Sprint has been trying to spin off their Nextel assets and the Wall Street Journal reports there are potential buyers. Once upon a time there was rumor that the original developers of Nextel were interested, but that never panned out.
Last spring, after we noticed how happy Mexican Nextel users were of their service, we became even more critical of how Sprint was treating the division, and thought the only hope for Nextel survival was to sell it. Coincidentally, one of the interest parties is from Latin America, NII Holdings. After seeing the warm reception from users and the great coverage offered throughout Mexico, a buyer from south of the border could be a great idea. Other investment firms are looking, too.
The fly in this ointment is how much debt Sprint wants to dump into the deals, and even worse, how much damage they have done to the Nextel subscriber base. Nextel has a lot going for it and we hope Sprint can sell it to an operator who can give it the attention it deserves. It would also mean a brand new competitor in the wireless arena for us. C'mon Sprint, make 'em an offer they can't refuse.
1 comment:
I still remember in 2000 when I lived in the Tampa area and had Nextel service. Nextel via Nextel Partners came to the area in NorthWest FL where I grew up bringing along with it the first digital wireless service. US cellular came a few months later with TDMA Sprint put in just enough service to get them from the interstate to Panama City in late 2001 and Alltel finally started to upgrade their analog network to CDMA in June of 2002 finishing the conversion in the summer of 2003. Since Sprint took this over they have come no where close to the quality of service that Nextel and Partners provided. In the past for example if a tower malfunctioned Nextel would have it back up and running within 24 to 36 hours, now in Sprints hands a tower near a lifelong family friends house was just restored this morning after being down for 17 days. I am no longer a customer but I think that I can safely say for those who remember and miss the level of quality and customer service they grew to love from the real Nextel that a sale to who ever where ever can't come soon enough.
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