Nextel

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S), headquartered in Reston, VA, is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the World. With a combined market cap of *$68.99 billion as of early 2006. It operates the third largest wireless network in the U.S. more...

based on total wireless customers. With 45.6 million subscribers, under the Sprint PCS and Nextel brands—behind Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless. It also operates landline and long distance business, as well as several units that provide businesses and governments with communications services. The new company, formerly known as Sprint Corporation, was created from the $35 billion purchase of NEXTEL Communications by Sprint, though the entire deal was billed as a merger of equals.

The company maintains operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas.

History

Sprint

The Sprint Corporation was founded in 1899 by Cleyson Brown under the Brown Telephone Company in the small town of Abilene, Kansas. The company was a landline telephone company that operated as a competitor to the Bell System.

In the mid 20th century, Brown changed its name to United Utilities. That company changed its name to United Telecommunications in 1972, as it began to offer a more diversified product range.

Southern Pacific Communications Company (SPCC), a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad began offering their dial-up service shortly after the Execunet II decision late in 1978. The Railroad had extensive rights of way that could be used to lay long-distance communications. Prior attempts at offering long distance service were disapproved by the Federal Communications Commission, though the company's fax service (SpeedFAX) had been permitted. According to company employees, Sprint was a name chosen by a contest sponsored within the company by Rex Hollis, the VP of Marketing at the time. Some claim it was a acronym for "Southern Pacific Railroad Information NeTwork or Switched PRIvate Network Telecommunications."

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