Sprint Corporation

# Sprint Corporation

## Abstract

Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.

In July 2013, a majority of the company was purchased by the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Group. Sprint used CDMA, EvDO and 4G LTE networks, and formerly operated iDEN, WiMAX, and 5G NR networks. Sprint was incorporated in Kansas.

Sprint traced its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 to bring telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. In 2006, Sprint left the local landline telephone business and spun those assets off into a new company named Embarq, which later became a part of Lumen Technologies under the CenturyLink brand, which remains one of the largest long-distance providers in the United States.

Until 2005, the company was also known as the Sprint Corporation, but took the name Sprint Nextel Corporation when it merged with Nextel Communications and adopted its black and yellow color scheme, along with a new logo. In 2013, following the shutdown of the Nextel network and concurrent with the acquisition by SoftBank, the company resumed using the name Sprint Corporation. In July 2013, as part of the SoftBank transactions, Sprint acquired the remaining shares of the wireless broadband carrier Clearwire Corporation that it did not already own.

In August 2014, CEO Dan Hesse was replaced by Marcelo Claure. In May 2018, Michel Combes replaced Claure, and had been working to get Sprint's acquisition by its rival T-Mobile through regulatory proceedings.

On April 1, 2020, Sprint Corporation completed their acquisition by T-Mobile US, which effectively made Sprint a subsidiary of T-Mobile until the Sprint brand officially discontinued in the beginning of August. Leadership, background, and stock changes happened immediately, with customer-side changes happening over time. The Sprint brand officially discontinued on August 2, 2020. Billing was already showing the T-Mobile brand, and on this date all retail, customer service, and all other company branding switched to the T-Mobile brand. New rate plans were also introduced as well for all new and existing customers from both companies, though all will be grandfathered into their current plan for at least 3 years should they choose not to switch to a new T-Mobile plan. Customers with Sprint accounts were fully migrated to T-Mobile in the summer of 2023 officially discontinuing the Sprint brand.

## History

### Early years

The Sprint Corporation traces its origins to two companies, the Brown Telephone Company and Southern Pacific Railroad.

#### Brown Telephone Company

Brown Telephone Company was founded in 1899 by Cleyson Brown, to deploy the first telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. The Browns installed their first long-distance circuit in 1900 and became an alternative to the Bell Telephone Company, the most popular telephone service at the time. In 1911, C. L. Brown consolidated the Brown Telephone Company with three other independents to form the United Telephone Company. C. L. Brown formed United Telephone and Electric (UT&E) in 1925. In 1939, at the end of the Great Depression, UT&E reorganized to form United Utilities.

In 1964, Paul H. Henson became president of United Utilities; two years later, he was named chairman. When Henson began working at the company in 1959, it had 575,000 telephones in 15 states and revenues of $65 million. Henson is credited with creating the first major fiber optic network, having recognized it as a way to handle more calls and provide better quality sound.

In 1972, United Utilities changed its name to United Telecommunications. In 1980, United Telecommunications began working on a 23,000 mile fiber optic network for long-distance calls. In 1989, this long-distance business became profitable for the company for the first time. In 1990, Henson retired from United Telecommunications; by this time the company's revenues had grown to $8 billion.

#### Southern Pacific Communications and introduction of Sprint

Sprint also traces its roots back to the Southern Pacific Railroad (SPR), which was founded in the 1860s as a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company (SPC). The company operated thousands of miles of track as well as telegraph wire that ran along those tracks. In the early 1970s, the company began looking for ways to use its existing communications lines for long-distance calling. This division of the business was named the Southern Pacific Communications Company. By the mid 1970s, SPC was beginning to take business away from AT&T, which held a monopoly at the time. A number of lawsuits between SPC and AT&T took place throughout the 1970s; the majority were decided in favor of increased competition. Prior attempts at offering long-distance voice services had not been approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although a fax service (called SpeedFAX) was permitted.

In the mid-1970s, SPC held a contest to select a new name for the company. The winning entry was "SPRINT", an acronym for "Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony".

### Consolidation and renaming to Sprint Corporation

In 1982, it was announced that GTE Corp. had reached an agreement to buy SPC's long-distance telephone operation, including Sprint. The deal was later finalized in 1983.

In 1986, GTE Sprint merged with the United Telecommunications Inc. property, US Telecom. The joint venture was to be co-owned by GTE and United Telecom named US Sprint Communications. The new entity also included communications firm GTE Telenet, and United Telecom Data communications Co., (formerly known as Uninet). In 1988, GTE sold more of Sprint to United Telecom, giving United Telecom operational control of the company. United Telecom announced it would complete its acquisition of US Sprint on April 18, 1990.

United Telecom officially changed its name to Sprint Corporation in 1987 to capitalize on its brand recognition.

### Expansion to Canada

Sprint Corporation entered the Canadian market in the early 1990s as a reseller of bulk long-distance telephone lines that it bought from domestic companies. Under Canadian foreign ownership regulations, Sprint could not open its own network. In 1993, Sprint entered into a strategic alliance with Call-Net Enterprises, a Canadian long-distance service provider, and bought 25 percent of the company. Call-Net's long-distance service was renamed "Sprint Canada" and expanded to include landline and internet services. In 2005, Call-Net and Sprint Canada's 600,000 customers were acquired by Rogers Communications.

### Return to wireless

In March 1993, Sprint merged with Chicago's Centel Corp. Centel remained in the Chicago area and was renamed Sprint Cellular Co. In 1994, Sprint spun off their existing cellular operations as 360° Communications to comply with an FCC regulatory mandate. In 1998, 360 Communications was acquired by Alltel, which was in turn acquired by Verizon in 2009.

In 1994, Sprint announces plans for a powerful new venture with three of the nation's major cable television companies, Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), Comcast Corp. and Cox Cable. The four companies outline plans to build a nationwide network to provide wireless personal communications service (PCS), and also affirm their support for a single integrated offering of wireless, local telephone and long distance services in a package with cable television service

In 1995, Sprint and its cable television associates entered into a partnership with American Personal Communications (APC) to create a digital wireless network. In November 1995, the company began to offer wireless service under the Sprint Spectrum brand in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. This was the first commercial Personal Communications Service (PCS) network in the United States. Although the Sprint PCS service was CDMA, the original Washington-area network used GSM. Eventually, Sprint launched its new nationwide CDMA network, then in 1999 sold the decommissioned GSM infrastructure to Omnipoint which re-launched in May 2000. Omnipoint was later acquired by VoiceStream Wireless, which like Sprint would eventually be acquired by T-Mobile.

### Partnerships and more consolidation

In September 1996, Sprint announced a deal with RadioShack, and in 1997, Sprint stores opened at RadioShack to offer communications services and products across the United States.

On October 5, 1999, Sprint and MCI WorldCom announced a $129 billion merger agreement between the two companies. The deal would have been the largest corporate merger in history at the time. However, due to pressure from the United States Department of Justice and the European Union on concerns of it creating a monopoly, the deal did not go through.

In 1999, Sprint began recombining its local telecom, long-distance, wireline, and wireless business units into a new company, in an initiative known internally as "One Sprint". In April 2004, the separately traded wireless tracking stock PCS was absorbed into the New York Stock Exchange FON ticker symbol, Sprint's former ticker symbol (FON stood for "Fiber Optic Network", but was also a homophone of the word "phone"). This was challenged in many lawsuits by Sprint PCS shareholders who felt their stock was devalued because it was trading at the ratio of 1 share of PCS stock for 1/2 share of FON stock. The PCS shareholders claimed a loss of 1.3 billion to 3.4 billion dollars.

### Merger of Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications

On December 15, 2004, Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications announced they would merge to form Sprint Nextel Corporation. The merger was transacted as a purchase of Nextel Communications by Sprint Corporation for tax reasons; Sprint purchased 50.1 percent of Nextel. At the time of the merger announcement, Sprint and Nextel were the third and fifth leading providers in the U.S. mobile phone industry, respectively.

Sprint shareholders approved the merger on July 13, 2005. The merger deal was approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and U.S. Department of Justice on August 3, 2005. Sprint Nextel was formed on August 13, 2005, when the deal was completed.

Sprint and Nextel faced opposition to the merger, mostly from regional affiliates that provided wireless services on behalf of the companies. These regional affiliates felt that the new company would hinder competition.

On September 1, 2005, Sprint Nextel combined plan offerings of its Sprint and Nextel brands to bring uniformity across the company's offerings.

Nextel has licensed its identity to NII Holdings, Inc., of which Sprint Nextel owned 18%. NII has used the Nextel brand to set up networks in many Latin American countries. Following Sprint's purchase of Nextel, Nextel sold all of its investment in NII Holdings.

The integration process was difficult due to disparate network technologies. Sprint tried to address this with the advent of PowerSource phones. These phones routed voice call and data services over Sprint's PCS spectrum while maintaining DirectConnect services over 800 MHz spectrum. However, this was not sufficient in coverage, due to the inability to roam on a non-PCS spectrum. Top Nextel Executives began leaving the company immediately after the merger closed. Tim Donahue, the Nextel CEO, stayed on as executive chairman, but ceded decision-making authority to Gary D. Forsee. Tom Kelly, COO of Nextel, took an interim staff position as Chief Strategy Officer. Two years after the merger, only a few key Nextel executives remained, with many former Nextel middle- and upper-level managers having left, citing reasons including the unbridgeable cultural difference between the two companies.

In 2006, Sprint spun off its local telephone operations, including the former United Telephone companies and Centel, as Embarq.

Sprint's acquisition of Nextel was a disaster from a fiscal standpoint in 2008, the company wrote down $29.7 billion of the $36 billion sum it had paid for Nextel in 2005, wiping out 80 percent of the value of Nextel at the time it had been acquired. The write down reflected the depreciation in Nextel's goodwill since the date of acquisition.

