SPRINT APPLAUDED FOR HOLDING ON TO NEXTEL NETWORK

摘要

Analysts said Sprint Nextel made the right decision in holding on for now to iDEN, the network it acquired with Nextel. CEO Dan Hesse said Sprint will "retain and rejuvenate" iDEN, which he called an important asset and a key differentiator. It's better for Sprint to keep the network than to sell it, said David Weissman, consultant at Zacks Investment. The decision showed the difficulty that companies face with consolidations and divestitures in a tight credit market, Weissman said. It probably resulted from the inability of iDEN suitors to raise enough capital in the near term, said analyst Walter Piecyk of Pali Research. David Barden at Bank of America said he sees "myriad reasons" that a separation didn't take place, including price, debt connected with iDEN, the financing market, lack of a stand-alone business infrastructure and the FCC rebanding obligation. nnIDEN attracted multiple bidders, and Hesse had repeated that "every option is on the table." The rejuvenation strategy will have two parts, Barden said: Improving iDEN products and cutting customer charges by Boost Mobile, the wireless service running on iDEN and Sprint's CDMA network. He called a Sprint partnership with Motorola good for both companies. Meanwhile, research firm Jefferies & Co. raised its rating on Sprint affiliate iPCS to "buy" from "hold," citing an increased chance of an acquisition by Sprint. Its shares rose 5.4 percent. The Illinois Supreme Court recently refused to hear Sprint's appeal of a 2006 ruling requiring it to divest its iDEN network in iPCS's markets. Because of the ruling, "we view an announced commitment to the network as a signal that a take-out is more likely than previously," Jefferies analyst Jonathan Schildkraut said.