The saga that is Sprint Nextel’s WiMax division is now one step closer to finalizing its merger with Clearwire now that an agreement has been reached with iPCS. iPCS of Schaumburg, Illinois had filed an injunction against the joint venture alleging that the new Clearwire would be violating a deal it has with Sprint Nextel to operate exclusively in some markets. To satisfy the terms of their deal and have iPCS withdraw the injunction, Sprint Nextel promised to give two months notice before they launched services in its markets.
Despite withdrawing the injunction a trial will still go forward in Illinois courts in December to determine whether Clearwire will be able to operate in those markets. What’s next for the Clearwire merger? This Thursday the Clearwire shareholders will vote on whether to approve the merger.
Sprint Nextel is instituting a voluntary separation package for its employees, giving them until Dec. 3 to leave the company voluntarily. Â The beleagured carrier, which lost 1.3 million net subscribers in the third quarter, has not announced any layoffs as part of the plan.
“What is happening is Sprint is offering a personal decision for employees to take advantage of a voluntary separation package,” said Lisa Zimmerman-Mott, a Sprint spokeswoman. Zimmerman-Mott said the offer was made to most employees that don’t have direct access to customers.
“No one is being forced to do anything,” she said. “There are no forced reductions. There are no layoffs in store. It’s a matter of employees having the option to exercise discretion. No targets have been announced.”
Separately, SK Telecom announced that it was dropping plans to form a business tie-up with Sprint because of worsening economic conditions, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The South Korean telecom giant had been in talks with Sprint over a possible alliance since late 2007.
We had confirmation last week that Sprint Nextel would be locking in a December 1st release date for the BlackBerry 8350i from a loyal reader, Tritan.  Today we now have additional confirmation thanks to a screen shot showing the upcoming iDEN & PowerSource Equipment Rebates.  The 8350i will be available for $479.99 sans-contract, $329.99 on a 2-year agreement before $80 instant savings and $100 Mail-In Rebate for a Net price of $149.99.
In just over two weeks those of you loyal Nextel BlackBerry 7100i owners out there will finally have your upgrade. Â Time to dust off the plastic because the credit crunch is not going to stop this well-deserved upgrade.
Via EngadgetMobile
Sprint Nextel BlackBerry users looking to rid themselves of their aging BlackBerry 7100i should pay very close attention. The BlackBerry Curve 8350i has just been cleared by the FCC and along with the usual test reports and external photos is the complete User Guide (277 pages). With a notification page already up on Sprint’s website and an FCC approval a launch is not far off (December 1st) but unfortunately an exact date is still up in the air. In any event, who else is ready for an updated push-to-talk BlackBerry with WiFi and GPS for the Now Network?
BlackBerry Curve 8350i User Guide
Via FCC
The undercover gods have been good to the mobile community this morning with spy shots surfacing for Sprint’s Motorola i9, BlackBerry 8350i and the At&t Quickfire. Â Compliments of EngadgetMobile, we’ll start off with the iDEN-capable Motorola i9 which at the moment still has not been announced by Sprint. Â We first saw this device in a FCC filing last month featuring a 3.1-megapixel camera, GPS and morphing keys similar to what we’ve seen on the MOTOZINE ZN5.
Next on the undercover report is the much needed update to Sprint’s iDEN BlackBerry lineup, the 8350i. Â With an official announcement by Sprint last month, the BlackBerry 8350i will be the Direct Connect-capable version of the BlackBerry Curve already on the Sprint network and will replace the aging BlackBerry 7100i. Â To put things into perspective, the BlackBerry 7100i was released almost 3 years ago so to say the update is well deserved is an understatement.
The final device showing up today is the messaging powerhouse, the At&t Quickfire. Â Most of you will notice the alarming similarities in style to the current generation Sidekick, but the Quickfire brings an interesting twist, a touchscreen. Â Packing a 2.8-inch touchscreen, Quadband GSM and 3G, GPS, 1.3-megapixel camera and a price tag of just $100 on 2-year contracts after rebate, At&t has our attention. Â The device is manufacturered by PCD (formerly UTStarcom) and with a little luck its performance will match the smooth form factor.
Via BGR and Engadgetmobile
It looks like it might cost Sprint Nextel more than a pretty penny for being the last of the big name US wireless carriers to revise their Early Termination Fee structure. Â After losing a $73 million dollar lawsuit earlier this year over ETF’s, a new lawsuit is seeking to upgrade that to a class-action and act on behalf of all the company’s customers. Â The potential cost of the lawsuit for Sprint Nextel would be in the neighborhood of $1.2 billion and with notorious class-action lawsuit specialist Scott Bursor heading the front, this could be very serious.
The lawsuit alleges that the US$150-$200 fees violated the Federal Communications Act and laws in every state of the country, and says the fees between 1999-2008 amount to around US$1.2 billion.  Keep in mind that the California decision is only provisional, and it could still rule in favor of Sprint, but it is very unlikely.  As a side note, Verizon Wireless also settled a class-action lawsuit over early termination fees for $21 million in July and Scott Bursor was also involved in that lawsuit.  You can see a list of the recent cases for Scott Bursor here.
Formerly known by the codename ‘Cabo’, the Motorola i9 is the latest iDEN capable device coming soon to the Sprint Nextel network.  The i9 features a 3.1-megapixel camera, GPS, morphing touch-sensitive keys on the front that change based on the current application, and push-to-talk capability.  There has been little more than an announcement by Sprint that the device is in the pipeline so a release date and price point are still a bit fuzzy at the moment.  In the meantime you can take a peek at the FCC filings and rest well knowing that it has been approved for use stateside.
Via FCC
At&t, Verizon Wireless and T-mobile USA have already trimmed down their Early Termination Fees and now Sprint Nextel is joining in. Chief Executive Dan Hesse said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press that Sprint could start lowering the early termination fees as soon as December, once the company updates its billing software. The decision comes after a California judge ruled that ETF’s violate state law and ordered Sprint to pay more than $73 million to reimburse customer. No details were given to outline Sprint’s new ETF policy, but as long as it is less than the current $200 price tag, we are all in favor.
Via YahooTech
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) will release its financial results for the third quarter of 2008 on Friday, Nov. 7. The results will be posted at www.sprint.com/investors at approximately 7 a.m. EST. Sprint Nextel management will host a conference call at 8 a.m. EST to discuss the results.
With the bad news from Nokia this morning, we really have to wonder how widespread the mobile industry economic woes will be felt. Â It will be very interesting to see how well Dan Hesse is reshaping the company and whether or not a sale of Nextel will be eminent.
Via Sprint Press Release
The latest BlackBerry with Nextel Direct Connect, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i, now has a landing page with a notification service on Sprint’s website. Although we have never been fans of notification pages since they are generally delayed several weeks, it still proves we are closing in on a release date. As we’ve mentioned in the past, the 8350i brings Direct Connect, WiFi, GPS and Sprint’s powerful EVDO network all together into one sleek package for business users. If your current Nextel BlackBerry is feeling a bit aged, now is the time to make the necessary arrangements and prepare yourself for the Curve 8350i.
Via BerryReview