#### Affiliate acquisitions and settlements

Prior to their merger, Sprint and Nextel were dependent on a network of affiliated companies. Following the announcement of the merger agreement, some of these affiliates came forward with strong opposition to the Sprint-Nextel merger on the grounds that the merged company might violate existing agreements or significantly undercut earnings to these affiliates. In order for Sprint Nextel to allay some of this opposition, they initiated discussions of either acquiring some of these affiliates or renegotiating existing agreements. In several cases, the newly formed company was forced to acquire affiliated companies in exchange for their dropping their opposition to the merger. Forsee said that the company would likely have to acquire all of its remaining affiliates.

In 2005, Sprint Nextel acquired three of its ten wireless affiliates: US Unwired, acquired in August; Gulf Coast Wireless, acquired in October; and IWO Holdings, acquired in October. Alamosa PCS, which Sprint Nextel acquired on February 2, 2006, was the largest of its affiliate carriers. Other acquired affiliates include Ubiquitel, iPCS, Enterprise, and Northern. In 2021, after merging with Sprint in 2020, T-Mobile acquired the remaining two of Sprint's original ten affiliates, Shentel and Swiftel.

Below are companies which Sprint Corporation has acquired:

- August 13, 2005: Sprint acquires the Sprint PCS affiliate US Unwired for $1.3B, thus adding 500,000 additional direct customers to Sprint Nextel.

- August 30, 2005: Sprint Nextel announces its intention to acquire IWO Holdings, Inc., a mainly New England –based network affiliate for the Sprint PCS business. The acquisition closed on October 20, 2005.

- Sprint Nextel acquires Gulf Coast Wireless, adding 95,000 customers, mainly in Louisiana and Mississippi, to Sprint Nextel's CDMA network. The acquisition closed on October 3, 2005.

- November 21, 2005: Sprint Nextel announces a $4.3-billion acquisition agreement for Texas-based Sprint PCS affiliate Alamosa Holdings, potentially adding 1.48 million customers to Sprint Nextel.

- December 16, 2005: Sprint Nextel announces a $98 million agreement to acquire Enterprise Communications of Columbus, Georgia, thus adding over 52,000 customers to the company's PCS Wireless division.

- December 16, 2005: Sprint Nextel announces acquisition of non-affiliate Velocita Wireless. The transaction enhances the iDEN network's 900 MHz spectrum position. On July 2, 2007, Velocita Wireless, which became an indirect subsidiary of Sprint Nextel, was acquired by United Wireless Holdings, Inc.

- December 21, 2005: Sprint Nextel Corporation and Nextel Partners, Inc. reach an agreement for a $6.5 billion deal whereby the Sprint Nextel Corporation acquires the largest of Nextel's affiliates to end Nextel Partners' opposition to any changes by Sprint in relation to the Sprint-Nextel merger. Once completed, the Nextel Partners deal adds more than 2 million customers directly to the Sprint Nextel company.

- April 20, 2006: Sprint Nextel Corporation and Ubiquitel PCS Corporation reach an agreement whereby the Sprint Nextel Corporation acquires Ubiquitelpcs, an exclusive Sprint PCS provider.

- March 17, 2007: Sprint Nextel Corporation completes integration of Nextel Partners customers into the Sprint Nextel system. Nextel Partners' Las Vegas headquarters shuts down service, and all Nextel Partners customers are now handled through the new "Ensemble" billing system. All Nextel Partners customers are now Sprint Nextel customers and are entitled to the same promotions as all other Sprint Nextel iDEN customers.

- August 2, 2007: Sprint Nextel Corporation completes the acquisition of Northern PCS for $312.5 million including debt.

- July 28, 2009: Sprint Nextel announces a $483 million acquisition agreement for Virgin Mobile USA, adding 5 million pre-paid customers to Sprint Nextel, although these subscribers were counted in Sprint's total subscriber count, as Virgin Mobile USA was an MVNO on Sprint's CDMA network.

- October 19, 2009: Sprint Nextel agrees to acquire iPCS, one of its last remaining affiliates.

### Consolidation to Overland Park

After the Sprint-Nextel merger, the company maintained an executive headquarters in Reston, Virginia and operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse recognized that having two headquarters was not helping the merger effort, sent the wrong message to employees and contributed to the post-merger cultural clash. To resolve the problem, Hesse decided to consolidate all headquarters operations in the Sprint World Headquarters Campus located in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

### Acquisition by SoftBank Corporation

On October 14, 2012, the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank announced it intended to purchase 70% of Sprint Nextel Corporation for $20.1 billion. SoftBank stated that Sprint will remain a separate entity, and will remain a CDMA carrier until it is an all-LTE carrier. On April 15, 2013, Dish Network announced a higher bid for Sprint Nextel than the offer placed by SoftBank, with a $25.5 billion offer. On June 18, 2013, Dish retracted its bid and decided that it would instead focus on its intent to purchase Clearwire, however on June 26, 2013, Dish also retracted its bid for Clearwire, leaving the road clear for SoftBank to acquire the company. The United States Federal Communications Commission approved SoftBank's acquisition of a stake in Sprint. The FCC's acting chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and commissioner Ajit Pai both gave statements vociferously supporting the acquisition, saying the deal "serve the public interest". The acquisition was completed on July 10, 2013.

On August 6, 2013, SoftBank purchased approximately 2% more shares of Sprint Corporation, increasing its ownership stake in the company to 80%.

#### Additional acquisitions

On November 7, 2012, Sprint Nextel announced the acquisition of 20 MHz of spectrum and 585,000 customers from U.S. Cellular in Chicago, St. Louis, central Illinois and three other Midwest markets. The deal was expected to close in mid-2013.

Prior to July 9, 2013, Sprint Nextel only owned a 50.8% equity interest in Clearwire Corporation; On December 17, 2012, Sprint Nextel agreed to pay US$2.97 per share, US$2.2 billion in total, to purchase the portion of Clearwire shares that Sprint Nextel did not already own. On June 20, 2013, Sprint Nextel increased its offer to $5 per share, the transaction was approved by regulators on July 5, 2013, and closed on July 9, 2013, and Sprint Nextel became the complete owner of Clearwire and its assets.

On March 31, 2015, the U.S. bankruptcy court approved a $160 million takeover of electronics store chain RadioShack by Standard General. As part of the deal, the company entered into a partnership with Sprint to serve as co-tenants in 1,435 of its locations, beginning on April 10, 2015. Roughly a third of the retail space in each location is dedicated to Sprint products and services, and the stores will ultimately adopt Sprint as their primary brand in place of RadioShack. Sprint stated that this deal would increase the company's retail footprint by more than double.

On January 23, 2017, Sprint announced that they were buying a 33 percent stake in the music streaming service Tidal.

## Wireline operations

Sprint derives revenue as a wireline IP network operator and as a long-distance telephony provider. Sprint is the United States' fourth largest long-distance provider by subscribers.

In 2006, Sprint Nextel exited the local landline telephone business, spinning those assets off into a newly created company named Embarq, which CenturyTel acquired in 2008 to form CenturyLink.

### SprintLink

SprintLink is a global Tier 1 Internet service provider network, operating an 100G Internet backbone. Customers include large multinational corporations, government agencies, retail and restaurant chains, Tier 2 and Tier 3 ISPs, and medium-to-small businesses. SprintLink has physical presence in 155 countries, including the United States, Western Europe, East Asia, Australia, and India. The network wraps all the way around the world with buried fiber optics in the United States and Europe, and undersea fiber in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. SprintLink is responsible for cable maintenance and administration in the TAT-14 Consortium. In 2008, Sprint was upgrading its SprintLink core to 100 Gbit/s lines to offer increased bandwidth. As of June 2012, Sprint picked Ciena for upgrading its Sprintlink core to 400 Gbit/s speeds.

### Ethernet services

In 2007, Sprint launched Ethernet services over its IP/MPLS network to an initial 40-markets. Sprint later expanded their Ethernet services to 65 markets in September 2011. Sprint then launched Ethernet over copper and Ethernet over DOCSIS in 2016 to complement its Fiber Ethernet offerings.

### Sprint Web Services

Sprint offers its enterprise customers managed web-based services through its Sprint Web Services program. It allows enterprise customers to create managed web-based applications

### IoT & Connected Services

In 2015, Sprint powered the Connected Officer program for the Los Angeles Police Department in partnership with Samsung, VMware, and Prodapt.

### Telecommunications Relay Services

Sprint wireline is also responsible for traditional telecommunications relay service (TRS), speech to speech relay service (STS), and captioned telephone service (CTS). Sprint is in the process of upgrading these services from a TDM network to an IP-based network

## Wireless operations

### Sprint branded services

Sprint Corporation offered postpaid wireless voice and data services primarily under the Sprint brand.

### Sprint Prepaid Group

The Sprint Prepaid Group was a division of the company formed in May 2010 that is responsible for the operations of Sprint's pre-pay subsidiaries. SPG's branded products and services are sold via web and available at retailers nationwide, including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and other independent dealers.

#### Boost Mobile

Boost Worldwide, Inc. was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint that provides nationwide, prepaid wireless voice, messaging and broadband data products and services to customers in the contiguous United States under the Boost Mobile brand. The services are provided as an MVNO hosted on the Sprint-owned CDMA, EVDO, WiMAX, LTE, and LTE Advanced networks.

### Sprint Smart Velocity

Sprint Velocity was Sprint Corporation's Connected Vehicle Platform, announced in 2012 in partnership with Chrysler.

## Wireless wholesale operations and affiliates

Sprint Corporation provided services using both its own spectrum and network equipment through affiliate agreements. Smaller affiliated companies operated their own network assets and retail operations but offered services to customers in their geographic region under the Sprint brand.

