Sprint - Nextel 2007 Annual Report Download - page 38

This process is still ongoing and, depending on the outcome, our operations, future capital requirements and
future valuation of our long-lived assets could be affected. As part of our overall business strategy, we regularly
evaluate opportunities to strengthen our business and may at any time be discussing or negotiating a transaction
that, if consummated, could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity or results of
operations. As a result, the forward-looking information provided in this document is based only on information
currently available to senior management.
We believe the communications industry has been and will continue to be highly competitive on the basis of
price, the types of services and devices offered and quality of service. Although we believe that many of our
targeted customers base their purchase decisions on quality of service and the availability of differentiated
features and services, competitive pricing, both in terms of the monthly recurring charges and the number of
minutes or other features available under a particular rate plan, and handset offerings and pricing are often
important factors in potential customers’ purchase decisions.
The FCC regulates the licensing, operation, acquisition and sale of the licensed radio spectrum that is
essential to our business. The FCC and state Public Utilities Commissions, or PUCs, also regulate the provision
of communications services. Future changes in regulations or legislation related to spectrum licensing or other
matters related to our business could impose significant additional costs on us either in the form of direct
out-of-pocket costs or additional compliance obligations
Business Segments
We have two reportable segments: Wireless and Wireline. See note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated
Financial Statements for additional information on our segments.
Wireless
Products and Services
Our strategy is to utilize state-of-the-art technology to provide differentiated wireless services and
applications in order to acquire and retain high-quality wireless subscribers. We offer a wide array of wireless
mobile telephone and wireless data transmission services on networks that utilize CDMA and iDEN technologies
to meet the needs of individual consumers, businesses and government customers.
Through our Wireless segment, we, together with the PCS Affiliates and resellers of our wholesale wireless
services, offer digital wireless service in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and provide
wireless coverage in 360 metropolitan markets, including 341 of the 349 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, serving
about 54 million wireless subscribers as of December 31, 2007. We offer wireless international voice roaming for
subscribers of both CDMA and iDEN-based services in numerous countries. Our CDMA network utilizes high-
speed evolution data optimized, or EV-DO, technology to provide high-speed data applications. We have
incorporated EV-DO Rev. A, the most recent version of EV-DO technology that is designed to support a variety
of IP, video and high performance walkie-talkie applications, into over 82% of our CDMA network.
We offer a wide array of wireless mobile telephone and data transmission services and features in a variety
of pricing plans, typically on a contract basis, for one or two year periods. Services are billed on a monthly basis
according to the applicable pricing plan, which typically includes a fixed charge for certain services and variable
charges for other services. We also offer wireless services that focus on the youth market, including our Boost
Mobile prepaid wireless service on our iDEN network and our Boost UnlimitedSM local calling wireless service
on our CDMA network. We also offer wholesale CDMA-based wireless services to resellers, commonly known
as MVNOs, such as Qwest Communications International, Inc., Virgin Mobile USA, Helio Inc., Movida
Communications, Inc., and Embarq, which purchase wireless services from us at wholesale rates and resell the
services to their customers under their own brand names. Under these MVNO arrangements, the operators bear
the costs of subscriber acquisition, billing and customer service.
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