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Sprint Nextel 'Powers Up' Wireless Coverage, Capacity to Its Networks in Palm Beach County

Posted on: Friday, 16 March 2007, 09:00 CDT

For Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) wireless customers in Palm Beach County who already take advantage of the company's powerful networks, recent local network enhancements should result in even better wireless service. Sprint added nine wireless cell sites within the last six months to its Nationwide Sprint PCS NetworkSM and Nextel National NetworkSM in Lake Worth, Palm Beach Gardens, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Boynton Beach and Boca Raton.

"Sprint continues to make significant investments to increase coverage and capacity in its wireless networks in Palm Beach County and throughout the country," said Bob Halcrow, area vice president, Florida. "Customer satisfaction and network quality are two of Sprint's top priorities as we further strengthen our powerful networks where our customers live, work, play and travel."

Last year, Sprint invested more than $137 million in the South Florida region, which includes Palm Beach County. The following is a detailed list of the local areas benefiting from these enhancements:

Nationwide Sprint PCS Network

Boca Raton, in the area of the Boca YMCA near the intersection of Palmetto Park Road and Powerline Road

Boynton Beach, east of I-95 at Woolbright

Wellington, in the northeast section of the City

Lake Worth, in the area along South Military Trail between Lake Worth and Lantana roads; at the Florida Turnpike and Lantana Road; at I-95 and Hypoluxo Road; and along Congress Avenue northwest of the Palm Beach County Park Airport.

Palm Beach Gardens, in the area of Northlake Boulevard and North Military Trail

Nextel National Network

Lake Worth, at the Florida Turnpike and Lantana Road

Royal Palm Beach, along Royal Palm Beach Boulevard and Okeechobee Road

In 2006, Sprint added more than 3,400 cell sites across the country to strengthen performance in both of its wireless networks and this year expects to add more than 4,000 sites.

Sprint also exceeded a 2006 goal of adding 800 permanent generators at critical Florida cell sites. The network team, in fact, installed more than 1,000 generators across the state by the end of last year with plans to install 1,100 more in 2007.

Increased Network Investment in 2007

Sprint spent more than $7 billion in capital expenditures in 2006, most of which was invested to enhance its wireless and wireline networks nationwide. Across the country, thousands of markets -- large and small -- received the benefit of this major investment. This year, Sprint will invest more than $7 billion to further enhance its powerful networks and expand mobile broadband coverage.

The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network and EV-DO Rev. A

Sprint offers the largest wireless broadband network of any carrier through the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network, which reaches more than 209 million people across the country and covers more than 10,000 cities and 1,000 airports. In many metropolitan areas, including Palm Beach County, Sprint has upgraded the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network with higher-speed EV-DO (Evolution -- Data Optimized) Revision A technology. Sprint's industry-leading EV-DO Rev. A coverage now reaches more than 109 million people and covers 4,600 cities and 378 airports. With EV-DO Rev. A, users should experience significantly faster average data upload speeds of 350 to 500 kbps (compared with 50-70 kbps on current EV-DO networks). Average download speeds should increase to 600 kbps to 1.4 mbps (from 400-700 kbps). By year end, the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network is expected to be completely upgraded to the faster EV-DO Rev. A.

Power Network Coverage Tool and Sprint Plan Advisor

To help current and prospective customers view coverage information, Sprint provides the Power Network Coverage Tool, which provides detailed coverage maps down to the street address level. By entering an address or ZIP code, customers can check the availability of wireless coverage, recently added cell sites and the network signal strength on the Nationwide Sprint PCS Network, Nextel National Network or Sprint Mobile Broadband Network. The tool is available at www.sprint.com/coverage and at self-service touch-screen kiosks at many Sprint and Nextel retail stores. Once coverage is determined, customers can either change or purchase a new service plan using the new Sprint Plan Advisor. This tool, which helps customers make educated decisions about which wireless plan is right for them based on the criteria they provide, is available at www.sprint.com/planadvisor.

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 robust wireless networks serving 53.1 million customers at the end of 2006; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and an award-winning and global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

Source: Business Wire

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