In the early stages of network build-out, the company relied significantly on network partners known as affiliates to rapidly expand its coverage. These affiliates would lease Sprint's PCS spectrum licenses in a specific geographic area, typically rural areas, and smaller cities, and provide wireless service using the Sprint brand. Sprint provided back-end support such as billing and telephone–based customer service, while the affiliates built and maintained the network, sold equipment to customers, and staffed the retail stores in their specific regions. Its customers could "roam" across Sprint-operated and affiliate-operated portions of the network without being aware of the distinction, and vice versa. Outwardly, efforts were made to make it appear as if the network was operated by a single entity under the Sprint name, though complex revenue-sharing agreements were in place which was very similar in nature to cross-carrier roaming tariffs. In later years, the relationship between Sprint and its affiliates grew contentious, particularly after Sprint's acquisition of Nextel. Various affiliates included Swiftel Communications in Brookings, South Dakota; Shentel in northern Virginia, and parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.

### Sprint Rural Alliance

Sprint Rural Alliance (SRA) members (aka Sprint Partners) were carriers who used their own equipment and also sold their own service under their own name while using Sprint spectrum. Sprint was given access to the SRA network in return for allowing the use of Sprint spectrum. This allowed Sprint to keep the spectrum license for the geographic area being served by the SRA member. Alaska DigiTel in Alaska was an SRA Member. Former SRA Members included Alltel Wireless in Montana; This portion of the network was obtained by AT&T during the merger of Alltel and Verizon Wireless, Pioneer Cellular in Kansas and Oklahoma; they ended their agreement with Sprint on March 1, 2012, and transitioned to an agreement with Verizon through the LTE in Rural America program, nTelos; operated in West Virginia and was bought out and merged with Shentel which was a Sprint Affiliate.

### Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs)

Sprint Corporation provided capacity on its CDMA2000, EVDO, and LTE wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which allowed other wireless providers to utilize its networks to offer its services. Sprint's prepaid brands operated using Sprint's networks, though they were not MVNOs, but rather wholly owned prepaid subsidiaries of the company.

#### Bring Your Own Sprint Device

Sprint Corporation allowed certain Sprint MVNOs to accept and activate old Sprint-branded phones through its "Bring Your Own Sprint Device" program which was established for Sprint's initiative to further reduce the number of cell phones that were thrown away each year. The program was also beneficial to MVNOs customers who did not want to pay subsidized prices.

#### Custom Branded Device Program

Sprint Corporation offered its MVNOs a program called the "Custom Branded Device Program", which gave MVNOs access to completely unbranded Android smartphones with no references to Sprint that the MVNO could then customize with its own branded apps and services through Sprint's Mobile ID and Mobile Zone products. Though these phones were free of Sprint branding, they were certified to run on Sprint networks.

### Data roaming agreements

On May 9, 2006, Sprint Nextel and Alltel agreed on a new Nationwide Roaming partnership. It was reciprocal, and gave Alltel customers access to the Sprint 1x and EV-DO network and Sprint customers access to Alltel's denser, rural 1x and EV-DO voice and data network. The roaming reciprocity agreement between Alltel and Sprint was set to expire in 2016.

Sprint and Verizon Wireless had a reciprocal data roaming agreement that allowed for the use of Sprint Power Vision content like TV, movie downloads, and stream radio in Verizon 1x and EVDO coverage areas.

Sprint also had a reciprocal 1xRTT, EVDO and LTE data and voice roaming agreement with U.S. Cellular. Sprint had an LTE roaming agreement with AT&T as well, which was typically limited to 3G speeds. Several cases of Sprint phones simultaneously roaming on Verizon's CDMA network for voice and AT&T's LTE network for data were observed in 2017.

In 2018, with the announcement of the Sprint and T-Mobile merger, Sprint gained access to roaming on T-Mobile's LTE network until the Sprint network was discontinued. Roaming on T-Mobile was counted as native data usage and had no speed restrictions.

## Wireless networks

The following is a list of known CDMA, LTE, and NR frequencies which Sprint employed in the United States:

### CDMA

Sprint operated a nationwide CDMA network in the 1.9 GHz PCS band. In 2006, Sprint's EV-DO "Power Vision" network reached more than 190 million people. Sprint then continued to upgrade their 3G EV-DO network until it reached 260 million people in 2007. Sprint eventually covered over 300 million PoPs with EV-DO services. Sprint added eHRPD to its network (EV-DO routed through an LTE core network) in order to facilitate smooth handoffs between LTE and EV-DO.

As a result of the Merger with T-Mobile US, Sprint's CDMA network was completely shut down on May 31, 2022.

### LTE

On July 28, 2011, Sprint announced that it had decided to end its rollout of the 4G network using WiMAX technology, in favor of more internationally accepted LTE technology. Sprint had also announced that it entered into a 15-year agreement that included spectrum hosting, network services, 4G wholesale and 3G roaming, with LightSquared. That deal, however, was later dissolved due to regulatory issues which LightSquared was unable to resolve with the FCC.

Sprint announced initial LTE deployment plans at the Sprint Strategy Update conference on October 7, 2011. Network Vision-partner Samsung began LTE deployments on October 27, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Sprint projected that the LTE network would cover 123 million people in 2012 and over 250 million people by the end of 2013.

On January 5, 2012, Sprint announced via Twitter its first 4G LTE markets, that included Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio; on June 27, 2012, Sprint stated that it would launch its new 4G LTE network in the first five markets the following month and on July 15, 2012, Sprint commenced operating the LTE network. In addition to the five announced markets, it was launched in 10 other markets, with more markets to be covered by the end of the year.

Sprint initially deployed LTE in the 1900 MHz PCS G block, and over time added LTE to its 1900-MHz PCS A-F block spectrum. Sprint also deployed LTE in the 850-MHz E-CLR band and the 2500-MHz BRS/EBS band.

In February 2013, Sprint's Prepaid Group, which operated Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile, began offering products and services using Sprint's LTE network.

On April 15, 2016, it was reported that Sprint covered more than 300 million PoPs with LTE services.

Sprint eventually rolled out VoLTE, although the deployment was initially limited to select markets. iOS devices newer than the iPhone 8, as well as a few select Android flagship devices, supported VoLTE on Sprint. VoLTE and Wi-Fi Calling are interoperable, and devices can transfer calls between the two networks. Calls initiated on Wi-Fi by non-VoLTE devices will transfer calls to the LTE network if Wi-Fi coverage becomes too weak to sustain the call, although they are unable to initiate calls on LTE.

As a result of the Merger with T-Mobile US, the Sprint LTE network was shut down on June 30, 2022.

## Wireless products and services

### Mobile devices

Sprint offered a variety of wireless and mobile broadband products from a full range of manufacturers, that were preloaded with mobile operating systems including Google 's Android or Apple 's iOS. Sprint's partner device manufactures included Apple, BlackBerry, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, Sonim, and ZTE.

### Broadband for the home via Sprint Mobile

In order to offer broadband directly to the home, Sprint launched a co-branded Broadband Wireless Access Point device along with Linksys, a unit of Cisco Systems. This unit allowed Sprint customers to set up a special network in a home or office computer network, connecting multiple computers or laptops wirelessly to Sprint's PowerVision network. This broadband service to the Internet allowed some customers to have broadband without paying for telephone service. The PowerVision router allowed one to bypass the local telephone and cable broadband service providers. Such Broadband offerings to the home or office without cable or DSL meant the router could be used to provide cheaper VoIP services through Sprint's high-speed network.

### Sprint Music Plus

On October 31, 2005, the Sprint Music Store was launched. Initial record-label participation included EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. On November 1, 2006, after one year of service, the store had sold more than 8 million songs, partly thanks to the five free songs it offered customers at launch. On April 1, 2007, the Sprint Music Store started offering music downloads at the price of 99 cents per track to customers who agreed to subscribe to a Vision pack of $15 or higher.

The service was rebranded as Sprint Music Plus in 2011, managed by RealNetworks. It offered full-track music files from various labels (albums and single tracks), ringback tones, and ringtones. From July 2013, Sprint Music Plus app was managed by OnMobile Global, a company headquartered in Bangalore, India.

### Google Play

On May 16, 2012, Sprint began to allow subscribers to bill application purchases from Google Play to their phone account.

### Sprint Airave and Magic Box

On September 17, 2007, Sprint Nextel launched the Airave, which increased cell reception over an area of 5,000 square feet (460 m) and could handle up to three calls at once by hooking into an existing broadband connection and using VOIP. The Airave helped eliminate poor signal quality inside buildings. Airave was used only for voice calls using a Sprint CDMA phone and was unavailable for Nextel iDEN phones or data cards/USB modems. By default, the Airave unit allowed any Sprint phone to connect through it, but it could be reconfigured to accept only connections from up to 50 authorized numbers in order to eliminate unwanted use. The Airrave used the customers' own bandwidth to connect calls—potentially slowing internet speeds on less ample connections, and causing the customer to essentially subsidize the Sprint network. Sprint was one of the only carriers that had not charged its customers for this type of device if the customer demonstrated that Sprint coverage was inadequate where they lived.

Airave 2.0 was a device that supported up to six devices simultaneously and data usage. The device required a land-based internet service (such as DSL or cable modem) to produce the CDMA signal. The Airave 2.5 improved reliability and had two LAN ports.

Airave 3.0 was a device that broadcast both CDMA and LTE using band 41 that was approved by the FCC in late 2016 and became available in 2017. It required a cable internet connection and included a WAN RJ45 port and two RJ45 Ethernet LAN ports.

The Magic Box created its own Band 41 LTE signal and used Band 41 or Band 25 LTE signals instead of a cable connection for the internet. It was designed to be placed on a window sill and broadcast to the inside of a building plus outside the building for 100 meters or further.

