Sprint’s iDEN network to go?

Sprint Nextel is reportedly considering the sale of the Nextel iDEN wireless network after it has struggled to integrate the network with its CDMA networks. In a regulatory filing, Sprint said that it was exploring alternatives for iDEN including ‘improving operations, making additional investments, entering into strategic partnerships and considering potential divestitures’.

It is estimated the value of the iDEN network has plummeted around 80% since Sprint paid around USD35 billion for Nextel Communications in 2005, and is now worth an estimated USD5 billion. However, even at this price Sprint may struggle to find a buyer in the current economic climate. Reports have named NII Holdings, a Latin American service provider that uses iDEN technology, as a possible buyer, but anyone interested in the network will find it hard to reverse the integration of the iDEN business, including its billing, towers and customer service from the rest of Sprint’s operations.

At the end of 2Q 2008 approximately 28% of Sprint's total 51.9 million customers were exclusively using the iDEN network while a further 1.7 million used phones working on both iDEN and CDMA networks.