么斯普林特在美国市场上的排名虽然升至第三位，但它将陷入更加不利的地位，远远落后于并购后排名第一的美国电话电报公司/ T-Mobile和排名第二的威瑞森无线（Verizon Wireless）。

    斯普林特最大的阻碍之一，就是未能成功确定4G战略。不过事实上，总部位于堪萨斯州的斯普林特公司恰恰是第一家在美国推出4G网络的电信运营商，这要归功于该公司斥巨资构建的WiMAX网络。不过现在威瑞森无线和美国电话电报公司公司都已经致力于长期演进技术（LTE）的研究，这是一种与WiMAX相竞争的第四代电信技术。随着T-Mobile被美国电话电报公司收归旗下，LTE也将在美国移动用户中变得更加普及。

    Forrester Research分析师查尔斯•戈尔文认为：“WiMAX显然不会是未来的主导技术，因此对于许多想要更高的网络带宽的客户来说，LTE将是比WiMAX更可靠的替代技术。而其中一些客户所在的细分市场正是斯普林特亟待打入的市场。”

    一旦LTE技术变得无处不在，企业客户和个人客户也会想在他们的移动设备上享受类似宽带的网速，届时斯普林特将更难取得大的成功。因为大型跨国公司希望其经常出差的员工所配备的技术和产品，在世界其它地区也同样有效。

    Forrester公司的戈尔文表示：“在其现有的CDMA网络下，斯普林特并不具备这种能力。在WiMAX网络下，它仍然不具备这种能力。”像斯普林特一样，威瑞森公司也运营CDMA网络，不过不同的是威瑞森已经开始构建其LTE网络了。而斯普林特是否会调头进军LTE？如果答案是肯定的，那么它何时进军LTE？斯普林特还没有就这些问题给出回答。不过随着T-Mobile被收购，斯普林特肯定会面临更大的压力，促使它转向LTE技术。

    美国电话电报公司上周日的声明让许多人感到措手不及。因为就在几天前，还有传言称斯普林特可能与T-Mobile进行合并。

    美国电话电报公司在上周日发布的新闻稿中表示：“美国无线通信业是世界上竞争最为激烈的市场之一，在这起收购之后也仍将如此。世界上只有少数几个国家的本地市场有五个以上的无线运营商可供大多数消费者进行选择，而美国就是其中之一。”

    如果美国电话电报公司成功收购了T-Mobile，这将意味着在美国市场上，每四个无线用户之中，就有三个是美国电话电报公司或威瑞森的用户。在我看来，届时美国市场更像一个双头垄断市场，而不是什么“竞争激烈的市场”。

    斯普林特在客户维系、客户服务和产品阵容方面已经有了进步，此外它还试图在定价上超越其他规模较大的竞争对手。不过面对威瑞森和强强联手的美国电话电报公司/T-Mobile，这些小的进步还不足以使斯普林特生存下去。斯普林特真正需要的是一个能够改变游戏规则的法宝，一些其它运营商提供不了的东西。

    译者：朴成奎

    Sprint (S), the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, has struggled to find its niche for years. It spent billions of dollars building out a WiMAX 4G network that has failed to pay off. It's also battled customer losses (a.k.a. churn in industry lingo) and a reputation for less-than-stellar customer service. Assuming AT&T's (T) acquisition of T-Mobile makes it through anti-trust regulators, Sprint will be forced into an even further weakened position as the number three U.S. carrier, way behind AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless (VZ).

    One of Sprint's biggest hurdles has been figuring out a 4G strategy. The Kansas-based carrier was actually the first U.S. operator to launch a 4G network, thanks to the expensive WiMAX buildout. But both Verizon Wireless and AT&T have already committed to LTE, a competing fourth-generation technology. With T-Mobile under AT&T's fold, LTE will have even greater reach to U.S. mobile users.

    "WiMAX was clearly not going to be the dominant technology going forward," says Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. "This is going to make LTE technology more viable as an alternative for many customers trying to get broadband to their homes, some in markets that Sprint was aiming to address."

    If (or more likely, when) LTE becomes ubiquitous, it will be even harder for Sprint to score big wins among enterprise customers as well as everyday consumers looking for broadband-like speeds on their mobile devices. That's because large, multinational companies want to arm mobile employees with technologies and products that work in the rest of the world.

    "Sprint doesn't have that with its current CDMA network and they don't have that with WiMAX," says Forrester's Golvin. Like Sprint, Verizon phones also run on CDMA networks, but unlike Sprint, Verizon has already started building out LTE. If and when Sprint migrates to LTE is a question mark the company hasn't yet answered, but the T-Mobile acquisition will definitely put more pressure on the carrier to do so.

    AT&T's announcement on Sunday came as a surprise to many. Just days before, rumors circulated about a possible merger between Sprint and T-Mobile.

    "The U.S. wireless industry is one of the most fiercely competitive markets in the world and will remain so after this deal," AT&T said in a press release on Sunday. "The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world where a large majority of consumers can choose from five or more wireless providers in their local market."

    But AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile means that AT&T and Verizon combined will own nearly three out of every four wireless subscriptions in the U.S. Sounds more like a duopoly than a "fiercely competitive market" to me.

    Sprint has improvements in customer retention, customer service and product lineup. It's also tried outdoing larger competitors on pricing. But these small improvements won't be enough to survive against a new and combined AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon. What it really needs is a game-changer, something that other carriers can't offer.