## Defunct brands and networks

### CLEAR

CLEAR was the brand of mobile broadband services offered by Clearwire Corporation, which was acquired by Sprint Nextel in July 2013. The brand provided mobile and fixed wireless broadband communications services to retail and wholesale customers in Belgium, Spain, and the United States. Sprint ended the CLEAR brand in September 2013 shortly after it closed its acquisition of Clearwire, and it no longer offers CLEAR-branded products and services to new customers.

### Common Cents Mobile

Sprint Nextel began offering pre-paid wireless products and services via wholly owned MVNO Common Cents Mobile on May 13, 2010. Sprint Nextel intended these products and services as a lower-cost alternative, charging $.07 per minute for voice calls with round-down timing and $.07 per text message. The products and services were initially available through Walmart stores; Sprint Nextel had planned to expand the distribution of Common Cents Mobile to other outlets, but never did.

On May 18, 2011, Sprint Nextel discontinued operating its Common Cents Mobile pre-paid brand, on the basis, it was a duplicate of the offerings of the Virgin Mobile USA PayLo brand. Common Cents Mobile customers were transitioned to a Virgin Mobile payLo service plan that allowed the former Common Cents Mobile customers to keep their existing $.07 per minute rate.

### Nextel Direct Connect

Sprint Nextel decided to decommission the iDEN (Nextel National) network it had acquired after merging with Nextel Communications in order to repurpose the network for LTE coverage, Sprint stopped offering Nextel Direct Connect walkie-talkie service. Instead, Sprint persuades many of its customers into their replacement service – Sprint Direct Connect which operates on the CDMA network.

### Virgin Mobile and Assurance Wireless

Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint Corporation and provided nationwide, prepaid wireless voice, messaging, and broadband data products and services to customers in the contiguous United States under the Virgin Mobile, payLo, and "Assurance Wireless Brought to You by Virgin Mobile" brands. It operated as an MVNO and provided services to its customers via the Sprint-owned CDMA, EVDO, WiMAX, and LTE networks.

Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. also offered lifeline telephone service subsidized by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission 's Universal Service Fund under the "Assurance Wireless Brought to You by Virgin Mobile" brand. The program offers a free wireless phone and 250 free local and domestic long-distance voice minutes per month to eligible low-income customers in 31 states. End users do not receive a bill, nor are they required to sign a contract, and do not pay activation fees, recurring fees, or surcharges.

### Discontinued networks

#### iDEN

Sprint Nextel operated an iDEN nationwide network in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz SMR frequency band. Sprint Corporation acquired the iDEN network as a result of its merger with Nextel Communications in 2005. The iDEN network was originally deployed as a dispatch radio service and is unique in blending the half-duplex push-to-talk one-to-many broadcast capability of a walkie-talkie with the one-to-one private communication of a phone. Sprint later marketed "push-to-talk" services under the Nextel Direct Connect name.

In October 2010, as part of the "Network Vision" plan, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced the decommissioning of the iDEN network to reduce costs, improve the coverage and performance of the 3G CDMA network and enable Sprint Nextel to focus on 4G LTE technology. Sprint Nextel announced on May 29, 2012, that it will stop marketing iDEN devices in the third quarter of 2012 and that the iDEN network could be completely decommissioned "as early as June 30, 2013". As of June 5, 2012, Sprint and Boost Mobile ceased offering iDEN devices, removing the devices and their associated service plans from the Sprint and Boost Mobile websites and retail locations. The Nextel national network was shut down on schedule at 12:01 am on June 30, 2013.

#### WiMAX

Sprint Corporation operated a 4G WiMAX network in the 2.5 GHz band, which had been operated by Clearwire Corporation before it was acquired. Sprint also provided its prepay partners Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile access to data services via the WiMAX network; including other Mobile virtual network operators under wholesale agreements.

Sprint Nextel had won rights to radio spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to provision fourth-generation services and began to build out a WiMAX network, offering services under the Xohm brand. However, on May 7, 2008, Sprint Nextel announced it would merge its WiMAX wireless broadband unit with Clearwire Corporation, receiving equity in Clearwire in return. The two companies completed the transaction on November 28, 2008. Sprint became the owner of Clearwire, after outbidding Dish Network for the company.

On October 8, 2008, Sprint Nextel launched WiMAX in Baltimore and showed off several new laptops that will have embedded WiMAX chips. They announced that Sprint will be offering dual-mode 3G/4G products by the end of the year. Baltimore was the first city to get Xohm, but it was launched soon after in more cities, such as Chicago and Philadelphia.

On April 19, 2011, Sprint Nextel announced it agreed to pay at least $1 billion to Clearwire so it can operate on the 4G WiMAX network through 2012, and a later agreement, announced in December 2011, specified terms allowing Sprint, its subsidiaries, and wholesale customers to continue having access to the Clearwire 4G WiMAX network through 2015. On July 9, 2013, Sprint Nextel acquired the remaining stock shares it did not already own in Clearwire and its assets.

Sprint Corporation is working on migrating WiMAX customers to LTE compatible devices in order to begin transitioning the WiMAX bands to TDD LTE. In July 2013, Sprint announced its first tri-band products capable of accessing TDD-LTE data connections in the 2.5 GHz band still used for WiMAX.

Sprint planned to shut its WiMAX network on November 6, 2015, however, an emergency injunction was granted by a judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court on November 5, 2015, to keep the WiMax network online for another 90 days, due to the ongoing lawsuit from non-profit groups. The groups, Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen, said that the network shutdown violates the contract which requires Sprint to provide high-speed internet services for low-income families and public institutions, as most of the equipment was still not LTE-compatible. Sprint pledged to provide upgrades to the equipment and work out a solution with the groups as soon as possible. Most of the WiMax network not running in the affected areas were shut down. On February 1, 2016, the same court declared that Sprint can proceed with the network shutdown in the remaining 75 cities. Sprint took the network of 16 cities, including New York City, offline on February 2, 2016, and closed 39 more on February 29, 2016. On March 31, 2016, the last 25 cities' networks were shut down.

## Controversies

### Device unlocking

For devices launched after February 15, 2015, Sprint unlocked phones when Lease/Service/Billing Agreements were satisfied and accounts were in good standing.

For devices launched before February 15, 2015, Sprint did not authorize the use of GSM-capable devices, including both phones and tablets it sold, on a United States–based competitor's network, such as T-Mobile or AT&T. Unlike the aforementioned companies, which have comparatively lenient policies about unlocking phones, such as when the device is paid off or the contract is fulfilled, and Verizon, whose GSM-capable devices ship with the GSM portion already unlocked, Sprint only unlocked devices for international use for customers in good standing after contacting customer support.

This limitation meant phones and tablets sold by Sprint that were launched prior to February 15, 2015, only lawfully functioned on the Sprint network, a policy that prevented what may have otherwise been compatibility with another carrier's network. Additionally, iPhones sold by Sprint generally had the lowest resale value of devices sold by the top four carriers in the US. Means to unlock a GSM-capable iPhone existed, such as using a SIM interposer, but the device may not have functioned fully or correctly on the desired network, and unlocking of the device was a violation of the law under the terms of the DMCA up until August 1, 2014, when President Obama signed into law a bill allowing the unlocking of cell phones.

### FCC fine over Do Not Call rule breaches

In May 2014, the company was fined $7.5 million by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for failing to honor consumer requests to opt-out of marketing messages delivered by phone and text messages. Sprint was ordered to implement a comprehensive two-year plan to comply with the commission's rules including training of Sprint employees on how to comply with Do Not Call rules. American consumers have had the option of nominating not to receive telemarketing calls and texts since 2003, by placing their names on the National Do Not Call Registry.

### Law compliance

As required by law in the United States, in response to court orders and warrants, Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with its wireless subscribers' GPS locations over 8 million times in one year between September 2008 and October 2009. The disclosures occurred by way of a special, secure portal which Sprint developed specifically for government officials, which enabled users to automatically obtain Sprint customers' GPS locations after the request has been reviewed and activated by Sprint's surveillance department.

## Marketing

### Advertising

In 2016, Sprint began a major television advertising campaign that promoted its reliability as being within 1% of other major providers, such as Verizon. The advertisements featured Paul Marcarelli, an American actor once known for pitching Verizon with the phrase "Can you hear me now?" In the ads, Marcarelli noted that he had switched to Sprint and touted pricing of approximately half that of other providers, commenting "Can you hear that?" The ads featured the slogan "Don't let a 1% difference cost you twice as much."

### Sponsorships

#### Film

Sprint cellphones were product placed in such movies such as Men in Black II (2002), The Departed (2006), Dan in Real Life (2007), Superbad (2007), Wild Hogs (2007), 27 Dresses (2008), Baby Mama (2008), Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), Eagle Eye (2008), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), Sex and the City (film) (2008), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), Bride Wars (2009), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), and The Gambler (2014).

#### Music

Sprint was the official wireless sponsor of the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. Sprint Power Vision customers were able to watch the VMAs on a live simulcast on their Sprint Power Vision handset free of charge.

#### Sports

In Time Magazine ' s November 13, 2006 issue, Sprint Nextel's NASCAR FanView was named One of Best Inventions of 2006. The NASCAR FanView is a portable PDA that runs on Sprint's data network. The device offers fans access to "Race telecast and up to seven in-car camera channels, direct audio feeds allowing the user to listen to live driver and team conversations, as well as the radio broadcast and an exclusive audio-replay feature."

From 2008 to 2016, Sprint Corporation was the major title sponsor of NASCAR 's top racing series, formerly called the NEXTEL Cup, which became known as the Sprint Cup Series on February 9, 2008. Since then, Sprint signed a contract extension with NASCAR to continue sponsoring the series through the 2016 season. Sprint was replaced by Monster Energy after the 2016 season.

Sprint Corporation held the naming rights to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri; after the merger in 2020, the arena was renamed the T-Mobile Center (not to be confused with T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas).

