Sprint Nextel will be the exclusive provider of mobile data services for the upcoming 2010 U.S. Census. The contract is a significant win for the carrier's newly established Business Markets Group, which focuses on enterprise and government customers.

[1]The Harris Corporation, which is the system integrator for the Census, will have 140,000 workers out in the field using hand-held devices that will run on Sprint's CDMA network. Harris field workers started their data collection in April.

The devices--there will be 150,000 provided in all--will have GPS and fingerprint ID scanning capability. The devices will allow workers to transmit data back to the Census Bureau in near real-time, Sprint said. Additionally, Sprint will provide 1,500 mobile broadband data cards and other managed services.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, the contract marks a milestone for the Business Markets Group, which Sprint formed in April. The formation of the group, alongside Sprint's focus on embedded wireless partnerships and wholesale deals, reflects a growing sense that the carrier will have to look beyond traditional wireless money-makers to boost growth.

For more:
- see this release [2]

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