Sprint Corporation
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Sprint Corporation, commonly referred to as Sprint, is a United States telecommunications holding company that provides wireless services and is also a major global Internet carrier . It's the third largest U.S. wireless network operator as of 2013, and served more than 54 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2013, [5] in addition to the Sprint brand, the company also offers wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile , Virgin Mobile , and Assurance Wireless brands, as well as wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators . The company is headquartered in Overland Park , Kansas . In July 2013, a majority of the company was purchased by Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corporation , [6] although the remaining shares of the company continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange . Sprint traces its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 to deploy telephone service to the rural area around Abilene , Kansas . In 2006, Sprint exited the local landline telephone business, spinning those assets off into a newly created company named Embarq , which later became a part of CenturyLink . The company continues to be one of the largest long distance providers in the United States. Prior to 2005, the company was also known as the Sprint Corporation, but took the name Sprint Nextel Corporation when it merged with Nextel Communications that year. In 2013, following the shutdown of the Nextel network and concurrent with the acquisition by SoftBank, the company returned to using simply Sprint Corporation. In July 2013, as part of the SoftBank transactions, Sprint acquired the remaining shares of wireless broadband carrier Clearwire Corporation which it did not already own. Contents 1 History o 1.1 Foundation and early years o 1.2 Growth o 1.3 Bankruptcy and reorganization o 1.4 United Telecommunications (United Telecom) o 1.5 Southern Pacific Communications and SPRINT
Transcript of Sprint Corporation
Sprint Corporation, commonly referred to as Sprint, is a United States telecommunications holding company that provides wireless services and is also a major global Internet carrier. It's the third largest U.S. wireless network operator as of 2013, and served more than 54 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2013,[5] in addition to the Sprint brand, the company also offers wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Assurance Wireless brands, as well as wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators. The company is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. In July 2013, a majority of the company was purchased by Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corporation,[6] although the remaining shares of the company continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Sprint traces its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 to deploy telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. In 2006, Sprint exited the local landline telephone business, spinning those assets off into a newly created company named Embarq, which later became a part of CenturyLink. The company continues to be one of the largest long distance providers in the United States.
Prior to 2005, the company was also known as the Sprint Corporation, but took the name Sprint Nextel Corporation when it merged with Nextel Communications that year. In 2013, following the shutdown of the Nextel network and concurrent with the acquisition by SoftBank, the company returned to using simply Sprint Corporation. In July 2013, as part of the SoftBank transactions, Sprint acquired the remaining shares of wireless broadband carrier Clearwire Corporation which it did not already own.
Contents 1 History
o 1.1 Foundation and early years o 1.2 Growth o 1.3 Bankruptcy and reorganization o 1.4 United Telecommunications (United Telecom) o 1.5 Southern Pacific Communications and SPRINT o 1.6 Consolidation and re-naming to Sprint Corporation o 1.7 Return to wireless o 1.8 Partnerships and more consolidation o 1.9 Merger of Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications o 1.10 Consolidation to Overland Park o 1.11 Affiliate acquisitions and settlements o 1.12 Acquisition by SoftBank Corporation
2 Wireline operations o 2.1 SprintLink
3 Wireless operations o 3.1 Sprint brand o 3.2 Prepaid Group brands
3.2.1 Assurance Wireless 3.2.2 Boost Mobile 3.2.3 Virgin Mobile
o 3.3 Defunct brands 3.3.1 Common Cents Mobile
3.3.2 Nextel Direct Connect 3.3.3 CLEAR
o 3.4 Affiliates 3.4.1 Sprint Rural Alliance
o 3.5 Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) 3.5.1 Bring Your Own Sprint Device 3.5.2 Custom Branded Device Program
o 3.6 Law compliance o 3.7 Data roaming agreements o 3.8 Sprint Velocity
4 Wireless networks o 4.1 CDMA/1xRTT/EVDO o 4.2 iDEN (Shut down) o 4.3 WiMAX o 4.4 LTE
4.4.1 Sprint Spark 5 Wireless products and services
o 5.1 Subscriber equipment o 5.2 Service plans
5.2.1 Unlimited, My Way and My All-In 5.2.2 "Framily" 5.2.3 Sprint Direct Connect 5.2.4 Sprint Prepaid
o 5.3 Broadband for the home via Sprint Mobile o 5.4 Digital Lounge o 5.5 Sprint Music Plus o 5.6 Partnership with Sun Microsystems o 5.7 Google Play o 5.8 Sprint AIRAVE
6 Controversy o 6.1 Device Unlocking
7 Awards 8 Marketing
o 8.1 Social Media 8.1.1 Ninja Program
o 8.2 Sponsorships 8.2.1 Film 8.2.2 Music 8.2.3 Sports 8.2.4 Television
9 See also 10 References 11 External links
History
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Foundation and early years
Sprint Corporation traces its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 by Cleyson Brown and Jacob Brown to deploy telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, KS.[7] The Browns installed their first long-distance circuit in 1900 and chartered their own company in October 1902.