Sprint Nextel announced in December 2011 that it reached a multi-year exclusive partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to be the league's official wireless service partner.

Sprint was also a sponsor for the Copa América Centenario in 2016.

#### Television

Sprint was a sponsor of the Fox television series 24 and Fringe.

Sprint was a major sponsor of the NBC television series Heroes and provided exclusive web content to subscribers. Sprint was also the mobile sponsor of NBC's The Voice.

Sprint was a major sponsor of competition reality shows, such as Big Brother and Survivor on CBS, which enabled viewers to vote each week for "Player of the Game".


The Genius Club

# The Genius Club

## Abstract

The Genius Club is an American 2006 Christian-themed dramatic thriller film written and directed by Tim Chey. It was released on 27 October 2006 via Cinemark Theatres.

The film tells the story of seven geniuses who try to solve the world's problems in one night in order to prevent a nuclear bomb from exploding in Washington, D.C. The film was produced and distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures and RiverRain Productions.

## Plot

On Christmas Eve, Armand (Tom Sizemore), a terrorist who has a hidden nuclear device in Washington D.C., forces the president of the United States government (Jack Scalia) to round up seven geniuses with IQs over 200. The group consists of a casino owner (Carol Abney), a biochemist (Paula Jai Parker), a professional baseball player (Matt Medrano), a seminary student (Jacob Bonnema), an economics professor (Phillip Moon), a painter (Tricia Helfer), and a pizza delivery guy (Stephen Baldwin).

The government places them in a bomb shelter and explains the group that they are there to solve the world's problems in one night; if they fail to gather a thousand points before morning, the terrorist will detonate the hidden nuclear device planted in the basement of the 'genius lair'.

## Cast

- Carol Abney as Julia Endersol

- Stephen Baldwin as Rory Johnson

- Jacob Bonnema as Jacob Chernov

- Tricia Helfer as Ally Simon

- Matt Medrano as Jose Delgado

- Philip Moon as Professor Lee

- Paula Jai Parker as Tatiana

- Huntley Ritter as Brian Mehlman

- Jack Scalia as The President

- Tom Sizemore as Armand

- Arch Bonnema as Chief of Staff Norm

- Dimitri Diatchenko as Jesse, The Mechanic

- Alasdair Lincoln as Stable Boy

## Background

The film was marketed during the 2007 Marché du Film (film market) which ran simultaneously with the 60th annual Cannes Film Festival.

Director Tim Chey wanted to make a film about the world's issues while combining the humanity and intelligence of the various character geniuses. Arch Bonnema produced the film, and his son Jacob plays Jacob Chernov, the seminary student.

The film is not explicitly religious, though it is Christian in its tone and message; seminary student Chernov, for example, at times quotes the Bible and answers the " meaning of life " question by observing that "there is no meaning outside of God."

Both director Tim Chey, who is a Christian, and the producers believed it was important that a "real Christian" play the part of Jacob Chernov, hence the selection of Jacob Bonnema, a Christian like his father.

## Critical reception

Most critical reviews were negative. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 14% based on 7 reviews.

Tom Maurstad, of The Dallas Morning News, described it as a "stultifying, static movie about a group of people trapped in a dingy boardroom yelling at one another and their tormentor. The film's look is relentlessly dark and gritty, like Fight Club without all the fights. Meanwhile, the set-up, a group of strangers thrown together into some sadistic game designed by a psycho genius overseeing all via video screen, is like Saw without the gruesome carnage."

Gary Cogill of WFAA-TV called it a "very earnest film" and said "it has some moments. But the whole movie boils down to solving spiritual problems, and it's awkward without any subtle moments.

Yet, its Christian message did appeal to critics from Southern Vanity, a Dallas -based lifestyle magazine, and it won the Dove "Family Approved" Seal in June 2008.

## Distribution

The movie was released on DVD in September 2008.


The Imperfects

# The Imperfects

## Abstract

The Imperfects is a Canadian superhero science fiction television series created by Dennis Heaton and Shelley Eriksen that premiered on Netflix on September 8, 2022. Promoted as a "coming of rage" story (a pun on coming-of-age story), it follows three young adults pursuing the mad scientist who tampered with their DNA, resulting in disruptive superpowers. In November 2022, the series was canceled after one season.

## Synopsis

Three Seattle -based adults, Abbi, a scientist, Juan, a comic book artist, and Tilda, a singer, are turned into monsters after undergoing an experimental gene therapy. The trio subsequently decides to hunt down the scientist responsible for their transformation, Dr. Alex Sarkov, and force him to make them human again. They are joined by Dr. Sydney Burke, a scientist who assists them in their quest.

## Cast and characters

### Main

- Italia Ricci as Dr. Sydney Burke, a scientist and the estranged former partner of Dr. Sarkov; the two worked on a synthetic stem cell project together.

- Morgan Taylor Campbell as Tilda Weber, the lead vocalist in a punk rock band who develops enhanced hearing and the powers of a banshee through sonic screams.

- Rhianna Jagpal as Abbi Singh, a genetics student who develops the powers of a succubus through pheromones that cause people to be uncontrollably attracted to and easily influenced by her.

- Iñaki Godoy as Juan Ruiz, a comic book artist who develops the powers of a werewolf -esque chupacabra by temporarily shapeshifting.

- Kyra Zagorsky as Isabel Finch, a mysterious woman with a grudge against Dr. Sarkov. She is also Burke's Hyde -like alter ego.

- Jedidiah Goodacre as P.J., the lead guitarist in Tilda's punk rock band and her boyfriend.

- Rhys Nicholson as Dr. Alex Sarkov, a rogue scientist who unethically experimented on his patients with synthetic stem cell therapy, leading to many of them developing powers as side effects. Nicholson also portrays Dr. Hallenbeck, a mysterious figure connected to Dr. Sarkov.

- Nicholson also portrays Dr. Hallenbeck, a mysterious figure connected to Dr. Sarkov.

- Celina Martin as Hannah Moore, a barista and former "failed experiment" of Dr. Sarkov who didn't develop powers like the other patients.

### Recurring

- Junnicia Lagoutin as Darcy Cobourg, Juan's girlfriend

- Ron Selmour as Jim Sponson, a high-ranking operative for Flux tasked with hunting down Sarkov's former patients.

- Rekha Sharma as Dr. Dominique Crain, chief science officer for the secret government organization known as Flux.

### Guest

- Max Lloyd-Jones as Doug, one of Dr. Sarkov's former patients whose side effect power is rapid regenerative healing. He is tasked with surveilling Sarkov's other patients.

- Ben Francis as Simon, the drummer in Tilda's punk rock band

- Veronica Long as Rose, the rhythm guitarist and backup singer in Tilda's punk rock band

- John Cassini as Dr. Brian Yake, an estranged former colleague of Dr. Burke

- Kai Bradbury as Dr. Nathaniel Lang, the leader of a trio of biohackers who hunt Sarkov's former patients

- Louriza Tronco as Qamara, a biohacker working with Nathaniel

- Naika Toussaint as Melanie, a biohacker working with Nathaniel

- Wesley MacInnes as Owen Schultz, one of Dr. Sarkov's former patients whose side effect power makes his skin invulnerable. He is also a self-declared "superhero".

- Jennifer Cheon as Sonja Benning, an operative for Flux who impersonates a law enforcement agent

- Diego Stredel as Alejandro Ruiz, Juan's estranged older brother and Paloma's father

- Danika Athenea Williston as Paloma, Juan's precocious niece and Alejandro and Renata's daughter

- Michelle Morgan as Betsy, Zoe's mother, who is searching for her missing daughter.

- MaeMae Renfrow as Zoe, one of Dr. Sarkov's former patients whose side effect power is electrokinesis. She is unable to control her abilities, which results in the deaths of multiple people.

- Siddhartha Minhas as Ben Singh, Abbi's younger brother

- Kandyse McClure as Dr. Monday, a roboticist who develops a new advanced form of nanorobotics.

- Manuela Sosa as Renata, Alejandro's wife and Paloma's mother

## Production

### Development

On April 16, 2021, Netflix gave production a straight-to-series order consisting of ten episodes. The show is created by Dennis Heaton and Shelley Eriksen, who are expected to executive produce alongside Chad Oakes and Michael Frislev. Nomadic Pictures is the company involved with producing the series. The show bases the main characters' powers on those of legendary creatures, such as the banshee, succubus, and chupacabra. Filming took place in Vancouver. The series premiered on September 8, 2022. On November 8, 2022, Netflix canceled the series after one season.

### Casting

Upon series-order announcement, Italia Ricci, Morgan Taylor Campbell, Rhianna Jagpal, Iñaki Godoy, Rhys Nicholson, Celina Martin, and Kyra Zagorsky were cast to star.

## Reception

The Imperfects received positive reviews from critics and audiences.

Liz Kocan of Decider called this a show "fine." She praised the story "decent" and noted that the show reminds of a "mashup of X-Men, Fringe, and Riverdale, in that it blends the plot devices of genetically modified mutant youths, supernatural beings, and dark, sometimes dangerous teen angst into one show." Stephanie Morgan of Common Sense Media gave the show a rate three stars out of five, describing as "Fast-paced anti-hero monster action; language and gore."


# Palmerston North Central railway station

## Abstract

Palmerston North Central railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand and the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line. The station opened in 1876 and closed in 1963.

## History

The original station was opened on 20 October 1876, when the Foxton Tramway was reopened as the Foxton Branch, though from 25 July 1873 the Square had been the terminus for the tramway. In 1883 the Wellington–Manawatu Line south to Wellington opened, increasing traffic. The line was constructed from Wellington to Longburn by the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (W&MR), and initially trains terminated at Longburn, forcing passengers to change trains to NZR services to Palmerston North. Eventually, NZR and W&MR finalised an interchange agreement, allowing W&MR passenger and mail trains to terminate at Palmerston North Central station. A special dock platform at the south of the station was constructed for W&MR trains to Wellington.

