Sprint Ready to Scrap Nextel Network

Wireless carrier Sprint announced on Tuesday, May 29 that they plan on shutting down their Nextel network by June 30, 2013. The plans to close the Nextel 2G network which supported the push button phone service were no secret but until the announcement Sprint had not given a specific date for the closure. Sprint notified customers that were using its iDEN Nextel National Network that after the shut down date all users would be moved over to Sprint Direct Connect. Sprint is proceeding with the closure to free up space for a newer 4G network to compete against other providers.

The Sprint merger with Nextel took place in 2005 which was billed at the time as a step forward for the companies. However, the union of the two companies was difficult and the $36 billion deal never reached its potential. At the time of the merger, both Sprint and Nextel were using different technologies to power their networks and the two were unable to run in proper synergy. Sprint had bought Nextel because the walki-talkie like service had a very large group of business clients which seemed attractive at the time. However, the solid business outlook took a hit once smart phones started becoming popular and the network requirements to run these phones grew considerably. Sprint proceeded to lose money every year since the merger and the plans to close down the 2G network is an attempt to rebuild and grow.

The Nextel network still has 5.4 million customers which are mostly businesses or government departments with mobile workers. These users will be automatically switched to the current 3G network and will then have the ability to move to the 4G network that is in the works. This may not be as easy as it sounds because many users do not prefer to switch and may end up leaving Sprint altogether. This is an issue that the company will need to address in order to grow in the ever changing wireless provider landscape.