Sprint Nextel Corporation

Sprint Nextel Corporation {{nyse|S}}, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States. It operates the third largest wireless network in the U.S. with nearly 44 million subscribers, under the Sprint PCS and Nextel brands--behind Cingular and Verizon Wireless. It also operates landline and long distance business, as well as several units that provide businesses and governments with communications services. The company, formerly known as Sprint Corporation, was created from the purchase of NEXTEL Communications by Sprint, though the deal was billed as a merger of equals.

History

Sprint

The legacy Sprint Corporation was founded in 1899 by Cleyson Brown under the Brown Telephone Company name in the small town of Abilene, Kansas. The company was a landline telephone company that operated as a competitor to the Bell System.

Related Topics:
1899 - Abilene, Kansas - Bell System

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In the mid 20th century, Brown changed its name to United Utilities. That company changed its name to United Telecommunications in 1972, as it began to offer a more diversified product range.

Related Topics:
20th century - 1972

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In 1986, the company launched its long distance services under the Sprint brand name, following its acquistion from GTE, under which it was called GTE Sprint (and previously US Sprint before acquisition by GTE). As more people became familiar with the Sprint name, the company changed its from United to Sprint Corporation in 1992.

Related Topics:
1986 - GTE - 1992

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In 1995, the company began to offer wireless service under the Sprint PCS brand.

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

Related Topics:
October 5 - 1999 - MCI WorldCom - United States Department of Justice - European Union

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In 2003, Sprint began recombining their local telecom, long distance, wireline, and wireless business units into a new company, marketing the combined company as "One Sprint". In April 2004, the separately traded wireless tracking stock, "PCS", was absorbed into the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) "FON" ticker, Sprint's former ticker.

Related Topics:
2003 - April 2004 - New York Stock Exchange

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Sprint was the first U.S. carrier with innovations such as the first camera phone (Sanyo SCP-5300), and the first 2.0 megapixel camera phone (Samsung MM-A800).

Related Topics:
Sanyo - Megapixel - Samsung

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NEXTEL

NEXTEL was founded as FleetCall 1987 and changed its name to NEXTEL Communications in 1993. In 1995, wireless pioneer Craig McCaw became a significant investor in the company.

Related Topics:
1987 - 1993 - 1995 - Craig McCaw

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NEXTEL was formerly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker "NXTL".

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Merger of Sprint and NEXTEL

On December 15, 2004, Sprint and NEXTEL announced they would merge to form Sprint Nextel Corporation. While billed as a merger of equals, the transaction was actually the purchase of NEXTEL Communications by Sprint Corporation.

Related Topics:
December 15 - 2004

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Sprint and NEXTEL shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger on July 13, 2005. The merger deal was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and U.S. Department of Justice on August 3, 2005. The FCC placed a condition on the merger that Sprint Nextel is to provide wireless service within the 2.5Ghz band within the next four years. Sprint Nextel was officially formed on August 12, 2005, when the deal was completed.

Related Topics:
July 13 - 2005 - Federal Communications Commission - August 3 - August 12

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Sprint and NEXTEL both faced opposition to the merger, mostly from regional affiliates that provide wireless services on behalf of the companies. These regional affiliates felt that the new company would be violating non-compete agreements that the former companies had made with the affiliates. Sprint Nextel has made a settlement with an affiliate named Ubiqutel that Sprint won't be providing any Nextel service within the Ubiqutel service limits. Other affiliates have also filed lawsuits against Sprint Nextel.

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