Traffic increased with the opening of the line to Napier via Woodville in 1891, and the station was moved 30 chains (2,000 ft; 600 m) south in March 1891. But it was still a bottleneck and remained the longest-persisting bottleneck on the Main Trunk until replaced by the new Palmerston North railway station on the Milson Deviation on 21 October 1963. Following the completion of the North Island Main Trunk in 1908, the government acquired the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and the first Auckland - Wellington through expresses ran on 14 February 1909, taking 19 hours 13 minutes, and stopping at Palmerston North.


Louis Munteanu

# Louis Munteanu

## Abstract

Louis Munteanu (Romanian pronunciation:; born 16 June 2002) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club CFR Cluj.

Munteanu made his senior debut for Viitorul Constanța in 2019, aged 17, and the next year was transferred to Italian side Fiorentina. In 2022, he returned to his boyhood club, which had merged with Farul Constanța, and contributed to winning the national title during his first loan spell back. Two years later, Munteanu signed with CFR Cluj, also in the Liga I.

Internationally, Munteanu represented Romania under-21 in the 2023 UEFA European Championship. In October that year, he registered his full debut in a goalless draw with Belarus in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

## Club career

### Viitorul Constanța

Munteanu made his professional debut for Viitorul Constanța on 27 October 2019, in a 2–3 away Liga I loss to Dinamo București. Five days later, he scored his first goal in a 3–0 home success over Chindia Târgoviște. Munteanu amassed three goals from 19 appearances during his first season as a senior, all in the league championship.

### Fiorentina

On 26 September 2020, Munteanu was transferred to Italian club Fiorentina for a rumoured fee of €2 million. During his initial two years with the Primavera side, he appeared in 40 matches and scored 13 goals.

#### First loan to Farul Constanța

On 15 August 2022, Munteanu rejoined the Romanian league by signing for Farul Constanța on loan until the end of the season. Before moving to Farul, he was close to being loaned to Rapid București, but the deal fell through because Fiorentina declined to include a permanent transfer clause. On the 28th that month, he scored his first two goals in a 3–1 away victory over defending champions CFR Cluj.

On 6 May 2023, Munteanu netted his second double of the campaign in a 7–2 home thrashing of Rapid București. Fifteen days later, he scored the winner in a 3–2 home success over league contenders FCSB, securing the national title for Farul with one match remaining. On 28 May, Munteanu ended his spell with ten goals in 29 matches by scoring twice in a 2–1 away victory at CFR Cluj, also missing a penalty.

#### Second loan to Farul Constanța

On 18 August 2023, Munteanu was sent on another year -long loan to Farul. He made his debut in European competitions six days later, coming on for Adrian Mazilu in a 2–1 home win over HJK in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. On 27 August, he scored both goals in a 2–0 home win against Universitatea Craiova.

Munteanu surpassed his previous season's statistics by netting 12 goals in 34 Liga I appearances, and was voted Farul Player of the Year by the fans.

### CFR Cluj

On 31 July 2024, amid interest from fellow league clubs FCSB and Rapid București, CFR Cluj officially announced the transfer of Munteanu on a four-year contract. CFR Cluj owner Neluțu Varga admitted that the transfer fee was "around €2 million", contrasting some reports that indicated it might be as high as €2.8 million, and also stated that Fiorentina retained 50% participation rights in a co-ownership deal.

Munteanu registered his debut on 4 August 2024, starting in a 2–3 home Liga I loss to rivals Universitatea Cluj. One week later, he scored his first two goals in a 3–0 win over newly-promoted Unirea Slobozia.

## International career

On 15 June 2023, Munteanu was selected in the Romania under-21 squad for the 2023 UEFA European Championship. He started in all three group games, as his side failed to score any goals and finished in last place.

On 12 October that year, Munteanu made his full debut for Romania by coming on as a 77th-minute substitute for Denis Drăguș in a goalless draw with Belarus in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.

## Personal life

On 16 October 2020, Munteanu tested positive for COVID-19.

## Career statistics

### International

## Honours

Farul Constanța

- Liga I: 2022–23


The Last White Dishwasher

# The Last White Dishwasher

## Abstract

The Last White Dishwasher is a 2008 mockumentary short film, based on an original concept by Carlos Alazraqui, and written and directed by Claudia Duran. It tells the story of the "last white dishwasher in America." It was featured at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival on October 14, 2009.

## Plot

Bobby Ray Jacobs (Carlos Alazraqui), a Southern man, is the sole remaining Caucasian dishwasher in America, and is surprisingly famous for it. The dishwasher career is a legacy for his family, starting with his grandfather. The film depicts several interviews with Bobby Ray and many of his friends, including his agent Rudy Valentine (Lombardo Boyer) and his British girlfriend Tamara Swanson (Tara Strong), explaining how he got his job and how he got to be where he is today.

## Cast

- Carlos Alazraqui as Bobby Ray Jacobs, the title character. He is the last white dishwasher in America.

- Lombardo Boyar as Rudy Valentine, Bobby Ray's agent, and the restaurant manager.

- Tara Strong as Tamara Swanson, Bobby's girlfriend from London.

- Jill Michele Melean as Maria Melendez-Smith, a television reporter.

- Cedric Yarbrough as himself. During his red carpet arrival, he shares a story about Bobby Ray, and supports more white dishwashers.

- Sean Corvelle as Mr. Williams, the line cook. He does not see what the big deal is about Bobby Ray.

- Johnny Sanchez as Yuri, a busboy. He says he wants Bobby Ray to wash the dishes for his daughter's quinceañera.

- Sabastian Centina as Jorge, a busboy. He is upset that Yuri did not choose him.

- Lauren Santos as Audrey, the waitress. She admires Bobby.

- Alexander Bedria as Dr. Skip Singer, Bobby Ray's sports psychologist.

- Cha-Cha as Bambi the dog, Tamara's dog.


Supporters' group

# Supporters' group

## Abstract

A supporters' group or supporters' club is an independent fan club or campaign group in sport, mostly association football.

Supporters' groups in continental Europe are generally known as ultras, which derives from the Latin word ultrā, meaning beyond in English, with the implication that their enthusiasm is 'beyond' the normal. In the Anglosphere, these groups are generally known as "supporters' groups". Most groups in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia call themselves "supporters' groups"; however, some do self-identify as ultras, particularly in communities with large Spanish, French, or Italian speaking populations. In Mexico, they are called porras, while in South America they are called either hinchada (plural of hincha, a Spanish word that was first used in Uruguay to refer to a single fan or supporter) or, exclusively in Brazil, torcida (plural of torcedor, which means 'supporter' in Portuguese) and fanaticada (plural of 'fan' in Portuguese). All of these terms are most commonly used to refer to the whole crowd of a team in the stadium and not just the groups within those crowds that lead the chants and display of choreographies and flags.

These groups in particular are barras bravas in Argentina and torcidas organizadas in Brazil (where there are also barras bravas, but are less in comparison). Both (but especially barras bravas) are organised supporters' groups that are not only focused on supporting their team and intimidating rivals, but also on antagonizing opposing fans, or defending (themselves and the rest of their club's supporters) from police repression or attacks by rival groups.

Supporters' groups and ultras are renowned for their fanatical vocal support in large groups, defiance of the authorities, and the display of banners at stadiums, which are used to create an atmosphere to intimidate opposing players and supporters, as well as cheering on their own team.

## Characteristics

Supporters' groups are usually centered around a core group (who tend to have executive control over the whole group), with smaller subgroups organised by location, friendship, or political stance. Supporters' groups tend to use various styles and sizes of banners and flags with the name and symbols of the group. Some supporters' groups sell their own merchandise such as scarves, hats, and jackets. The resulting culture is a mix of several supporting styles such as scarf-waving and chanting. A supporters' group can number from a handful of fans to hundreds, and often claim entire sections of a stadium for themselves.

According to a writer for Spiked, the four core points of the ultra mentality are:

- never stop singing or chanting during a match, no matter the result

- never sit down during a match

- attend as many games as possible (home and away), regardless of cost or distance

- loyalty to the stand in which the group is located

Supporters' groups usually have a representative who liaises with the club owners on a regular basis, mostly regarding tickets, seat allocations, and storage facilities. Some groups sell their own merchandise to raise funds for performing displays. Some clubs provide groups with cheaper tickets, storage rooms for flags, and banners and early access to the stadium before matches in order to prepare displays. These types of favoured relationships are often criticised as an abuse of power. and for displaying banners and flags, which hinder the view of those sitting behind.

### Match day

During matches of significant importance, many supporters' groups choreograph a large overhead display that is displayed just in the section of the stadium where the group is located or the entire stadium. Sometimes, small sheets of plastic or paper are held aloft to form a pattern, or to colour the stadium. Such a display is called a "mosaic" or "card display". Other materials used in certain types of displays include balloons, streamers, huge banners, flares, smoke bombs, and at times, giant dolls. Popular culture icons are often used on banners. Corporate brand logos and catchphrases are also often used. The displays, which can be expensive to make, often take months to prepare. All of the supporter-provided overhead displays, two-poles, banners, etc. are called tifo.

Supporters groups tend to be highly vocal at matches, with each group having several football chants. The melodies are mostly taken from popular songs.

### Hooliganism

Unlike hooligan firms, whose main aim is to fight fans of other clubs, the main focus of supporters' groups is to support their own team. Unlike some hooligans, who try to be inconspicuous when they travel in ways such as not wearing team colours in order to avoid detection by the police, team supporters tend to have a bolder attitude, and are more conspicuous when they travel. They proudly display their scarves and club colours while arriving en masse, which allows the police to keep a close eye on their movements. Although supporters' groups can become violent, the vast majority of matches go ahead with no violent incidents.

