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ZeroAX posted:http://www.cnbc.com/id/49408877 Well it's not like Sprint could get any more worse off. v  v
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Oct 15, 2012 00:20
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I can't quite figure out... is this good news for customers or not?
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Oct 15, 2012 00:50
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I'd say it is, I wouldn't be surprised to see Network Vision get back on track once this goes through.
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Oct 15, 2012 01:00
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brc64 posted:I can't quite figure out... is this good news for customers or not? Apparently SoftBank owns a lot in Japan like Vodafone Japan and Yahoo! Japan, both of which are doing pretty well. Maybe things won't be so bad and NV will be done fast. Maybe Omaha will get Sprint LTE a little faster (or even get it at all) as we were skipped on WiMAX.
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Oct 15, 2012 01:02
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Does this mean the end of Dan Hesse or will they likely keep him in charge?
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Oct 15, 2012 01:29
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Hoppy posted:Joplin, before St. Louis? Really? I mean I guess since their towers were largely destroyed or damaged that kind of makes sense, but I would think St. Louis area would be a larger target. I figure that they sunk so much into Wimax here that they are going to let the current system ride for a while longer.
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Oct 15, 2012 01:48
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Vykk.Draygo posted:Does this mean the end of Dan Hesse or will they likely keep him in charge? We shall see tomorrow. I hope not.
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Oct 15, 2012 01:55
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Hesse hasn't been horrible has he? Their customer service has gone from trainwreck to consistently number 1 among wireless carriers (not a high bar to cross, but still). WiMAX was a clusterfuck, but it was a gamble to be first to 4g. Network Vision is a good strategy, just expensive. I'd be interested to hear from employees/people who are more in the know than I am, but I feel like he's been ok in a bad situation.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:02
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Yeah, I don't understand why anyone would want them to get rid of Hesse. Seems like he's been doing a really good job of digging them out of the hole they put themselves in.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:12
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Q_res posted:Yeah, I don't understand why anyone would want them to get rid of Hesse. Seems like he's been doing a really good job of digging them out of the hole they put themselves in. I don't want them to get rid of Hesse. I like him and I enjoy his commercials. However, when somebody buys a majority stake in a company, it seems like the leadership is usually the first to go. Hopefully that's not the case this time.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:17
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This deal is designed to give Sprint ammo in the wave of mergers coming up. I'm sure Sprint was hoping to be profitable before that but the SoftBank deal was their backup plan. Once Tmobile pulled the trigger on MetroPCS, Sprint had to act or risk getting screwed out of spectrum. Expect them to announce they are buying back Clearwire to bring all that spectrum in-house. Also expect a counter-bid for MetroPCS, possibly bids for regional partners like Shentel. They might even try to buy Tmobile since DT wants out anyway. It also wouldn't surprise me to see them buy back Century/Embarq so they regain ILEC leverage over Verizon/AT&T, but I see that as less likely. Sprint stock was cheap compared to their potential; I think that's Softbank's angle on this deal. They can buy their way in to a provider focused on customer service (compatible with Japanese business ethos) and one rolling out a modern new network. If they had waited any longer they'd have to pay too much for the post-NV, profitable Sprint. As for the immediate term, I would guess Network Vision will accelerate now that they can throw money at the problem. Expect SoftBank to be willing to go to war with Verizon and AT&T, aggressively, and to have magical bottomless moneybags from the BoJ/Conglomerate banks to fight with. The people fretting about Softbank's debt level have no clue how big business operates in Japan but it has little to do with fundamentals and a lot to do with drinking buddies and family ties. For purposes of this exercise you can assume SoftBank has unlimited funds. Oh and my shares were purchased at ~2.70 and just crossed the long-term capital gains tax line so bring on the tender offer bitches  Vykk.Draygo posted:I don't want them to get rid of Hesse. I like him and I enjoy his commercials. However, when somebody buys a majority stake in a company, it seems like the leadership is usually the first to go. Hopefully that's not the case this time. This is a Japanese company for one thing; I expect they'll want some board seats but don't look for massive shakeups. IMHO SoftBank probably sees Sprint as a really good value due to crappy current financials but a really good plan for the future... It's a short window while they are still being dragged down by Nextel, but before iDEN is shutdown and NV has rolled out (and Sprint starts posting profits again). If they thought Sprint was on the way down, they'd just wait for bankruptcy to get a better deal. Simulated fucked around with this message at 03:26 on Oct 15, 2012 |
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Oct 15, 2012 03:22
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Vykk.Draygo posted:I don't want them to get rid of Hesse. I like him and I enjoy his commercials. However, when somebody buys a majority stake in a company, it seems like the leadership is usually the first to go. Hopefully that's not the case this time. Oh my bad, I can understand why it read that way, but I wasn't actually trying to accuse you of any given opinion. It was more of a general observation.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:21
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ZeroAX posted:http://www.cnbc.com/id/49408877 I hope this means 3G in Milwaukee can open Facebook pages in less than 4 minutes.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:39
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I Dont Like You posted:I hope this means 3G in Milwaukee can open Facebook pages in less than 4 minutes. Yes. Expect 3.5 minutes by New Year's! edit: who the hell gets on Facebook? I thought that's just for moms.
