Sprint - Nextel 2013 Annual Report Download - page 15

Table of Contents
service marks endure and are enforceable so long as they continue to be used. Our patents and licensed patents have remaining terms generally ranging from
one to 19 years.
We occasionally license our intellectual property to others, including licenses to others to use the "Sprint" trademark.
We have received claims in the past, and may in the future receive claims, that we, or third parties from whom we license or purchase goods or
services, have infringed on the intellectual property of others. These claims can be time
- consuming and costly to defend, and divert management resources. If
these claims are successful, we could be forced to pay significant damages or stop selling certain products or services or stop using certain trademarks. We, or
third parties from whom we license or purchase goods or services, also could enter into licenses with unfavorable terms, including royalty payments, which
could adversely affect our business.
Access to Public Filings and Board Committee Charters
Important information is routinely posted on our website at www.sprint.com. Public access is provided to our annual reports on Form 10
- K, quarterly
reports on Form 10
- Q, current reports on Form 8 - K, and amendments to these reports filed with or furnished to the SEC under the Exchange Act. These
documents may be accessed free of charge on our website at the following address: http://www.sprint.com/investors. 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. Information contained on or accessible through our
website or the SEC's website is not part of this annual report on Form 10
- K.
Our Code of Ethics, the Sprint Code of Conduct (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 Finance Committee, and the Nominating and Corporate
Governance Committee 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 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.
Employee Relations
As of
December 31, 2013 , we had approximately 38,000 employees.
In addition to the other information contained in this annual report on 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 retain and attract wireless subscribers, our financial performance will be impaired.
We are in the business of selling communications services to subscribers, and our success is based on our ability to retain current subscribers and
attract new subscribers. If we are unable to retain and attract wireless subscribers, our financial performance will be impaired and we could fail to meet our
financial obligations. Beginning in 2008 through December 31,
2013 , we have experienced net decreases in our total retail postpaid subscriber base of
approximately
11.9 million subscribers (excluding the impact of our acquisitions).
Our ability to retain our existing subscribers and to compete successfully for new subscribers and reduce our rate of churn depends on, among other
things:
13
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
•
our ability to anticipate and respond to various competitive factors, including our successful execution of marketing and sales strategies; the
acceptance of our value proposition; service delivery and customer care activities, including new account set up and billing; and credit and
collection policies;
•
our ability to operationalize the anticipated benefits from the SoftBank Merger and the Clearwire Acquisition;
•
our successful deployment of new technologies and services;