Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) really does no worse compared to all the other major national wireless carriers, in my opinion. The company offers several cutting-edge wireless handsets, was one of the very first to offer 3G wireless data (and offers excellent pricing on those services) and has a solid brand behind it. What Sprint Nextel does not have includes a strong consumer message, a customer service quality-oriented reputation or the subscriber growth enjoyed by its larger competitors, AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications, Inc.'s (NYSE: VZ) Verizon Wireless. Oh yeah, Sprint and Nextel are still two different companies. Well, from a pundit's viewpoint, that is.
When Sprint announced it was merging with Nextel over two years ago, many a watcher were probably wondering how two companies that focused on completely different customer bases and with completely incompatible wireless technologies were going to fare as one unit. Well, it's two years later, and current Sprint Nextel chief Gary Foresee is now saying they are about 80% done blending the two companies together. Maybe we'll see 100% sometime at the start of 2009.
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