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Oct 15, 2012 03:59
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moolchaba posted:Yes. Expect 3.5 minutes by New Year's! Look how edgy and cool you are.
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Oct 15, 2012 04:03
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Ender.uNF posted:As for the immediate term, I would guess Network Vision will accelerate now that they can throw money at the problem. Expect SoftBank to be willing to go to war with Verizon and AT&T, aggressively, and to have magical bottomless moneybags from the BoJ/Conglomerate banks to fight with. The people fretting about Softbank's debt level have no clue how big business operates in Japan but it has little to do with fundamentals and a lot to do with drinking buddies and family ties. For purposes of this exercise you can assume SoftBank has unlimited funds.
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Oct 15, 2012 06:36
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Courtesy of s4gru, this week's update was 300 sites... Finally, some real pickup on the deployment rate. DFW even had 32 sites, which seems like magic after the pitifully slow rates the past two months. Some of the 300 sites: Chicago (70), SF Bay (32), DFW (23), PR/VI (21), Atlanta/Athens (20), Washington DC (17), Baltimore (16), Boston (12), LA Metro (11), Kansas (11), Philadelphia Metro (9), New York City (9), Indianapolis (8), Houston (8), South Bay (7), Ft. Wayne/South Bend (5), San Antonio (5), Shentel (5), VT/NH/ME (4), Austin (3)
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Oct 15, 2012 07:50
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There's a special livestream right now, if anyone's interested in the financial details of all of this. http://www.ustream.tv/softbankcorp-eng Dan's in Tokyo! Go Dan, go!  edit: Haha, Dan Hesse on stage just said that he expects Network Vision upgrades to conclude in 2014. (...and he just repeated it an hour later) edit 2: Hey, nice recapture rate. 
td4guy fucked around with this message at 10:41 on Oct 15, 2012 |
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Oct 15, 2012 09:17
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Boy am I loving ecstatic about how Sprint is rolling out LTE in every market around Omaha, but not Omaha itself. What did I do, I'm sorry whatever it was.
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Oct 15, 2012 10:44
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http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/15/softbank-confirms-it-is-buying-70-sprint-for-20-1b/quote:
 Dan's so much taller! 
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Oct 15, 2012 11:24
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Pardon my ignorance, but it says the transaction won't close until mid 2013. Can Sprint start spending that extra revenue earlier than that?
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Oct 15, 2012 12:38
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moolchaba posted:I'm 50 min from Kzoo. Michigan is hosed. I think they only 4G we have is Verizon. AT&T just started rolling it out in Detroit, Sprint is nowhere to be found, and T-mobile only goes up to about Flint
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Oct 15, 2012 13:37
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So, my wife was thinking of upgrading her phone. Is it a better idea to wait for what shakes out of the deal, or just go ahead and get a phone now? I'm just worried about signing a new 2 year contract, although I imagine it will be a couple years before any real practical effect from the merger really hits.
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Oct 15, 2012 13:41
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gninjagnome posted:So, my wife was thinking of upgrading her phone. Is it a better idea to wait for what shakes out of the deal, or just go ahead and get a phone now? I'm just worried about signing a new 2 year contract, although I imagine it will be a couple years before any real practical effect from the merger really hits. My view on this deal is that the primary effect it will have on sprint is usable capital, and that will primarily go towards the NV rollout. I'm not a business expert but I highly doubt there will be sudden shifts in phone options solely from this purchase. What intersection it may have with phones is on the basis of LTE service and all of the high end phones are coming with LTE anyway. Last I looked into the Japanese mobile market it was like looking into an alternate universe where feature phones were still a big draw and actively marketed as flagship or top tier devices. This was back before the iphone 4, so it's entirely possible touchscreen devices have swept into Japan over the past couple years. I don't think Softbank is going to be managing device agreements as much as just wanting to be in on the post-NV harder faster better stronger Sprint.