## By region

### Oceania

The main supporter group of the Australia national soccer team is Socceroos Active Support (SAS). SAS was founded in January 2015 as an independent group, that uses social media to organise and keep in touch. This replaced the former active support group Terrace Australis, who were founded by the FFA and fans in 2013, during Australia's 2014 World Cup qualification campaign. Its establishment came in the wake of poor off-field action and minimal community engagement. Previously, the emergence of Terrace Australis saw the Green and Gold Army relinquish its role as a hub for active support, which it had claimed since its establishment in 2001.

The main supporter group of the Australia national rugby league team is The Roo Crew.

The supporters of the New Zealand national football team are known as the 'White Noise', a play on the All Whites nickname.

The official South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter group is known as " The Burrow ". Their active supporter group is known as "Gate38" and is made up of young men who were involved in the "scumgate" scandal in 2013. The Rabbitohs also have a large supporter base in Perth, where they rival the Fremantle Dockers in supporter size.

The official New South Wales rugby league team supporter group is known as "Blatchy's Blues".

The official Queensland rugby league team supporter group is known as "Maroon Crusade".

The official Gold Coast Titans supporter group is known as "The Legion".

The official Canberra Raiders supporter group is known as "The Greenhouse".

The Brisbane Broncos have the largest fan base of any NRL club and they have been voted the most popular rugby league team in Australia for several years. A Broncos supporters' group called "The Thoroughbreds", made up of prominent businessmen, made an unsuccessful bid to purchase News Ltd's controlling share of the club in 2007.

The Bulldogs Army is the core support group for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with the section they sit within known as 'The Kennel'. To be sitting in this section, supporters must become a member of the club itself and register any large flags and/or banners which are brought to the game. At all away games the Bulldogs Army locates themselves in the general admission section. The main aim of the Bulldogs Army is to show support and passion for the Bulldogs.

As the region's traditional local representatives, the Bulldogs predominantly draw on a support base in and around the suburbs of Canterbury and Bankstown in south-western Sydney, although in recent years club administration and home matches have relocated to Sydney Olympic Park. The Bulldogs are the most supported NRL club in regional NSW – over 25% of Bulldog fans are located in regional NSW, over 25% are located outside of NSW and over 10% are located in QLD. The club has one of the highest average attendances in the league: over the 2010 season, it was one of only two clubs to record an average home crowd of more than 20,000.

The multicultural demographics of the suburbs in the club's support base, such as Lakemba, means the club has a large number of supporters from a range of non-Anglo ethnicities. In recent years the club has become particularly identified in the media with the Lebanese and the Greek community, particularly with the club's former star goalkicker Hazem El Masri, being a Lebanese immigrant who migrated from Lebanon as a young child. The Greek community has a huge history of Greeks playing for the club dating back to the 1970s with club legend George Peponis, being a Greek immigrant who migrated from Greece as a very young child who captained the Bulldogs and Australia. El Masri retired at the end of the 2009 season.

The Melbourne Storm 's supporter base grew from almost 500,000 in 2004 to almost 800,000 in 2009, making them the fourth most popular rugby team. The club's supporter group, the "Graveyard Crew", make an Aussie-rules -(AFL) style banner for the team to run through in important matches.

The Sydney Roosters have a strong support base across Australia. Aside from its traditional fan base in Sydney, which is most concentrated in its homeland in the affluent eastern suburbs, the club is also popular in South East Queensland, Canberra and Newcastle. The club has an internet message board for supporters, "The Wall", which has been the official forum since 1999. The club has announced that "The Wall" will be closing as of late January 2012. "The Chookpen" is an unofficial site.

In 2013 the club tallied the fourth-highest home attendance of all National Rugby League clubs (behind the Brisbane Broncos) with an average of 19,368 spectators at the Sydney Football Stadium.

At the club's home ground, the Sydney Football Stadium, the supporters congregate in distinct sections. The "Chook Pen", a designated area in Bay 35, is the preferred location for the most animated fans. Members of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust are seated in the Members' Stand on the western side of the ground, and season ticket holders are located just beneath the Members' area, in Bays 12–14.

In 2014, the Roosters had nearly 17,000 paying members, in addition to the 45,550 members of the Roosters' Leagues Club, which is the major benefactor of the football club. The Easts Leagues Club and the Sydney Roosters "operate as one entity" known as the Easts Group. Under this arrangement, the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club is the 'parent company' of the Easts Group. The Football Club delegates, however, overarching responsibility for both football and leagues club operations to a single general manager who oversees the whole group's performance. The leagues club group provides financial support to the football club, only where necessary, as in recent years the football club's sponsorships and TV revenues are generally covering most Rugby League expenditures.

Port Adelaide Football Club has many supporter groups, with every state or territory containing at least one supporter group. In addition, many country towns within South Australia have their own supporter group, many of which travel to both home and away games.

- Port Adelaide Cheer Squad

- Outer Army

- Alberton Crowd

- Interstate Groups

There are also a number of English supporters' groups located in Australia for premiership teams and championship teams. The Hornets Down Under are an example of a championship supporters' group.

### East Asia

In Japan, supporters' sections are known as oendan and are prominent at baseball games and football matches.

The supporters' group for the South Korea national football team is Bulgeun Angma (lit. 'Red Devils').

### South Asia

The India national football team has a supporters' group called the Blue Pilgrims. They were formed with a motive to support the national team and the U-17 team during the 2017 U17 World Cup held in India.

Mariners' Base Camp and East Bengal Ultras are the ultras fan group of Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal FC respectively, two of the oldest football clubs in Asia. Derbies of the two clubs called as Kolkata Derby often witness record breaking spectator, one such moment was during 1997 Kolkata Derby in the Federation Cup Semi-final, where a recorded crowd of 131,781 turned up for the match while the official capacity of the stadium was 120,000. Fans of the clubs formed in the early 2010's also created ultras fan group, like Manjappada, which supports Kerala Blasters FC, West Block Blues, which supports Bengaluru FC and some more.

### South America

In South America, barras bravas are the main supporter' groups. Similar to hooligan firms and ultras, the phenomenon originated in Argentina in the 1950s, but it has spread throughout most of the region during the following decades. This gang-like groups coordinate chants (which accompany playing bass drums and, less, trumpets) and display choreographies (like throw balloons, confetti, smoke bombs and firecrackers when their team goes out to the pitch; and wave banners, flags and umbrellas during the whole matches) to encourage their teams and intimidate rivals and referees, seek fights against opposing barras bravas and repel police repression.

They wield enormous power and influence over football in their respective states, especially in Argentina, which is home to some of the largest and strongest organised supporter groups worldwide.

The exception is Brazil, where the clubs have active supporter' groups named torcidas organizadas, who play a similar role to the barras bravas. However, the southern part of Brazil, in the south part of Santa Catarina and in all Rio Grande do Sul, contrary to the rest of the country, the supporter groups are barras bravas.

### Continental Europe

In Europe, there are primarily three types of groups: official supporter groups, ultras, and hooligan firms.

Official supporter groups primary function is to liaise with the club board and protects supporter interest as well as have a say in the running of the clubs, and they usually represent all types of supporters of all ages ranging from fanatical supporters, to disabled supporters, to supporters who rarely frequent games, however they are still an independent body. The oldest of which is Torcida founded in 1950 as supporters of Hajduk Split from Croatia.

Ultras groups are independent of the club; however, they too are frequently supported by the club as they cater to the majority of the most vocal and committed supporters, producing atmosphere and encouraging the players. However, frequent tensions also arise, due to often vocal and pro-active criticism of management or players and the illegality of some their actions, such as graffiti and lighting pyrotechnics during matches. Many ultras groups, to maintain their independence and raise money, run their own shops selling supporter merchandise, most commonly clothing such as supporter scarves, and sometimes in collaboration with the club match tickets.

Hooligan firms are largely restricted to a secretive sub-culture, due to the illegal nature of their activity. As they mostly socialise with other hooligans, they therefore have little contact with other sets of supporters.

In the past, the distinction between ultras and hooligans was blurred, with the majority being considered both. Due to the increase in condemnation and punishment of hooligan activity, the divide has become increasingly visible, however for some groups, especially groups who support smaller teams and therefore have less members, this divide is still very much blurred; some groups have started using the label hooltras.

### Britain and Ireland

Most supporters' groups are not only officially endorsed by the affiliated club, but also recognised on the club's website and hold regular meetings at the stadium.

In England and Wales, nearly all official supporter groups are affiliated with the Football Supporters' Federation. Also In England and Wales only, Supporters Direct are an umbrella organization promoting fan-ownership. For example. Leeds United has a number of supporters groups representing people with protected characteristics which include Punjabi Whites. LGBT fan group inclusion in Leeds United.

There are also numerous hooligan firms in Britain, also known as casuals in itself a style of support and sub-culture, stemming largely from the fact that Britain is the birthplace of the phenomenon of football hooliganism.

In the Republic of Ireland the supporters embrace a mixture of both ultra and casual styles.

### North America

The major supporters' group for the United States men's and women's national teams is The American Outlaws. The major supporters' group in Canada is The Voyageurs.

There are independent supporters' groups for teams in Major League Soccer (MLS), which operates in the United States and Canada, and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as for many teams of the lower divisions of the United States soccer pyramid. Many of these groups are members of the Independent Supporters Council. MLS holds an annual "Supporters' Summit" to meet with the leadership of most of its supporter groups to discuss issues including security, self-policing, supporter group managed sections, and strategies for league success. Many teams in other leagues, including the National Premier Soccer League, USL Pro, USL Premier Development League, and North American Soccer League (2010) have associated supporters' groups. Supporters' groups can be found for some NCAA soccer programs such as Legion 1818 at Saint Louis University, Englemann Elite at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, or the Red Cedar Rowdies, influenced by Detroit City FC's Northern Guard Supporters, at Michigan State University. In Canada, there are supporters' groups for all Canadian Premier League teams. There are also supporters' groups in cities hoping to get a CanPL team in the future.

