Concluding a phase in its multi-year spat with affiliate carrier iPCS, Sprint Nextel announced plans to sell off some of its iDEN assets in several markets as part of a previous court ruling.
Last November, the Supreme Court of Illinois said the company must comply with prior rulings ordering it to stop owning, operating and managing the Nextel National Network in iPCS’s territory.
Prior to its 2005 merger with Nextel Communications, Sprint had forged an exclusivity agreement with iPCS that precluded Sprint from running a competing wireless service in iPCS’s territory. Sprint’s merger with Nextel violated that agreement, argued iPCS.
An Illinois court ordered Sprint to sell off 81 affected markets in parts of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska by Jan. 25, 2010. No assets associated with the company’s national CDMA network will be affected.
The company, which is working with financial advisor Citi, said the asset divesture will have a “de minimis impact” on its financial results. Sprint expects a seamless transition between owners, saying it does “not anticipate any interruption or degradation of service during or following any transaction.”
With 700,000 subscribers and a wireless network that covers about 12.5 million residents, iPCS is Sprint’s last major independent affiliate. The company sells wireless services under the Sprint brand in 81 markets in several Midwestern states, including Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Tennessee.