Sprint / Nextel Wireless
Company Overview: Sprint is part of the Sprint Nextel Corporation, which was officially formed in August 2005 following the successful acquisition of NEXTEL Communications by Sprint Communications for $35 billion. Sprint was originally founded as The Brown Telephone Company in 1899 in Abilene, KS. Sprint Nextel (aka "Sprint") is now headquartered in Reston, VA.
Network Benefits: Voice services including Push-to-Talk; High speed wireless data services including Sprint Power Vision streaming TV and radio content and music store; Limited Wi-Fi wireless Internet service.
Special Plan Features: Individual "Fair and Flexible" plans offer free nights and weekends; Free Incoming plans charge only for outgoing minutes; Unlimited mobile to mobile calling available; Overage charged in blocks of 30 minutes on some plans; Mobile data card plans available.
Unique Features: Sprint Power Vision offers mobile data and entertainment services on a monthly or per-Kilobyte basis.
Pros: Extensive coverage for voice and high speed data services; Fair and Flexible plans help eliminate big overage charges; Merger with Nextel means free calling between many Sprint and Nextel subscribers; Exclusive Power Vision multimedia content.
Cons: Fewer handsets available than with GSM carriers; Power Vision plans more expensive than wireless Web offerings from other major carriers.
Technology Used: CDMA Network using the 1xRTT standard. Sprint is currently rolling out a higher speed EVDO network, slated for nationwide coverage by the end of 2007.
Coverage: Nationwide Sprint CDMA network; EVDO network available in 41 U.S. states as of August 2006. Rural coverage through roaming partnership with Alltel.