Major League Baseball supporters' groups include Dodgers ' Pantone 294 group and Oakland Athletics ' Section 149.

NFL supporters' groups include the Raiders ' Black Hole, Pittsburgh Steelers ' Steel City Mafia, Arizona Cardinals ' Bird Gang, and the New Orleans Saints Big Easy Mafia, which includes international chapters. The Dallas Cowboys, who bill themselves as "America's Team", and other successful teams such as New England Patriots, have supporters' groups around the U.S., and Jacksonville Jaguars ' Bold City Brigade includes a UK chapter as part of its bid to promote Jaguars as London's "home team".

NHL supporters' groups include the New York Islanders ' Blue and Orange Army est2009. The Blue and Orange Army aka BOA, was officially formed in 2009, and is the first true supporters section in the NHL.

In Mexico there are porras, that are older and are not violent like the first ones. Some association football clubs in Mexico also have animation groups, which stage tifo and other choreographed displays. A brawl between groups at Querétaro - Atlas match in 2022 injured 20 fans and resulted in Liga MX banning animation groups from organizing in opponents' stadiums.


# List of Spokane Transit Authority bus routes

## Abstract

This is a list of current routes operated by the mass transit agency Spokane Transit Authority in Spokane, Washington. Spokane Transit Authority operates 52 routes as of May 2023. Routes are organized by route number. Discontinued routes and former versions of existing routes are not listed. Routes are color-coded in accordance with the STA's Map, with green for shuttles, red for high-frequency, blue for basic-frequency, pink for express routes, and lilac for the City Line.

These lists reflect the January 21, 2024 STA service changes.

## System organization

Each route is organized by color and number to assist riders navigating Spokane's transit system. In August 2022, Spokane Transit began a standardized coloring system to denote level of service for each route. Route numbers represent the general service areas served. Single digit routes denote high performance transit.

## Routes 1 to 9 (High Performance Transit)

Single digit routes that provide higher level service to major corridors.

## Routes 10 to 19 (Downtown)

Routes 10-19 provide targeted service in the downtown area.

## Routes 20 to 28 (North Spokane)

Routes in the 20's serve North Spokane. Lower numbers are generally more to the West and higher numbers are generally more to the East. Route 4 (Monroe-Regal) also serves North Spokane and is listed under Routes 1-9 (high performance transit).

## Routes 30 to 39 (Crosstown Routes)

Routes in the 30's provide crosstown connections to other major routes, STA Plaza, and/or park & ride locations.

## Routes 43 and 45 (South Spokane)

Routes in the 40's provide service to South Spokane. Lower route numbers indicate they are more to the West, and higher route numbers indicate they are more to the East. Route 4 (Monroe-Regal) also serves South Spokane and is listed under Routes 1-9 (high performance transit).

## Routes 60 to 69 (West Plains)

Routes in the 60's provide service to the West Plains area. Route 6 (Cheney) also serves the West Plains and is listed under Routes 1-9 (high performance transit).

## Routes 74 & 90 to 99 (Spokane Valley)

Routes 74 and those in the 90's provides service to the City of Spokane Valley.

## Routes in 200s (SPS Routes)

Routes in the 200's are seasonal routes that supplement the Spokane Public School bus system. These routes only operate on school days.

## Routes in 300s (Fairgrounds Shuttle Routes)

Routes in the 300's are limited service routes that support high capacity events taking place at the Spokane County Interstate Fairgrounds. Unlike most other routes, these routes only operate during certain times of the year. These routes also only run from the SCC Transit Center to the Spokane County Fairgrounds.


Synyster Gates

# Synyster Gates

## Abstract

Brian Elwin Haner Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. 9 on Guitar World ' s best metal guitarists of all time. Gates was voted as Best Metal Guitarist in the World by Total Guitar in 2016 and once again in 2017.

## Early life

Synyster Gates is the son of musician, author, and comedian Brian Haner Sr., known as Papa Gates, who worked with Sam the Sham 's band in the 1970s and has done session work for Avenged Sevenfold. Gates studied at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, California, as part of the Guitar Institute of Music program, studying jazz and classical guitar.

## Career

### Avenged Sevenfold

Gates was featured on the EP Warmness on the Soul, which contains select songs from the first album as well as his new version of "To End the Rapture". His name on the EP was written as "Synyster Gaytes".

Gates was voted Sexiest Male in the 2008 Kerrang! Readers Poll. In 2010, Guitar World listed him as one of the 30 greatest shredders of all time. They described him as being able to perform finger-twisting licks, acrobatic sweeps, devilish chromatics and towering dual-harmonies. Gates was chosen as one of Guitar Hero's 50 fastest guitarists. On Guitar World's 2010 Readers Poll, Gates was chosen Snappiest Dresser and the Best Metal Guitarist. Rock One Magazine's 2010 Readers Poll voted Gates the No. 3 best musician in the industry. On April 20, 2011, Gates won the Revolver Golden God award for Best Guitarist along with bandmate Zacky Vengeance. Avenged Sevenfold picked up numerous other awards and delivered the headlining performance of the night.

In the special edition of Revolver magazine that was released the same day as the Nightmare album, Gates stated that he originally started out writing the song " So Far Away " in honor of his grandfather. However, the song is now primarily about his former bandmate, best friend and previous drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, The Rev, who died on December 28, 2009.

### Pinkly Smooth

Gates and The Rev played in an experimental metal band named Pinkly Smooth. Formed in the summer of 2001 in Huntington Beach, California, the band featured ex-Ballistico members Buck Silverspur on bass and D-Rock on drums. The band released one album, Unfortunate Snort on Bucktan Records, which features a crossover sound of mostly punk, ska and progressive metal. Former Avenged Sevenfold bassist Justin Sane played keyboards and piano on the album. There was speculation that Pinkly Smooth was going to produce another record, but due to the death of the Rev, it is highly unlikely that they will produce any more material. However, Gates has said that he would consider remastering the tracks from Unfortunate Snort and re-releasing the album.

## Influences

Besides metal music, Gates is a big fan of jazz, gypsy jazz, classical, and avant garde. He cites Dimebag Darrell, Django Reinhardt, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Slash, Marty Friedman, Zakk Wylde, Allan Holdsworth, Mr. Bungle, Frank Gambale, Oingo Boingo, and Danny Elfman as his artistic influences.

Gates has named bassist Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle "one of favorite songwriters of all time", praising his compositions of "masterful and incredibly singable atonal brilliance throughout ", and concluded: " is nothing short of pure genius."

## Personal life

Gates married Michelle DiBenedetto in May 2010. The couple have two children, a son born in 2017 and a daughter born in 2019.

Michelle's twin sister, Valary, is married to M. Shadows. This makes him and M. Shadows brothers-in-law in addition to band-mates. They live close to one another and see each other very often because of their wives' being very close as twin sisters.

## Discography

### With Avenged Sevenfold

- Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001) (only on the re-release version of "To End the Rapture")

- Waking the Fallen (2003)

- City of Evil (2005)

- Avenged Sevenfold (2007)

- Nightmare (2010)

- Hail to the King (2013)

- The Stage (2016)

- Life Is But a Dream... (2023)

### With Pinkly Smooth

- Unfortunate Snort (2001)

### Featured guest appearances

- Bleeding Through 's " Savior, Saint, Salvation," track (with M. Shadows).

- Good Charlotte 's " The River " track and music video (with M. Shadows).

- Burn Halo 's " Dirty Little Girl " track and music video.

- Burn Halo 's "Anejo" track.

- Brian Haner 's "Blow-Up Doll" music video.

- The Jeff Dunham Show intro song (with his father).

- AxeWound 's "Vultures" from their debut album of the same name.

- Machine Gun Kelly 's "Save Me" from the album Lace Up (with M. Shadows).

- Linkin Park 's " Faint " live at Chester Bennington's memorial concert (with M. Shadows).

## Guitars

Gates uses mainly Schecter Guitars. Schecter Guitar Research has been sponsoring him and he has signature Avenger models. He has also used Gibson Guitars when Avenged Sevenfold recorded Waking the Fallen and City of Evil. He has his own Seymour Duncan pickups, a custom SH-8 Invader, with Black, Gold, White or Chrome caps.

- Schecter Synyster Custom-S (Black with Silver pinstripes, Black with Gold pinstripes, Black with Red pinstripes, White with Gold pinstripes, White with Black pinstripes, Gold Burst, Dark Earth Burst, Black Relic)

- Schecter custom models with Rebel flag / Confederate Flag, American flag, German flag, Black with Red Stripes, Red with Black Stripes, White with Gold Stripes, White with Black Stripes, one featuring Jack Nicholson's Joker art and color scheme.

- Schecter Synyster Gates Custom with "REV" inlays on fret board, instead of "SYN" featured in the " So Far Away " music video

- Schecter Synyster Custom

- Schecter Synyster Acoustic

- Schecter Synyster 8-String Prototype

- Schecter Synyster Deluxe Prototype

- Schecter Synyster Special

- Schecter Avenger

- Schecter C-1 Classic - Transparent Blue

- Schecter Custom C-1 FR

- Schecter Omen-6 FR

- Gibson ES-335

- Schecter Hellraiser C-1 FR(white, black)

- Schecter Scorpion with Seymour Duncan JBs

- Schecter PT Fastback

- Schecter S-1 loaded with Seymour Duncan JBs

- Gibson Les Paul Custom (arctic white)

- Parker Fly Deluxe

- Epiphone Rockbass

- Fernandez Guitars FR95s with a sustainer single coil pickup as seen on "Making of Brompton Cocktail"