Clearwire Corporation and Sprint Nextel Corporation today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their next-generation wireless broadband businesses to form a new wireless communications company.The new company, which will be named Clearwire, will be focused on expediting the deployment of the first nationwide mobile WiMAX network to provide a true mobile broadband experience for consumers, small businesses, medium and large enterprises, public safety organizations and educational institutions. The new Clearwire expects to dramatically enhance the speed and manner in which customers access all that the Internet has to offer at home, in the office and on the road.
According to a published report on Tuesday, Sprint's has reached an agreement with Clearwire, combining the two companies wireless broadband divisions. Clearwire traded up 12.4 percent immediately following the news.
To bring the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users, Sprint Nextel offers a wide variety of wireless and wireline communications services. The company is known for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies to offer the best to consumers.
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Sprint Nextel's stock sunk over 9 percent after the company reported that it lost $29.5 billion during the fourth quarter. The loss was mostly related to merger expenses with Nextel. The company announced that it has suspended its dividend and taken out a $2.5 billion loan. Daniel Hesse, Sprint's CEO, responded to bankruptcy concerns stating that the company has plenty of cash on hand and borrowed the funds to allow for greater flexibility in fixing its business.
Sprint Next is expected to be offering a significantly lower flat-rate plan that may as much as 40 percent lower then its rivals. Recently, both Verizon Wireless and AT&T have announced flat-rate plans for $100 that provide unlimited calling. Analysts are expecting Sprint to counter with a plan that could cost as low as $60 a month. The industry could facing a long overdue price war leading to much lower profit margins.
Sprint Nextel is a tricky investment case. On the one hand, there is a meltdown of sorts. On the other hand, WiMAX holds a promise as a 4G solution. For those wanting to catch up, read these two articles: Light Reading summarizes all the big disasters (management, churn & customer service, joint ventures & technology choices), while IEEE focuses on the biggest issue going forward: WiMAX. All
Sprint Nextel and Clearwire plan to jointly construct the first nationwide mobile broadband network using WiMAX technology (announced last August) has died. The companies couldn't finalize a preliminary agreement they signed last July to pursue the partnership. They companies in July had announced plans to accelerate the agreement. The companies had hoped to finalize the agreement within 60 days but the agreement became too complex. The recent departure of Gary Forsee, Sprint's chief executive, didn't help matters.The collapse of the preliminary agreement is a blow to CLearwire. The company had staked its future on WiMax, which is a longer range cousin of Wi-Fi that theoretically provides wireless broadband access for laptops and cell phones at speeds comparable to what cable operators provide.
Sprint announced that if the settlement is reached, the carrier will provide customers all necessary codes to unlock their handsets for use on other carrier networks. But wait , that’s not all , Sprint also declared that beside of unlocking the phones they will also begin training its customer service reps on how to connect non-Sprint phones to its network.
Sprint made this offer as part of the proposed settlement of a California class-action lawsuit, filed last year, accusing the company of anticompetitive practices.
The plaintiffs claimed the software “lock” forced customers wanting to switch carriers to have to buy a new phone, throwing up a barrier to competition. A similar lawsuit was filed in Palm Beach County, Fla., and is covered by the proposed settlement.
The big problem at Sprint is that a locked phone won’t be able to make calls when a customer leaves a carrier, they are unable to use it on a new carrier unless it is unlocked. So people are forced to
ReutersSprint Nextel said on Thursday it could spend as much as $5 billion by the end of 2010 on a new network based on the emerging high-speed wireless technology known as WiMax. The No. 3 U.S. wireless service said it expects spending on the network through the end of 2008 to be at the low end of its previously announced estimates because of its agreement to connect its network with Clearwire, a small wireless service provider. WiMax is a wireless technology that Sprint wants to use to blanket entire cities, enabling wireless Internet access on everything from cell phones and laptops to video game players and cameras. The technology is expected to support Internet access at speeds up to five times faster than typical wireless networks, though it is still slower than wired broadband such as DSL. Sprint said it expects to spend $2.5 billion on the network through the end of 2008 compared with its earlier estimate of $2.5 billion to $3 billion. Sprint expects to reach a potential 100 m
