Sprint - Nextel 2011 Annual Report Download - page 313

20. Prohibition on Acceleration of Payments. The time or schedule of any settlement or amount scheduled to be paid pursuant to the terms
of the Plan and any Evidence of Award, may not be accelerated except as otherwise permitted under Code Section 409A and the guidance and
Treasury regulations issued thereunder.
21. Code Section 409A. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan or an Evidence of Award to the contrary, to the extent that the
Committee determines that any award granted under the Plan is subject to Section 409A of the Code, it is the intent of the parties to the
applicable Evidence of Award that such Evidence of Award incorporate the terms and conditions necessary to avoid the consequences
specified in Section 409A(a)(1) of the Code and that such Evidence of Award and the terms of the Plan as applicable to such award be
interpreted and construed in compliance with Code Section 409A and the Treasury regulations and other interpretive guidance issued
thereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Employer shall not be required to assume any increased economic burden in connection
therewith. Although the Employer and the Committee intend to administer the Plan so that it will comply with the requirements of Code
Section 409A, neither the Employer nor the Committee represents or warrants that the Plan or the Evidence of Award will comply with Code
Section 409A or any other provision of federal, state, local, or non-United States law. Neither the Employer, its subsidiaries, nor their
respective directors, officers, employees or advisers shall be liable to any Participant (or any other individual claiming a benefit through the
Participant) for any tax, interest, or penalties the Participant may owe as a result of participation in the Plan, and the Employer shall have no
obligation to indemnify or otherwise protect any Participant from the obligation to pay any taxes pursuant to Code Section 409A.
22. Governing Law. The Plan and all grants and awards and actions taken thereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance
with the internal substantive laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
23. Termination. No grant will be made under this Plan more than 10 years after the date on which this Plan is first approved by the
shareholders of the Corporation, but all grants made on or prior to such date will continue in effect thereafter subject to the terms thereof and
of this Plan.
24. General Provisions.
(a) No award under this Plan may be exercised by the holder thereof if such exercise, and the receipt of cash or stock thereunder,
would be, in the opinion of counsel selected by the Committee, contrary to law or the regulations of any duly constituted authority having
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urisdiction over this Plan.
(b) Absence on leave approved by a duly constituted officer of the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries shall not be considered
interruption or termination of service of any employee for any purposes of this Plan or awards granted hereunder, except that no awards may
be granted to an employee while he or she is absent on leave.
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