Sprint - Nextel 2006 Annual Report Download - page 9

Our customer management organization works to improve our customer’s experience, with the goal of
retaining subscribers of our wireless services. Call centers, some of which are operated by us and some of
which are operated by independent contractors, receive and respond to inquiries from customers. Our goal is
to improve the quality of our customer care. We have implemented initiatives that are designed to improve call
center processes and procedures, including those related to customer satisfaction ratings with respect to
customer care and first call resolution. In 2007, we expect to convert the majority of our post-paid subscriber
base to a unified billing platform, which we believe will increase functionality for our customer care
representatives and produce more reliable information, which should enhance the customer experience.
Wireless Network Technologies
CDMA Network
We provide our Sprint-branded and wholesale wireless services over our CDMA network, an all-digital
wireless network with spectrum licenses that allow us to provide service in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. The CDMA network uses a single frequency band and a digital spread-spectrum wireless
technology that allows a large number of users to access the band by assigning a code to all voice and data
bits, sending a scrambled transmission of the encoded bits over the air and reassembling the voice and data
into its original format.
We, together with the four remaining PCS Affiliates, operate CDMA networks in over 300 metropolitan
markets, including 297 of the 300 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, where more than 262 million people live or
work. We provide nationwide service through a combination of:
koperating our own digital network in both major and smaller U.S. metropolitan areas and rural
connecting routes using CDMA technology;
kaffiliations under commercial arrangements with the PCS Affiliates;
kroaming on other providers’ analog cellular networks using multi-mode and multi-band handsets; and
kroaming on other providers’ digital networks that use CDMA.
Under the terms of the commercial arrangements with the PCS Affiliates, our wireless services are offered
under the Sprint brand on CDMA networks built and operated at the expense of the PCS Affiliates. In most
instances, the PCS Affiliates use spectrum licensed to, and controlled by, us. The PCS Affiliates operate
mainly in and around smaller U.S. metropolitan areas.
CDMA subscribers can use their phones through roaming agreements in countries other than the United States,
including areas of Asia, New Zealand, Canada, Central and South America and most major Caribbean islands.
Our digital quad band devices can utilize global system for mobile communications, or GSM, technology, the
network technology utilized by many wireless providers throughout Europe and other parts of the world, which
enables subscribers to roam in numerous countries outside the U.S., including countries in Europe.
We are deploying the high-speed EV-DO technology across our CDMA network. EV-DO increases average
mobile-device data speeds up to 10 times faster when compared to the prior generation technology. In addition,
this technology delivers applications and services available only on EV-DO-capable handsets and laptops
equipped with EV-DO-capable Sprint PCS Connection Cards
TM
. The services supported by this technology,
marketed as Power Vision, give consumer and business customers access to numerous sophisticated applica-
tions using EV-DO-capable devices, including mobile desktop, data messaging, imaging, entertainment and
location-based applications. Currently, EV-DO technology covers nearly 209 million people and serves
customers in over 219 communities with populations of at least 100,000, and we plan to have coverage across
the majority of the footprint of our CDMA network by the end of 2007. EV-DO data roaming is available in
selected markets in Canada and Mexico.
We also have begun to incorporate EV-DO Rev. A, the next version of EV-DO technology, into our network,
with plans for coverage across the majority of the footprint of our CDMA network by the end of 2007.
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