For the first time ever, Sprint Nextel launches Hispanic integrated-marketing campaign to show Hispanic consumers the speed of Nextel Walkie-Talkie and NASCARNASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, takes a break on the set of his first Spanish-language Sprint Nextel TV commercial since joining the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. Titled "Gotera" (A Water Leak), the high-energy spot, filmed in Concord, N.C., is part of Sprint Nextel's overall Hispanic integrated-marketing campaign to bring the sport closer to the Hispanic consumer. For more information, please contact Brenda Mendoza at The Vidal Partnership, 646-356-6614.Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) will debut its first TV commercial with celebrated driver Juan Pablo Montoya on June 18. As the premier sponsor of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, Sprint Nextel brings the sport of NASCAR closer to Hispanic consumers and uses the sport's intensity to demonstrate the speed of Nextel's products.Titled "Gotera" (A Water Leak), the 30-second,
RESTON, Va. — 05/30/2007Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) CFO Paul Saleh will speak at the Deutsch Bank 15th Annual Media and Telecommunications Conference on Monday, June 4 at 9:10 a.m. EDT in New York. The conference is being held at the Palace Hotel in New York City.A live audio webcast of this session may be accessed via Sprint's website on the day of the event at www.sprint.com/investors. A replay of the webcast will be available shortly after the actual presentation. A link to the replay will remain available at this site until July 1, 2007.About Sprint NextelSprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving 53.6 million customers at the end of the first quarter 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant nation
Sprint Nextel(s),the #3 wireless carrier behind AT&T and Verizon was formed by the merger of Sprint and Nextel in 2005 with a stated goal: "Two great traditions of bold innovation have come together in a new company with a clear mission: To be No. 1 in providing a simple, instant, enriching and productive customer experience. Nice tag line but the company is failing at this goal at such a magnitude it makes one wonder if they even realize it is a stated goal. When Sprint bought Nextel they...
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,$42 million area-wide investment by Sprint provides significant wireless network enhancements in ClevelandFor Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) wireless customers in Cleveland who already take advantage of the company’s powerful networks, recent local network enhancements should result in even better wireless service. Sprint added 34 wireless cell sites in 2006 to its Sprint National NetworkSM and Nextel National NetworkSM in Cleveland."Sprint continues to make significant investments to increase coverage and capacity in its wireless networks in Cleveland and throughout the country," said Kevin Gleason, area vice president, Sprint. "Customer satisfaction and network quality are two of Sprint's top priorities as we further strengthen our powerful networks where our customers live, work, play and travel."Last year, Sprint invested more than $42 million in its wireless networks in Cleveland. The following is a detailed list of the local areas benefiting from these enhancements:Sprint National N
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) today reported first quarter 2007 financial results. In the quarter, the company added nearly 600,000 net new subscribers, expanded network coverage and capabilities and significantly increased investments in business operations. The company reported strong demand for wireless data services and wireline IP services and achieved a fast start for its PowerSourceTM handset offering that combines the best push-to-talk, voice and data capabilities on one device. The company also substantially completed a major headcount reduction, continued to build momentum on its planned fourth generation wireless data offering and launched a market trial for a Boost Mobile unlimited local calling plan.
NOKIA PRESS RELEASE March 14, 2007Nokia, Sprint Nextel to Roll Out Mobile WiMAX Services in TexasIrving, TX, USA - Nokia today announced that Sprint Nextel has awarded it the four Texas markets of Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin for the initial build-out of Sprint Nextel's mobile WiMAX network.Nokia will deploy WiMAX infrastructure, including the Nokia Flexi WiMAX Base Station, at sites throughout the four Texas markets, enabling Sprint Nextel to deliver wireless Internet broadband access to consumers, businesses and governments. Service is expected to commence in the Texas markets during the first half of 2008. Sprint Nextel's mobile WiMAX network intends to cover 100 million people nationwide by the end of 2008."Nokia's WiMAX solution provides Sprint Nextel a highly cost-effective network infrastructure solution for delivering broadband wireless Internet connectivity to its Texas customers," said Mark Louison, head of Nokia's Networks division in North America. "Nokia
Why WiMax?
But the advantage of Mobile WiMax isn’t just that individual download speeds will rise. It’s that Sprint’s virtual “pipes” will be able to support more simultaneous users at less cost, West said, and that WiMax chips cost “around 1/10″ the price of those of competing technologies.
Sprint will deploy WiMax on 2.5 Ghz spectrum covering 85% of the nation’s top 100 markets. West said Sprint also looked at Flarion’s Flash-OFDM technology (which we reviewed when Nextel tested it in North Carolina) and IPWireless’ UMTS-TDD technology, but neither were good fits.
Flash-OFDM “worked extremely well … [but] it’s only available in what’s called frequency division duplexing, and the spectrum we own is more conducive to time division duplexing,” West said. UMTS-TDD, meanwhile, didn’t have the “ecosystem” Sprint was looking for.
WiMax has traditionally been considered a competitor to cab
