Sprint - Nextel 2008 Annual Report Download - page 15

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These documents may
be accessed free of charge on our website at the following address: http://investors.sprint.com. These documents
are available as soon as reasonably practicable after filing with the SEC and may also be found at the SEC’s
website at www.sec.gov.
Public access is provided to our Code of Ethics, entitled the Sprint Nextel Code of Conduct, our
Corporate Governance Guidelines and the charters of the following committees of our board of directors: the
Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, the Executive Committee, the Finance Committee, and the
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Code of Conduct, corporate governance guidelines and
committee charters may be accessed free of charge on our website at the following address: www.sprint.com/
governance. Copies of any of these documents can be obtained free of charge by writing to: Sprint Nextel
Shareholder Relations, 6200 Sprint Parkway, Mailstop KSOPHF0302-3B424, Overland Park, Kansas 66251 or
by email at [email protected]. If a provision of the Code of Conduct required under the NYSE
corporate governance standards is materially modified, or if a waiver of the Code of Conduct is granted to a
director or executive officer, a notice of such action will be posted on our website at the following address:
www.sprint.com/governance. Only the Audit Committee may consider a waiver of the Code of Conduct for an
executive officer or director.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the other information contained in this Form 10-K, the following risk factors should be
considered carefully in evaluating us. Our business, financial condition, liquidity or results of operations could be
materially adversely affected by any of these risks.
If we are not able to attract and retain wireless subscribers, our financial performance will be impaired.
We are in the business of selling communications services to subscribers, and our economic success is
based on our ability to attract new subscribers and retain current subscribers. If we are unable to find enough
people willing to subscribe for or purchase our wireless communications services, or unwilling to continue to
purchase our services, at the prices at which we are willing to sell them, our financial performance will be
impaired, and we could fail to meet our financial obligations, which could result in several outcomes, including
controlling investments by third parties, takeover bids, liquidation of assets or insolvency. Since January 1, 2009,
we have experienced a 1.0 million decrease in our total retail subscriber base, including approximately
3.5 million post-paid subscribers, while our two largest competitors increased their subscribers. In addition, over
the past year, we have experienced an average post-paid churn rate of 2.15%, while our two largest competitors
had churn rates that were substantially lower.
Our ability to compete successfully for new subscribers and to retain our existing subscribers and reduce
our rate of churn depends on:
‰our successful execution of marketing and sales strategies, including the acceptance of our value
proposition; service delivery and customer care activities, including new account set up and billing;
and our credit and collection policies;
‰actual or perceived quality and coverage of our network;
‰public perception about our brands;
‰our ability to anticipate and develop new or enhanced products and services that are attractive to
existing or potential subscribers;
‰our ability to anticipate and respond to various competitive factors affecting the industry, including
new services that may be introduced by our competitors, changes in consumer preferences,
demographic trends, economic conditions, and discount pricing and other strategies that may be
implemented by our competitors; and
‰our ability to enter into arrangements with MVNOs and alternative resellers;
Our recent efforts to attract new post-paid subscribers and reduce churn have not been as successful as
those of our competitors. Our post-paid subscriber losses and high rate of churn have impaired our ability to
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