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Oct 15, 2012 14:05
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Glad to see that Sprint HQ is staying in Overland Park. It's been a great boost to the KC economy and having them leave would kinda suck. gninjagnome posted:So, my wife was thinking of upgrading her phone. Is it a better idea to wait for what shakes out of the deal, or just go ahead and get a phone now? I'm just worried about signing a new 2 year contract, although I imagine it will be a couple years before any real practical effect from the merger really hits. Well, like Vykk.Drago noted, it'll be the middle of next year before the deal closes and New Sprint becomes official. I'd imagine the first year or so after that will probably be dealing with the reorganization/structural issues rather than any drastic changes, although I'm sure New Sprint will be able start spending the $8B that will be hitting their balance sheets sooner than that. At that point you'd be ~18 months into a new contract and worst case could either pay a prorated ETF and bail or just tough it out for a few months if things start going south. I'm not an analyst or anything, so I could be wrong on the timetable, but it seems like any kind of business merger always takes a year or two before any tangible changes can be seen.
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Oct 15, 2012 14:21
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Could Sprint take around an $8 billion loan now and just pay it off rapidly when the merger finishes? I'd enjoy more money being thrown at NV rollout. Also, Hesse is a tall dude.
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Oct 15, 2012 16:10
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Do we have a launch date for LTE in Los Angeles yet? And how do you turn it on on your phone once it's up? My sister has an iPhone 5 and is really hoping it's soon cause 3G sucks in Hollywood.
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Oct 15, 2012 17:36
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Well some awesome came in the mail this morning. Freaking out because I didn't order anything, but I received a HTC Evo 4G LTE out of the blue. Only hints was the return address and number, and the HTC Elevate sticker on the box. Turns out I was chosen to receive one but I was left out of the email list that was sent out last week to let me know. So sweet... Free EVO. Since Sprint isn't getting a new WP8 device in a while, I might just have to give this thing a whirl for a bit.
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Oct 15, 2012 19:40
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Ender.uNF posted:Courtesy of s4gru, this week's update was 300 sites... Finally, some real pickup on the deployment rate. DFW even had 32 sites, which seems like magic after the pitifully slow rates the past two months. Damnit Indianapolis, why do you look like Minneapolis? I want LTE by January/February when I upgrade 
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Oct 15, 2012 19:47
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bobula posted:Do we have a launch date for LTE in Los Angeles yet? And how do you turn it on on your phone once it's up? My sister has an iPhone 5 and is really hoping it's soon cause 3G sucks in Hollywood. It's up and running in a few areas already. I've picked it up in Chinatown and Vernon so far. Speeds between 9-20 Mbps, pretty decent. I just hope it can stay that way once more users have access. For the iPhone, it might be on by default. As far as I know, its in Settings>General>Cellular>"Enable LTE" sirbeefalot fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Oct 15, 2012 |
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Oct 15, 2012 20:06
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sirbeefalot posted:It's up and running in a few areas already. I've picked it up in Chinatown and Vernon so far. Speeds between 9-20 Mbps, pretty decent. I just hope it can stay that way once more users have access. The iPhone has LTE on by default, and unless you got a launch galaxy nexus all others should as well.
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Oct 15, 2012 22:09
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Duckman2008 posted:The iPhone has LTE on by default, and unless you got a launch galaxy nexus all others should as well. I thought LTE was enabled on the GNex in that not-actually-jellybean blueballs update.
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Oct 15, 2012 23:00
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The Entire Universe posted:I thought LTE was enabled on the GNex in that not-actually-jellybean blueballs update. This is also correct.
