February 08, 2018
Sprint (NYSE:S, news, filings) is poised to leverage its nearly 30 years in the federal and public sector space and to increase market efforts with a converged-solution portfolio, including wireless, wireline, security and internet of things (IoT) offerings over the highly secure and reliable Sprint network.
Sprint has provided government and public sector solutions ever since the FTS contract in 1988 and has supported several high-profile clients in recent years.
“It’s exciting to see Sprint be more aggressive in this space,” said retired Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Sprint board member. “The company is a great American brand with decades of experience serving the government and will bring added value and innovation to many government organizations and agencies. I’m proud to support efforts that bring a diversified portfolio back to Sprint Business.”
New Government Solutions leader
Chris Felix has been named Sprint vice president of Government Solutions and will lead the effort. Felix has 27 years in the telecommunications industry, including serving the federal government and leading federal government sales and operations for a competitor.
“Sprint is a very motivated and creative force in the telecommunications industry, with an outstanding focus on delivering the best possible experiences for its customers and employees,” Felix said. “My complete focus will be on building a world-class organization that will serve the federal and public sector customer by providing the most creative and advanced, mission critical, converged telecomm solutions possible.”
“We are very excited to serve the federal and public sector space with a proven leader like Chris,” said Jan Geldmacher, president of Sprint Business. “He has the experience and expertise to fully leverage all the resources and assets Sprint has in place to bring truly innovative, integrated solutions that will help the federal government serve our country. From our network to our customizable solutions to our long list of technology collaborators, including our parent company SoftBank, we are eminently prepared to connect America.”
Innovative, converged solutions
Among the converged wireless, wireline and IoT solutions Sprint will deliver the federal and public sector are:
Mobility: Many federal agencies have employees across the country, so bringing more flexibility and agility to these employees through their smartphones and other devices will increase productivity and collaboration.
Smart buildings: Sprint IoT solutions, including current sensor technology, will not only reduce heating and air conditioning costs in federal buildings, but they help reap significant environmental benefits because of reduced power consumption. Sensors can measure electricity, motion, pressure and temperature; applying artificial intelligence to adapt to the data about these measurements can reduce the need for human monitoring.
Fleet and asset tracking: Sprint can help the federal government maintain one of the largest fleets of non-military vehicles in the world using sensor technology. Sensors in vehicles can detect the vehicle’s location, speed, direction of travel, fuel usage, idling times, and how the vehicle is being driven to increase fuel savings and safety.
Mobile forms: Helping the federal government migrate to electronic forms completed via mobile devices will increase efficiency, productivity and enhance the citizen experience. Secure transmission and storage of forms are expedited, because forms can be integrated with any software or database.
Cloud: The Sprint network will enhance security of cloud-based computing and communications. Generally, these cloud-based solutions will be more manageable from a budget standpoint for the federal government than on-premises equipment, which requires a large capital investment periodically and also puts the onus of software updates on the government.
As part of its government solutions efforts, Sprint will continue to support the Fisher House Foundation, which provides veterans’ families homes to stay in when that family member is an ill veteran and needs hospitalization for any reason. Sprint will donate $30 on behalf of each new military service member and veteran customer account activated through Fisher House.
SoftBank investments will enhance solutions
Sprint’s relationship with the SoftBank Group will enhance the solutions Sprint provides. OneWeb, a satellite-based service, uses low-orbit satellites strategically located to provide abundant coverage everywhere to take advantage of all the technologies that leverage sensors, big data and communications.
Arm has powerful intellectual property for a chip design that continues to get smaller and more secure, and it can be part of any connected device, particularly sensors, of which there will be more than a trillion operating worldwide within a decade, according to Geldmacher.
“Everything that can be connected will be connected,” Geldmacher says. “That gives the federal government and public sector agencies more opportunities than ever before to provide a higher level of accessibility, service and information to our citizens, and Sprint is primed to facilitate that.”
Sprint network is primed for latest innovations
The company continues to make investments into the Sprint network, which has the most spectrum of all U.S. wireless carriers. The aim is to increase speed, capacity of any application, ubiquity of coverage, and security and reliability. The Sprint 5G network will offer the federal government even more secure connectivity to mission-critical information, integrated GPS services to improve real-time situational awareness, and seamless handling of all the platforms that incorporate sensor-provided data.
Part of the network strategy is to increase small cells to fill the gaps in dense urban areas, where buildings can often create areas of poor coverage, to assure federal agencies that they are connected, that their data is flowing, and that they can trust it.
About Sprint
Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served 54.6 million connections as of December 31, 2017 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.
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