Sprint - Nextel 2007 Annual Report Download - page 138

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 138 of the 2007 Sprint - Nextel annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 142

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142

SPRINT NEXTEL CORPORATION
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS—(Continued)
Commitments
We are a party to other commitments, which includes service, spectrum, network capacity and other
executory contracts in connection with conducting our business. As of December 31, 2007, the minimum
amounts due under these commitments were as follows:
(in millions)
2008 ............................................................ $7,957
2009 ............................................................ 2,436
2010 ............................................................ 1,381
2011 ............................................................ 886
2012 ............................................................ 602
Thereafter ....................................................... 2,126
Amounts actually paid under some of these agreements will likely be higher due to variable components of
these agreements. The more significant variable components that determine the ultimate obligation owed include
such items as hours contracted, subscribers and other factors. In addition, we are a party to various arrangements
that are conditional in nature and obligate us to make payments only upon the occurrence of certain events, such
as the delivery of functioning software or a product.
Environmental Compliance
Environmental compliance and remediation expenditures result mainly from the operation of standby power
generators for our telecommunications equipment. These expenditures arise in connection with standards
compliance, permits or occasional remediation, which are usually related to generators, batteries or fuel storage.
In light of the FCC’s new requirement that carriers increase their use of generators and batteries at cell sites,
installation costs likely will increase. However, we cannot assess with certainty the impact of any future
compliance and remediation obligations and we do not believe that future environmental compliance and
remediation expenditures will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
We have identified seven former manufactured gas plant sites in Nebraska, not currently owned or operated
by us, that may have been owned or operated by entities acquired by Centel Corporation, formerly a subsidiary of
ours and now a subsidiary of Embarq. We and Embarq have agreed to share the environmental liabilities arising
from these former manufactured gas plant sites. Three of the sites are part of ongoing settlement negotiations and
administrative consent orders with the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. Two of the sites have had
initial site assessments conducted by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, or NDEQ, but no
regulatory actions have followed. The two remaining sites have had no regulatory action by the EPA or the
NDEQ. Centel has entered into agreements with other potentially responsible parties to share costs in connection
with five of the seven sites. We are working to assess the scope and nature of these sites and our potential
responsibility, which are not expected to be material.
F-53