Oh boy. As if Sprint didn’t have enough on its plate. The WSJ is reporting that Sprint is looking to spin off or sell Nextel, which is a clear-cut sign that their $35 billion acquisition is a bona fide disaster. The Nextel network lost roughly 3.4 million subscribers from 2006 to 2007. Their current subscriber base is around 13.2 million, but those close to the matter believe that number could drop down to five million within two years. Ouch.
Sprint has a few options at the moment, which include, but are not limited to, converting Nextel customers to Sprint (they now offer some walkie-talkie devices) or selling off Nextel for a fraction of what they paid in 2005. Based on a bit of conjecture, Deutsche Telekom may be waiting for Sprint to deal with Nextel before attempting to either take over or buy Sprint.
One possible suitor to acquire Nextel is Cyren Call, which was founded by Nextel founder Morgan O’Brien. They’re currently scrounging up investors to create a nationwide wireless network for public safety communications. Those close to the matter are saying CC wouldn’t actually be the buyer. Who knows, though.
This is starting to get juicy. We’ll be following this one closely.