The cost of switching to LTE? Sprint to spend $10 billion over the next two years

Wonder just how much it costs to phase out iDEN and WiMAX networks and put all your eggs in one, CDMA / LTE-flavored basket? Well, Joe Euteneuer, Sprint’s CFO, just offered up a frank answer here at its ” Strategy Update ” event: $10 billion over the next two years. Ultimately, he assures all the suited-up financial analysts in the room, the company should save $10 billion to $11 billion through 2017 (as that handy slide up there breaks down), with $4 billion of that resulting from not having to maintain the ‘ol ball and chain iDEN network anymore. Now it’s true, we’re a minority in this meeting of industry analysts, but you don’t need to be a banker to understand that’s one telling figure: clearly, the company’s betting its future not just on the (CDMA!) iPhone, but LTE’s brand of 4G. The cost of switching to LTE? Sprint to spend $10 billion over the next two years originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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