Sprint - Nextel 2008 Annual Report Download - page 68

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Shareholders
Sprint Nextel Corporation:
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Sprint Nextel Corporation and
subsidiaries as of December 31, 2009 and 2008, and the related consolidated statements of operations, cash flows
and shareholders’ equity for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2009. We also have
audited Sprint Nextel Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2009, based on
criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Sprint Nextel Corporation’s management is responsible for
these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its
assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on
Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated
financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal
control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of the consolidated financial
statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and
evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting
included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material
weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on
the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over
financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial
statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company;
and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use,
or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that
controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material
respects, the financial position of Sprint Nextel Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2009 and 2008,
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended
December 31, 2009, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion,
Sprint Nextel Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting
as of December 31, 2009, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
As discussed in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company adopted recently issued
accounting guidance regarding accounting for business combinations and equity method investments in 2009.
/s/ KPMG LLP
Kansas City, Missouri
February 26, 2010
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