Yijing Brentano: LTE gives international service providers
another option for delivering improved data rates to customers
in the US 
                          
The rapid growth of LTE technology presents yet another prime opportunity for international service providers, particularly in the US market. With Sprint’s October 2011 announcement of its US national rollout of 4G-LTE, building on its years of 4G and 3G network offerings and expertise, providers partnering with Sprint can take advantage of the full spectrum of network capabilities.
The national 4G-LTE deployment by Sprint — part of the larger Network Vision initiative — is planned to reach over 250 million people in the US by the end of 2013 with some of the highest wireless speeds available, along with enhanced reliability and coverage. In connection with this deployment, Sprint will be launching a broad range of dual mode CDMA/LTE devices, including handsets, tablets and data cards.
The ambitious 4G-LTE deployment is the latest chapter in Sprint’s wireless evolution. Sprint was the first national wireless carrier to bring 4G technology to market, through WiMAX, and has long maintained a reliable 3G network in the US. What LTE, as the growing international standard for 4G services, adds for the international service provider is another option for delivering improved data rates to customers, along with better performance and coverage.
High-speed data is attractive for customers who are increasingly doing much of their work in the cloud. This is particularly true for visitors or temporary residents of other countries who are in the US. These individuals likely rely even more heavily on the cloud in order to be connected with their companies or hosted applications abroad. If they are going to do their work effectively or stay well connected with friends and family at home, they will benefit from the speed that Sprint’s 4G-LTE network will provide.
For providers in the market for wholesale wireless services, the particular technology is only part of the equation. The technology needs to be combined with a simple, seamless customer experience, sufficient capacity, strong signals and coverage, in-building performance, and an approach that insulates the providers from constant and inevitable changes in technology. Sprint’s Network Vision provides that. 
                        
                    
Network vision 
                    
The Network Vision initiative encompasses the implementation of a cost-effective and innovative network infrastructure that consolidates multiple network technologies into a single seamless network. Network Vision involves the integration of multiple spectrum bands onto a single multimode base station.
This base station enables the flexibility to offer new technologies with access to any of the Sprint licensed and hosted spectrum bands. That helps assure enhanced service and maximum network flexibility.
For providers and their customers, the most important element is the enhanced service. Network Vision is designed to deliver enhanced data speed, improved in-building coverage, and better coverage for reduced roaming across the entire network footprint. The multimodal technology approach is unique to Network Vision.
The 4G-LTE network will leverage the 1900 megahertz spectrum for LTE, but Sprint can designate its 800 megahertz spectrum as a broad coverage layer. This enables the Sprint network to take advantage of the technology that is available today, as well as what becomes available in the future, in order to deliver some of the fastest and best-performing data services to customers. For example, with Network Vision, Sprint plans to introduce mobile devices that determine dynamically which portion of the spectrum is optimal for the specific type of communication. The devices will sense the signal and other network characteristics and automatically transmit and receive via that spectrum. All of this, of course, is transparent to the user.
In summary, Network Vision allows Sprint to be efficient and flexible in its technology choices, both for this upgrade and subsequent upgrades, assuring that Sprint is a partner for the future. 
                    
                    
MVNO services 
                    
Sprint makes possible the types of new and innovative offerings that can be tailored to specific customer needs and branded by their familiar telecommunications provider. Already, many providers operate as MVNOs in the wireless space, extending their reach to new customers and solidifying and enhancing their relationships with existing customers.
Sprint, leveraging the capabilities of Network Vision, builds on the existing opportunity for a non-US provider to address certain market segments, such as a 3G or 4G service targeted to a specific type of customer. This enables an international provider to pursue a niche focus and bypass the challenges inherent in trying to build their own network and compete with entrenched service providers. One such niche — particularly when it comes to higher-speed 4G services — is customers from a provider’s home country who are visiting or residing in the US.
These customers, whether in the U.S. on a short-term or long-term basis, are typically far more comfortable using the service provider they use back home. The language is native and the brand is familiar. And because the familiar provider can partner with Sprint to offer such a high-speed and high-capacity service as 4G-LTE, it gives a customer even more reason to embrace it. Whether the mobile devices the customers are using are branded by the international provider or not, the end customer retains the familiarity in terms of billing and customer care.
Sprint ID is another unique Sprint feature. It essentially enables an international provider to brand the inside of the mobile device just as it might brand the outside. With Sprint ID, bundles of applications are available to customers, rather than requiring them to download individual apps one by one. For example, a Japanese expatriate residing in the US could download a bundle of Japanese language applications. The comfort level of having such bundles available in the customer’s native language can’t be overstated.
This offers several advantages for service providers. First, these applications foster loyalty to the service provider and make it more likely the customer will remain a customer throughout their time in the US. Second, these applications generate additional revenue for the provider. 
                    
                    
Partnering for success 
                    
A successful MVNO operation, of course, requires more than just an advanced network and the latest technology. As essential as they are, they are only the starting points. What matters most is the partnership that makes the MVNO venture possible. Sprint offers the complete solutions, with support and enablement, that wholesale MVNOs need.
Partnership options range from a fully outsourced turnkey solution — in which Sprint provides back-office and marketing support in addition to the 4G-LTE service — to options in which the service provider can maintain full control of any of the business aspects, from the back office to branding, provisioning, or marketing. Recently, Sprint has reorganized its International Wholesale organization with an eye toward greater international coverage and even better customer service.
The company has established a vice president position dedicated to this segment of the business, with additional personnel focusing on global strategic partnership opportunities in the Latin American, Canadian, European, Middle East, African and Asian markets.
Sprint’s International Wholesale team strives to work with partners on solutions that promote greater loyalty, increase productivity, enhance connectivity, provide content, and enable mobile commerce. Greater partner success is achieved through sales and product training, joint marketing initiatives, online partners, and partner councils. It is all about enablement, with services and products that reduce the time, effort, and investment required to implement and sell Sprint solutions.
Sprint understands that its success depends on the success of its MVNO business partner. With that in mind, Sprint offers these distinct promises to its partners:
• Devices: Sprint provides access to a full range of devices to fit nearly every business model.
• Access/Service: Sprint optimizes and streamlines the way customers access its networks and how they onboard and provision customers.
• Support: Sprint offers clear partnership “rules of engagement” and constantly develops new communications channels for information sharing and support and to give partners a powerful voice.
• Pricing: Sprint ensures competitive pricing on fixed services, voice, and mobile data.
• Innovation: Sprint emphasizes development and testing capabilities that foster innovation and deliver partnership support.
Emphasis on serving the global wholesale community is not new for Sprint. The company has a long history of commitment to the wholesale market, and the embrace of that market is an ongoing and vital part of the company’s business model. 
                           


Sprint’s Network Vision will deliver
• simple, seamless customer experience
• increased capacity
• expanded coverage
• future-proof technology