nextel

Cox Communications is aiming for March to launch its wireless service, the company said Wednesday.

The cable operator is initially partnering with Sprint Nextel to resell its wireless service to customers. Cox already bundles high-speed Internet, telephony, and TV. Wireless service will create a quadruple play.

The company hasn't announced pricing yet but has said that the service will launch first in three markets: Hampton Roads, Va.; Omaha, Neb.; and Orange County, Calif. In total, Cox serves roughly 1.45 million cable subscribers in these markets.

Unlike Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which have invested in a company building … Read more

On Monday, Sprint introduced its latest Nextel Direct Connect phone, the Motorola Brute i680. Described as "an extreme phone for extreme conditions," the Brute i680 features a rugged design and meets Military Specification 810F, so it can withstand exposure to dust, shock, vibration, low and high temperatures, low pressure, solar radiation, salt, fog, humidity, and blowing rain.

The clamshell phone features color external and internal displays as well as a 2-megapixel camera, GPS, stereo Bluetooth, and offers up to 5.8 hours of talk time. The phone also comes preloaded with TeleNav Navigation, Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile, and … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Sprint Nextel introduced a 3G/4G wireless router Wednesday night called the Sprint Overdrive that will allow subscribers to share their wireless broadband connection among Wi-Fi devices.

The Overdrive router, made by Sierra Wireless, uses Sprint's 4G WiMax network, where it's available, to allow customers to access the Internet and then it shares that bandwidth among Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Where 4G service isn't available, the router connects to the Internet using Sprint's 3G EV-DO wireless network. Subscribers can connect up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as laptops, cameras, game consoles and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices.

Sprint, which … Read more

It was back in April 2008 that we saw Sprint Nextel come out with a bevy of new QChat phones like the Sanyo Pro-700 and the LG LX400, which were designed to offer push-to-talk interoperability between CDMA and iDEN networks.

Now, however, it seems that Sprint is doing away with its QChat offerings altogether, in favor of just iDEN alone. This is quite a turn-around from the rumors last year that indicated the company was planning on doing away with iDEN altogether. Now it seems Sprint is keeping iDEN alive, which is good for Nextel, as well as Boost Mobile.… Read more

Wireless broadband provider Clearwire said late Tuesday that it is has racked up another $920 million in debt to help it finance the deployment of its nationwide 4G wireless network.

The company had already nabbed $1.85 billion of senior secured notes due in 2015 to help it pay off an existing $1.4 billion debt payment. In total, Clearwire has raised nearly $2.8 billion in debt and equity in the past few weeks.

Earlier this month, some of the company's investors also kicked in an additional $1.5 billion in funding. Sprint Nextel, Intel, Comcast, and Time … Read more

If you are considering buying a new BlackBerry, Android phone, or Netbook from Verizon Wireless, you better make sure you won't want to break your contract early, as the penalty for ditching your service before the end of the contract has just gotten a lot steeper.

But what does Verizon's move to increase early-termination fees mean for the rest of the wireless industry? That's a good question.

Early-termination fees are not new to the wireless industry. For as long as wireless operators have been selling and subsidizing cell phones, they've required customers to sign contracts. And … Read more

Sprint Nextel said it will cut 2,000 to 2,500 positions in the fourth quarter in an effort to save $350 million.

The cuts will be completed by December 31.

According to a statement, Sprint will cut jobs across the company, including its wholesale unit and contractors. The company said the cuts won't impact customer service, something the Sprint has been trying to improve. Nevertheless, Sprint said call volume has decreased so it has discontinued 27 call centers.

Sprint will take a fourth quarter charge of $60 million to $80 million. The layoff news comes as Sprint will … Read more

Clearwire investors are pumping in another $1.5 billion into the venture to help pay for the company's nationwide 4G wireless network, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The article cites two unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," who said that Sprint Nextel, Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks have all agreed to contribute an additional $500 million to the cause. Google, which had initially invested with these other companies, is not participating in this funding round, the article said.

Sprint and these other partners invested about $3.2 billion in Clearwire about 18 months ago … Read more

In case you're tired of all the smartphone news lately, here's an entry-level phone from Sprint that won't cost you anything at all. The Sanyo SCP-3810 is a basic camera phone with a 1.3-megapixel camera, a "hidden" external LCD, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, mobile e-mail, and threaded text messaging. And yes, the SCP-3810 is free after rebates and a new two-year service agreement. The SCP-3810 is available now in both Black Onyx and Regal Red.

(Via PhoneScoop)