Sprint to keep Nextel

After failing to find a buyer for its Nextel network, Sprint Nextel said Thursday it will keep the Nextel iDEN network.

Sprint has steadily been losing customers on the old Nextel Network since the acquisition in 2005. And earlier this year the wireless operator said it was looking to sell the network.

The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources who said that several parties had been interested in buying the network, including a few private equity firms . But the current credit crisis made it difficult for them to get the funds to close the transaction. Sprint was supposedly hoping to get more than $5.4 billion for the Nextel assets, which is the dollar amount of Nextel's debt.

Sprint originally bought Nextel Communications for $35 billion.

Sprint has struggled with the Nextel merger from the start. The companies use different technologies. Sprint's network uses CDMA, while Nextel's network was built on a technology called iDEN. And integrating the systems has proven to be a huge challenge. Many of the customers that Sprint has lost over the past couple of years were former Nextel customers who complained of poor service.

That said, Sprint has spent a lot of time and money integrating the back end systems of the two networks. And even though this integration has not always gone smooth, much of the heavy lifting has already been done.

As a result, Sprint has decided to keep the network and make the best of Nextel's walkie talkie feature. In fact, Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse said in a statement that he sees Nextel's walkie-talkie technology as a differentiator for the company. Next week the company has plans to announce a new handset from Motorola. Sprint Nextel also plans to offer eight new walkie-talkie phones for the Nextel network next year.

[tmaxula]

Nextel is SO far behind. The service and reception is poor. The phones are large and bulky. Nextel has terrible texting and web integration. The main feature Nextel has going for it is the walkie talkie. If AT&T or Verizon would perfect the walkie talkie feature, as well as sell rugged phones for construction wokers, Nextel will be long gone. My company uses Nextel, and probably 80% of the individuals have an additional AT&T or Verizon cell phone for personal and or business cell use. Nextel needs to go away, or totally reinvent itself. Instead it will probably ride the same slow decline Sprint is riding.

[BJatSprint]

Thank you for posting this article Marguerite. My name is BJ DeHut and I am a representative for Sprint. Sprint has decided to retain our iDEN network because we looked at every option and determined that the network and the push-to-talk business is a valuable asset to our full component of wireless products and services. The original Telephony article that this posting references as a source quotes an analyst suggesting that PTT isn't a differentiator because of the availability of cheap talk plans and texting. Rescue workers can't stop to text. Construction workers can't stop to text. PTT will always be of value, and despite what the same analyst suggested to Telephony -- yes, there are new services existing and coming for PTT users. We currently offer and are developing Push-to-X services that provide a new generation of split second communication on both the iDEN and our CDMA networks. Yes, Sprint had some rocky times with iDEN after the Sprint Nextel merger, but the network is operating at the best metrics in its history, and we are not going to give an inch to our competitors.

[Telsouth]

The PTT feature is the ONLY reason I keep my i880 phone. We use the national PTT feature daily and benefit immensely from the Grouptalk as well. Add the simply everything plan for one price and I get unlimited everything. The service for the telephone side is always an issue. Sprint recognizes the potential for this feature is worth keeping the network, so maybe some much needed overhauls will fix us up.

You may also wish to bug Motorola until they produce a smartphone that impresses women. Until women like the phones as much as they like Tmobile phones or iPhones, Sprint will be missing a very large boat with a incredible amount of money on it. As the article states, outdoor worker types will be your only source of revenue until then.