Sprint Nextel Corporation (Sprint Corporation prior to 2005) is a U.S. holding company operating multiple networks, both wireless and wireline, serving private users, business customers and government consumers in the USA, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

It is a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (S). Sprint Nextel’s headquarters are located in Overland Park, Kansas.

Sprint’s subsidiaries offer various services under Assurance Wireless, Virgin Mobile, and Boost Mobile brands. The company is a global provider of access to Internet by a tier 1 network. The additional revenue is derived by providing access to Sprint Nextel’s wireless network.

Sprint also possesses 50.8% equity participation in the Clearwire Corporation.

Landmarks in the History of Sprint

Let us review the milestone events in the history of Sprint Nextel Corporation.

• 1899 – Cleyson Brown and Jacob Brown establish Brown Telephone Co. to spread out telephone service in Abilene, Kansas, and the nearby rural area.
• 1900 – Brown Telephone installs its 1st long-distance haul.
• 1902 – The Browns charter the company.
• 1903 – Brown Telephone joins with fourteen other companies to establish Union Telephone and Telegraph Co.
• 1911 – Brown Telephone Co. merges with three other companies to form United Telephone Co.
• 1925 – United Telephone and Electric Company is set in order to acquire shares in subsidiaries.
• 1931 – 1937 – UT&E suffers financial strain during the Great Depression and has to reorganize in order to survive.
• 1938 – United Telephone and Electric is dissolved. Its assets are placed it United Utilities, Inc., a newly established company.
• 1964 – Paul Henson is appointed president of the company and reorganizes it.
• 1972 – United Utilities Incorporated is renamed United Telecommunications.
• 1975 – Sprint, the 1st public data network in the world, is established.
• 1976 – The company (then called United Telecom) owns over three and a half million telephone lines.
• 1986 – A long distance service is launched under Sprint brand.
• 1987 – The company completes the nationwide fiber-optic network.
• 1988 – Sprint installs Signaling System & in its network.
• 1989 – Sprint is the first company in the industry to make a phone call through transatlantic fiber optic.
• 1992 – United Telecom is renamed Sprint Corporation.
• 1992 – Sprint starts offering commercial access to Internet.
• 1993 – Sprint Corp. merges with Centel Corp. and becomes the leading American provider of local, wireless and long distance services.
• 1996 – Sprint launches the first nationwide PCS wireless network.
• 1996 – Sprint Corporation enters into an alliance with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom. Their international venture is named Global One.
• 1997 – There are over 1,200 Sprint locations in sixty five countries.
• 1997 – Sprint purchases Paranet, a provider of all kinds of services for computing technology.
• 1999 – Sprint merges with MCI WorldCom.
• 2001 – The company forms an alliance with Dell Computers in order to develop hosting solutions for business customers.
• 2001 – Sprint starts cooperating with America Online, Inc. (AOL).
• 2004 – Sprint Corp. and Nextel Corp. announce that they are going to merge.
• 2005 – Sprint Nextel Corporation is formed after Sprint has acquired 50.1% of Nextel’s stock.
• 2012 – SoftBank, a telecommunications company from Japan, announces it wants to acquire 70% of the corporation for over billion.

Sprint Today

Today, by the number of subscribers, Sprint Nextel Corporation is the third largest American long distance provider.

Dan Hesse is the corporation’s CEO and president. James Hance is chairman of Sprint Nextel Corporation.

In 2012, Sprint Nextel Corporation’s revenue reached ,345 million, and its net income was ,325 million. The company’s total assets are ,570 million.

Sprint Nextel Corporation has over 40,000 regular employees.

The corporation owns two official websites: Sprint.net (IP/MPLS) and Sprint.com (wireless). They provide customers with useful information about Sprint Nextel Corporation, its services and products. One can also find a convenient Sprint locator allowing finding the nearest Sprint locations.