In March 1903, they joined with 14 other Kansas independents to incorporate the Union Telephone and Telegraph Company, which would provide long-distance service to Kansas City.
In September 1911, C.L. Brown consolidated the Brown Telephone Company with three other independents to form the second largest telephone company in Kansas, the United Telephone Company, which controlled seven major telephone exchanges.
Growth
C.L. Brown formed United Telephone and Electric (UT&E) in 1925 in order to purchase stock in subsidiary companies across widely scattered geographical areas. Brown's UT&E eventually controlled more than 68 other companies, more than two-thirds of which were telephone companies.
Bankruptcy and reorganization
The Great Depression caused more than three million telephone subscribers to give up their phone service between 1931 and 1933. Consequently, UT&E suffered severe financial strain and had to seek protection to reorganize under bankruptcy laws. All but six of UT&E's 85 companies survived, with some showing profits again in 1936. During the reorganization, a number of companies were merged and later phased out. The reorganization plan received final approval in late 1937.
UT&E was dissolved, and its assets were placed in a newly formed company, United Utilities, Incorporated, in 1938.
United Telecommunications (United Telecom)
United Telephone System logo until 1987
When Paul H. Henson became president of United Utilities in 1964, he almost immediately reorganized the company in accordance with C.L. Brown’s belief that centralizing some of the company’s functions would result in greater efficiency, cost reductions, and growth. In 1972, United Utilities changed its name to United Telecommunications, commonly referred to as United Telecom. In 1980, United Telecom launched a national X.25 data service,
Uninet. To enter the long-distance voice market, United Telecom acquired ISACOMM in 1981 and US Telephone in 1984. In 1983, United Telecom began offering cellular telephone services in their territories under the brand name Telespectrum.
Southern Pacific Communications and SPRINT
Wallet card with access info summary
Southern Pacific Communications Company (SPC), a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad, began providing long-distance telephone service after the Execunet II decision late in 1978. SPC was headquartered on Adrian Court in Burlingame, California, where Sprint still maintains a technology laboratory.[citation needed]
Southern Pacific maintained an extensive microwave communications system along its rights-of-way that the railroad used for internal communications. After the Execunet II decision, Southern Pacific expanded its internal communications network by laying fiber optic cables along the same rights-of-way. In 1972, Southern Pacific Communications began selling surplus system capacity to corporations for use as private lines, circumventing AT&T's then-monopoly on public telephony. Prior attempts at offering long distance voice services had not been approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although a fax service (called SpeedFAX) was permitted.[citation needed]
Southern Pacific Communications was only permitted to provide private line services, not switched services. After MCI Communications won the court battle giving MCI the right to begin offering Execunet services, Southern Pacific Communications took the Federal Communications Commission to court to get the right to offer switched services, and succeeded (the "Execunet II" decision). Southern Pacific Communications decided they
needed a new name to differentiate the switched voice service from SpeedFAX, and ran an internal contest to select a name. The winning entry was "SPRINT", an acronym for Switched PRIvate Network Telecommunications[8]
The Sprint service was first marketed in six metropolitan areas: New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Anaheim. The switches were located in Los Angeles and New York. A customer was required to have a private line connection to one of these switches in order to use the service and paid an access fee per private line. Access was also available by dialing an access number to connect to the SPRINT switch. Customers were then billed at 2.6 cents per tenth of a minute increment.[citation needed]
Consolidation and re-naming to Sprint Corporation
In 1982, SPC and GTE entered into merger negotiations, and in 1983, they merged under the name "GTE Sprint".
Sprint Corporation brand mark (1987-2005)
GTE had previously acquired a national X.25 provider, Telenet, in 1979. In 1986, GTE Sprint and Telenet merged with the United Telecom properties US Telecom, Uninet, and ISACOMM, forming US Sprint. This was initially a joint venture co-owned by GTE and United Telecom. In 1988, United Telecom sold Telespectrum to Centel to fund the purchase of an additional 30% of US Sprint. This purchase gave United Telecom operational control of US Sprint.
In 1989, United Telecom purchased a controlling interest, and in 1991, it completed its acquisition of US Sprint. In 1992, United Telecommunications adopted the nationally recogniz