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Oct 16, 2012 04:50
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1 - Is the company really going to be called New Sprint or is that just what we're throwing around in here? 2 -  I found this browsing the STL Craigslist phone postings. Worth a read! Disgruntled employee incoming!Sprint iPhone 5 32gb black NIB !!!!!!! - $350 (ladue Mo) Date: 2012-10-10, 1:11PM CDT Reply to: see below To all you vultures that knew this ad was too good to be true but clicked on it anyway. READ CAREFULLY!!!! For all you people that doubt me please realize sprint cuts my check........................................... Sprint is a joke. There is NO 4G LTE network. Ive heard people lying, saying that " LTE will be coming soon, within the month." BUUUUUULLLLLL poo poo! If you buy a Sprint 4G LTE phone you just bought a 3G phone my friends. Some of the heavy hitting phones on that list are; Samsung galaxy s3 iPhone 5 EVO 4G LTE Motorola photon ect........................................................................ And all will ONLY run 3g until they update towers. Puerto Rico has a tower and St. Louis doesn't. Basiclly Sprint is saying people buy more phones in Bucktusle Oklahoma and Puerto Rico than here. I went to San Antonio for a trip, my buddy has the precious iPhone 5. That city has the strongest 4g lte towers in the United states. He only had a lte 4g signal next to to highway standing, if we were moving no signal. And a couple days later in a store! DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND JUST WAIT FOR THE TOWERS. YOU'LL HAVE A ANOTHER UPGRADE BUY THEN! Real 4g phones use WiMax to connect......... i.e. evo/ galaxy s2 THE NEW 4Glte phones are not BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE. NO 4G ANTENNA IN 4G LTE PHONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will not see a LTE tower for 12/24 months so the only way you'll enjoy that new LTE & $10 premium fee.......plus the fact you got screwed....... is to connect to WiFi. Or if your on the go 1,000,000 feet of Ethernet cable and a router! Sprint 3g Blows!!!!!! it takes four minutes to load a page with no picture content on your phone. The date data is unlimited because that's how much time you will need to accomplish anything. I'm typing at 65 words per minute and in college, so I finished my paper, smoked 3 cigarettes and made 3 phone calls, and made this ad. In my 15 min break. Sorry, but If Craigslist the only way to get the RIGHT info to Sprint customers. I'm only one guy in a world of Sprint robots that want that sale commission. Please use this info to inform yourself next phone purchase. YOUR WELCOME
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Oct 16, 2012 05:56
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Well it's not like he's even exaggerating. The service really is that bad. And we're calling it New Sprint because it's gonna be a brand new company for the most part. And it's gonna take over all the old company's operations (and its stock symbol). I doubt it'll actually be called "New Sprint". Random image from last night's livestream: 
td4guy fucked around with this message at 06:32 on Oct 16, 2012 |
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Oct 16, 2012 06:29
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td4guy posted:And we're calling it New Sprint because it's gonna be a brand new company for the most part. I mean, I know AT&T Corp. was bought by SBC who renamed themselves AT&T Inc., which is technically a distinct legal entity from the original AT&T Corp. which AT&T Inc. fully owns. Is it like that? I think I'm confused. 
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Oct 16, 2012 06:36
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I'll be without consistent internet for a few days during an upcoming move, so I have a question about tethering on my rooted Galaxy Nexus. When I had my Windows Mobile phones on Sprint I had to do several things to tether and not get charged. Is that still the case nowadays, or can I use my Galaxy Nexus's built in tethering (USB or Wi-Fi hotspot) and not get charged? If it will get me charged, what do I need to do to work around it? Sorry to ask about something that's probably well-known, but looking for information on having to mess around before tethering, I haven't found a clear answer on whether you still need to or not. I saw this in the OP but I'm not sure if it's still relevant, seeing as tethering options are built into my Galaxy Nexus: quote:If you have an Android smartphone you can tether! For free you can plug up via PDANet. WiFi tether for free does require root, so see the Root Android thread for that. Official Sprint tethering via smartphone is $20 a month for 2GB or $50 for 6GB.
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Oct 16, 2012 06:54
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What a dumb chart. ExcessBLarg! posted:In an actual legal sense, or you mean because the board is getting gutted? From Reuters: quote:The financing is highly complex, involving at least three steps with two entities as well as a debt conversion.
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Oct 16, 2012 06:54
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quadratic posted:From Reuters: So basically: Softbank (70%) > New Sprint (100%) > (Old) Sprint. What happens to New Sprint if the regulators disapprove of New Sprint purchasing (Old) Sprint? Is there a reason they have to do it this way, instead of Softbank buying (Old) Sprint directly? Is it because they only want to invest 70%?
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Oct 16, 2012 07:12
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I heard today that one of the conditions of the purchase is that Sprint finish buying out Clearwire (for spectrum undoubtedly) so I assume we'll see movement towards that soon. I can see why Softbank saw Sprint as lucrative, even if you ignore consideration of what NV is going to do. Sprint's sitting on shittons of Spectrum and Softbank saw Sprint as a cheap but potent foothold in the US market. I would like to hope this means a shift towards open signal standards, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
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Oct 16, 2012 08:41
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