Nextel

LAS VEGAS--Sprint Nextel is planning at least one more BlackBerry to join its line up this year.

"We're not done with BlackBerry," said Lois Eichelberger Fagan, director of product portfolio for Sprint Nextel, in an interview with CNET on Tuesday here at the CTIA Wireless conference. "There's more to come."

Sprint plans to launch the Qwerty keyboard-equipped BlackBerry Q10 late summer. The company opted not to sell the flagship BlackBerry Z10, which was the debut product for BlackBerry 10.

Sprint has teased another product from BlackBerry by the end of the year, but wouldn'… Read more

LAS VEGAS -- Sprint Nextel's prepaid arm, Boost Mobile, is taking its own stab at the digital wallet.

The company on Tuesday unveiled its Boost Mobile Wallet program, which is an Android application that allows its prepaid customers to manage their funds, transfer funds, send money overseas, and pay bills.

While the heavy-hitters such as Google and Isis -- which is a joint venture between Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile -- are going after the high-end, tech-savvy user with their own digital wallets, Boost is going the opposite route. The company is instead targeting customers who tend … Read more

Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen is ratcheting up the war of words with SoftBank over who is the better suitor for Sprint Nextel.

After SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son referred to Dish's unsolicited $25.5 billion bid to buy Sprint from under the Japanese carrier as "incomplete and illusory," Ergen reiterated earlier arguments that a U.S. buyer would be best for the troubled wireless carrier.

"We're offering a higher price. That's just math," he told USA Today on Wednesday. "We are an American company, and the modernization of Sprint's network will … Read more

Sprint said on Wednesday that is on track to turn off the Nextel iDEN network for good at the end of June. The company previously said it expected to decommission the network by the end of the second quarter.

The shutdown, which will begin on June 30, is part of Sprint's broader Network Vision plan, which includes an upgrade of its existing infrastructure and a move to 4G LTE. The company plans to use the spectrum from the Nextel network to power its 3G and 4G services.

Nextel, however, boasts a loyal base of users that continue to cling … Read more

For Sprint Nextel, it's darkest before the dawn.

Sprint is slated to decommission the Nextel network at the end of June, finally putting to rest one of the worst mergers in corporate history and ridding itself of an awkward dual-network structure that put a hefty, unnecessary burden on the company.

But before Sprint can declare mission accomplished on a turnaround, it'll have to deal with what will undoubtedly be an ugly second quarter.

Sprint earlier Wednesday reported first quarter results that showed a narrower loss and a healthy increase in its adjusted operating earnings. However, a weak performance … Read more

Sprint continues to undergo the painful and awkward transition of shutting down its Nextel network.

The Overland Park, Kan., wireless provider on Wednesday reported a first-quarter loss of $643 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with a loss of $863 million, or 29 cents a share, from a year ago.

Revenue, meanwhile, edged up slightly to $8.79 billion from $8.73 billion a year ago.

The results compare to the loss of 33 cents a share and revenue of $8.71 billion that analysts had projected, according to Thomson Reuters.

Sprint lost a net 415,000 subscribers in … Read more

Dish founder Charlie Ergen is clearly a massive "Seinfeld" fan.

Ergen wasn't shy about providing a shout-out to Jerry Seinfeld's classic situation comedy in discussing Dish's proposed $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel.

In fact, Ergen compared his strategy to an episode of Seinfeld: 28 minutes filled with a lot of scenes that don't make sense, and a final two minutes where everything comes together.

For Dish, Sprint represents that final two minutes. The deal would be the linchpin to a strategy that Ergen said has been in the works for years. Ergen, … Read more

T-Mobile and Dish Network may be the next two companies to walk down the aisle.

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen informally talked to T-Mobile's parent, Deutsche Telekom, about a potential deal, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Deutsche Telekom, in turn, is considering a deal with Sprint Nextel, but may look to Dish if that merger falls through, the report said.

A deal would give Dish what it has badly coveted for a while: access to an actual wireless network that it can pair with its own satellite-TV service. With the satellite-TV business stagnating, Dish could lean on the faster-growing … Read more

Virgin Mobile wants consumers to know that it's a major player in the no-contract wireless game too, and isn't afraid to spend a little money to show it.

Virgin set its sights directly on T-Mobile, offering $100 to T-Mobile customers willing to switch their number over and buy a smartphone before May 31.

Carriers will often provide incentives to switch, but rarely do they target a specific company. T-Mobile has made a lot of noise about its move to abolish contracts and subsidies, and Virgin Mobile, a business built on prepaid service and a unit of Sprint Nextel, … Read more