Sprint - Nextel 2012 Annual Report Download - page 8

Table of Contents
Our customer management organization works to improve our customers' experience, with the goal of retaining subscribers of our wireless
services. Customer service call centers, some of which are operated by us and some of which are operated by unrelated parties subject to Sprint
standards of operation, receive and resolve inquiries from subscribers and proactively address subscriber needs.
Competition
We believe that the market for wireless services has been and will continue to be characterized by intense competition on the basis of price,
the types of services and devices offered, and quality of service. We compete with a number of wireless carriers, including three other national
wireless companies: AT&T, Verizon Wireless (Verizon) and T - Mobile. Our primary competitors offer voice, high - speed data, entertainment and
location
- based services and push - to - talk - type features that are designed to compete with our products and services. AT&T and Verizon also offer
competitive wireless services packaged with local and long distance voice, high
- speed Internet services and video. Our prepaid services compete with
a number of carriers and resellers including Metro PCS Communications, Inc., Leap Wireless International, Inc. and TracFone Wireless, which offer
competitively
- priced calling plans that include unlimited local calling. Additionally, AT&T, T - Mobile and Verizon also offer competitive prepaid
services and wholesale services to resellers. Competition will increase as a result of certain mergers and acquisitions, as new firms enter the market,
and as a result of the introduction of other technologies such as LTE, the availability of previously unavailable spectrum bands, such as the 700 MHz
spectrum band, and the potential introduction of new services using unlicensed spectrum. Wholesale services and products also contribute to
increased competition. In some instances, resellers that use our network and offer like services compete against our offerings.
Most markets in which we operate have high rates of penetration for wireless services, thereby limiting the growth of subscribers of
wireless services. As the wireless market has matured, it has become increasingly important to retain existing subscribers in addition to attracting new
subscribers, particularly in less saturated growth markets such as those with non
- traditional data demands. Wireless carriers are addressing the
growth in non
- traditional data needs by working with OEMs to develop connected devices such as after - market in - vehicle connectivity and electric
vehicle charging stations, point
- of - sale systems, kiosks and vending machines, asset tracking, digital signage, security, smartgrid utilities, medical
equipment and a variety of other consumer electronics and appliances, which utilize wireless networks to increase consumer and business mobility. In
addition, we and our competitors continue to offer more service plans that combine voice and data offerings, plans that allow users to add additional
mobile devices to their plans at attractive rates, plans with a higher number of bundled minutes included in the fixed monthly charge for the plan, plans
that offer the ability to share minutes among a group of related subscribers, or combinations of these features. Consumers respond to these plans by
migrating to those they deem most attractive. In addition, wireless carriers also try to appeal to subscribers by offering certain devices at prices lower
than their acquisition cost. We may offer higher cost devices at greater discounts than our competitors, with the expectation that the loss incurred on
the cost of the device will be offset by future service revenue. As a result, we and our competitors recognize point
- of - sale losses that are not expected
to be recovered until future periods when services are provided. Our ability to effectively compete in the wireless business is dependent upon our
ability to retain existing and attract new subscribers in an increasingly competitive marketplace. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—If we are not able to retain
and attract wireless subscribers, our financial performance will be impaired.”
Wireline
We provide a broad suite of wireline voice and data communications services to other communications companies and targeted business
and consumer subscribers. In addition, we provide voice, data and IP communication services to our Wireless segment, and IP and other services to
cable Multiple System Operators (MSOs). Cable MSOs resell our local and long distance services and use our back office systems and network assets
in support of their telephone service provided over cable facilities primarily to residential end
- use subscribers.
Services and Products
Our services and products include domestic and international data communications using various protocols such as multiprotocol label
switching technologies (MPLS), IP, managed network services, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) and traditional
voice services. Our IP services can also be combined with wireless services. Such services include our Sprint Mobile Integration service, which
enables a wireless handset to operate as part of a subscriber's wireline voice network, and our DataLink
SM
service, which uses our wireless networks to
connect a subscriber location into their primarily wireline wide
- area IP/MPLS data
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