Sprint - Nextel 2010 Annual Report Download - page 41

FUTURE CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
The following table sets forth our best estimates as to the amounts and timing of contractual payments as of
December 31, 2010. Future events, including additional purchases of our securities and refinancing of those securities, could
cause actual payments to differ significantly from these amounts. See “—Forward-Looking Statements.”
Future Contractual Obligations
Senior notes, bank credit facilities and
debentures(1)
Capital leases and financing obligation(2)
Operating leases(3)
Purchase orders and other commitments(4)
Total
Total
(in millions)
$ 30,586
1,748
13,392
11,788
$ 57,514
2011
$ 2,969
84
1,694
7,166
$ 11,913
2012
$ 3,914
86
1,705
1,925
$ 7,630
2013
$ 2,831
87
1,576
1,227
$ 5,721
2014
$ 2,261
82
1,415
589
$ 4,347
2015
$ 3,007
82
1,136
326
$ 4,551
2016 and
thereafter
$ 15,604
1,327
5,866
555
$ 23,352
________________
(1) Includes principal and estimated interest payments. Interest payments are based on management's expectations for future interest rates.
In January 2011, $500 million of our $750 million Export Development Canada loan was amended to extend the maturity date from
2012 to 2015, which is not reflected in the table above.
(2) Represents capital lease payments including interest and financing obligation related to the sale and subsequent leaseback of multiple
tower sites.
(3) Includes future lease costs related to cell and switch sites, real estate, network equipment and office space.
(4) Includes service, spectrum, network capacity and other executory contracts. Excludes blanket purchase orders in the amount of $44
million. See below for further discussion.
“Purchase orders and other commitments” include minimum purchases we commit to purchase from suppliers over
time and/or the unconditional purchase obligations where we guarantee to make a minimum payment to suppliers for goods and
services regardless of whether suppliers fully deliver them. Amounts actually paid under some of these “other” agreements will
likely be higher due to variable components of these agreements. The more significant variable components that determine the
ultimate obligation owed include hours contracted, subscribers and other factors. In addition, we are party to various
arrangements that are conditional in nature and create an obligation to make payments only upon the occurrence of certain
events, such as the delivery of functioning software or products. Because it is not possible to predict the timing or amounts that
may be due under these conditional arrangements, no such amounts have been included in the table above. The table above also
excludes about $44 million of blanket purchase order amounts since their agreement terms are not specified. No time frame is
set for these purchase orders and they are not legally binding. As a result, they are not firm commitments. Our liability for
uncertain tax positions was $228 million as of December 31, 2010. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the timing of the
resolution of the underlying tax positions, it is not practicable to assign this liability to any particular year(s) in the table.
The table above does not include remaining costs to be paid in connection with the fulfillment of our obligations
under the Report and Order. The Report and Order requires us to make a payment to the U.S. Treasury at the conclusion of the
band reconfiguration process to the extent that the value of the 1.9 GHz spectrum we received exceeds the total of the value of
licenses for spectrum in the 700 MHz and 800 MHz bands that we surrendered under the decision plus the actual costs, or
qualifying costs, that we incur to retune incumbents and our own facilities. The total minimum cash obligation for the Report
and Order is $2.8 billion. From the inception of the program through December 31, 2010, we have incurred approximately $2.8
billion of costs directly attributable to the spectrum reconfiguration program. This amount does not include any of our internal
network costs that we have preliminarily allocated to the reconfiguration program for capacity sites and modifications for
which we may request credit under the reconfiguration program. We estimate, based on our experience to date with the
reconfiguration program and on information currently available, that our total direct costs attributable to complete the spectrum
reconfigurations will range between $3.4 and $3.7 billion. Accordingly, we believe that it is unlikely that we will be required to
make a payment to the U.S. Treasury.
OFF-BALANCE SHEET FINANCING
We do not participate in, or secure, financings for any unconsolidated, special purpose entities.
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