Sprint had little choice but commit to Nextel

With no way to get rid of it and no way to shut it down, Sprint must keep Nextel running. Given 18 months to retune the 800-MHz network, Sprint said after careful review of the iDEN business it has decided to reinvest in Nextel and Boost Mobile and has signed a new deal with Motorola to support and upgrade the network. But what Sprint is calling an opportunity may just be simply the result of stalemate. According to analysts, Sprint can't sell Nextel in the current tight capital market, and it can't simply shut it down, so it is forced to keep running the legacy network despite its drain on Sprint's customer base and profits.