Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has taken the next step to delete more costs from its bottom line by sending the management of its nationwide wireless network to Sweden's Ericsson. The deal -- valued at up to $5 billion -- will allow Sprint to offset its declining subscriber revenue and numbers with lowered costs.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) would do best to get rid of its struggling iDEN mobile network. Yes, this is the entire national wireless network it brought on board when Sprint and Nextel merged in 2005. Customers are leaving at a rapid pace, so Sprint be best to just jettison the network and move its customers over to the Sprint side of things. That sounds odd just saying that (the "Sprint" side of things?).

While that merger stands in tatters now, Sprint still continues to operate and support two completely separate national mobile networks as it tries desperately to unload just about anything with the word "Nextel" on it. It might as well -- the failed merger has had tens of billions in write-offs recently.

Who would want an outdated (albeit, valuable) national wireless network? How about private equity? Sprint CEO Dan Hesse appears to be looking for a buyer, although a sale of the Nextel national network infrastructure has not been formally announced. While competitors have improved their national networks to keep up with increasing subscriber counts and wireless data usage, Nextel's aging infrastructure is worth something. Just not much.

Leave it to private equity investors to try and buy a national network for pennies on the dollar and then resell it in pieces for what probably would be a very nice profit. Sprint shareholders have been clamoring for a sale like this for over a year now, and new-to-the-corner-office Hesse won't disappoint. That is, if credit can return so someone can get a line to buy the thing.