Sprint Extends 4G Leadership by Announcing Additional U.S. Markets for Sprint 4G

Sprint Reveals Plans to Launch 4G in 17 Additional Cities in Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington in 2009; Bringing Turbo-Charged Mobile Broadband to Customers On the Go

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 2009-- Sprint (NYSE:S), the first national wireless carrier to test, launch and market 4G technology, is extending its 4G leadership by launching the next-generation service across the country. Today, it announced the addition of 17 new markets to its national Sprint 4G roll-out plans. These additional markets join the previously announced markets of Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Honolulu; Las Vegas; Portland, Ore.; Philadelphia and Seattle.

The new additions for 2009 are: Abilene, Texas; Amarillo, Texas; Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bellingham, Wash.; Charlotte, N.C.; Corpus Christi, Texas; Greensboro, N.C.; Killeen-Temple, Texas; Lubbock, Texas; Maui, Hawaii; Midland-Odessa, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Salem, Ore.; San Antonio, Texas; Waco, Texas; and Wichita Falls, Texas.

Sprint also expects to launch service in multiple markets in 2010, including Boston, Houston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

These markets will join Baltimore, where Sprint made history when it launched 4G in September 2008. As previously announced, Sprint 4G is scheduled for an August 2009 launch in Atlanta, Las Vegas and Portland, making the cities among the first in America to experience the lightning-fast speeds of the first wireless mobile 4G network from a national carrier. Additional information about launch plans and services in those cities will be announced soon.

Sprint 4G offers turbo-charged mobile broadband - with peak download speeds of more than 10 Mbps and average downlink speeds of 3-6 Mbps. Sprint 4G speeds and capabilities are three to five times faster than the 3G service offered by any national wireless carrier today, based on average download speeds.

Sprint was also the first carrier to offer wireless access to both 3G and 4G with the 3G/4G USB Modem U300 in December 2008. Last week, Sprint expanded its 4G product offering with the announcement of its new Sprint 3G/4G Mobile Broadband Routers: The Sprint Personal Hotspot PHS300S Router and the Cradlepoint MBR-1000 Broadband Router for business. Used in combination with the U300 or other Sprint mobile broadband devices, these Mobile Broadband Routers can simultaneously connect smartphones, laptops and other WiFi-enable devices to the Sprint 3G and 4G networks. For more information, visit www.sprint.com/4G [1].

Sprint is harnessing the power of 4G through its partnership with, and majority ownership of, Clearwire [2], an independent company that is building the WiMAX network. Sprint is the only national wireless carrier to offer 4G services on the Clearwire WiMAX network.

ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving almost 49 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company's customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com [3].

Source: Sprint

Sprint
Stephanie Vinge-Walsh, 310-213-0039
stephanie.a.vinge@sprint.com [4]