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Sprint Announces Availability of Enhanced Push-to-Talk Service on the Sprint Network

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 September 2008, 15:00 CDT

Sprint (NYSE:S) announced today that West Michigan Nextel Direct Connect subscribers can now move their Push-to-Talk service to the Sprint Network as part of a corporate expansion of available handsets featuring Push-to-Talk capabilities.

"This is a great opportunity for the large number of Push-to-Talk users in West Michigan," said William Derrick, General Manager for Michigan, Indiana, and Northwest Ohio, for iPCS Wireless, a Sprint affiliate. "People here can now utilize Sprint's superior network for Push-to-Talk by upgrading to a new phone and still being able to Direct Connect their co-workers, friends, and family that still have Nextel phones."

The opportunity for consumers to migrate to Nextel Direct Connect on Sprint coincides with Sprint's announcement that it is adding four new Nextel Direct Connect(R) phones to its portfolio. These new phones incorporate Nextel Direct Connect Push-to-Talk services, the speed of Sprint Mobile Broadband, and Sprint's largest voice calling area.

"Customers now have a wider selection of phones to meet their productivity needs with connection in less than one second to millions of existing Nextel Direct Connect subscribers nationwide," said Jennifer Wood, iPCS Wireless Senior Marketing Manager. "Sprint customers value the ability to connect instantly, and we're excited to offer these new phones to customers in West Michigan."

The new phones allow customers to make Direct Connect(R) calls with the world's largest Push-to-Talk community and are currently available through 75 Sprint retail stores in Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Holland areas.

Available New Phones

The new handsets listed below will all be powered by Qualcomm's QChat technology and continue to provide industry-leading Push-to-Talk performance, while operating on certain Rev. A portions of the Sprint Mobile Broadband network (except in Puerto Rico). Compared to other providers, Nextel Direct Connect on Sprint offers significantly faster call set-up times of less than one second, one-to-one and one-to-many interoperability with the world's largest established push-to-talk community.

PRO-700 by Sanyo(R) - Recognizing that instant communication is needed in sometimes harsh environments, Sprint is offering this rugged phone certified to military standards for dust, shock and vibration. This phone has a special offer, where one is available for free when one is purchased for as low as $79.99 with a two-year service agreement.

Z400 by Samsung(R) - With this phone, customers also have added benefits of a 1.3 megapixel camera, Sprint Navigation and Bluetooth support in this clamshell handset. This phone is also ultra-rugged and certified to military specification for dust, shock and vibration. This phone is available for as low as $99.99 with a two-year service agreement.

LX400 by LG(R) - This phone is packaged in a slender form factor and includes key features such as a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth(R), GPS capabilities and noise reduction capabilities. This phone is available for as low as $79.99 with a two-year service agreement.

PRO-200 by Sanyo(R) - Sporting an attractive, slim clamshell form factor, this phone delivers key functionalities including Bluetooth(R), messaging capabilities and mobile email. This phone also has a special offer, where one is available for free when one is purchased for as low as $49.99 with a two-year service agreement.

About Nextel Direct Connect:

With more than 15 years of expertise, Sprint is the undisputed leader in push-to-talk with the largest community of users in the world. Nextel Direct Connect has set the industry standard for push-to-talk and serves millions of Nextel Direct Connect subscribers on the fastest national push-to-talk network. These customers made more than 90 billion Nextel Direct Connect connections in 2007.

In addition to instant connections and the world's largest subscriber base, Nextel Direct Connect is the only Push-to-Talk product in the industry that offers nationwide and international push-to-talk services; the largest portfolio of push-to-talk phones, including the largest selection of rugged phones and integrated business solutions, including the largest selection of GPS-solutions. For more information about Nextel Direct Connect, and to check availability by ZIP code, please visit www.sprint.com/nexteldirectconnect.

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 nearly 53 million customers at the end of the first quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

Source: Business Wire

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