Consolidation appears to be the buzzword in the mobile telephone industry. On the heels of Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless comes word that Sprint and Nextel may be about to join forces.
A merger would create an entity of more than 38 million wireless subscribers, but it's not clear how that would affect customers of the individual companies.
Sprint is currently the number three U.S. wireless phone company and has recently invested heavily in infrastructure. The company has announced it will spend $3 billion over the next three years to upgrade its mobile network and develop high-speed Internet services.
Sprint has over 26 million subscribers and produces more than $26 billion in operating revenue.
Nextel boasts the largest all-digital wireless network in the country. It has just over 15 million subscribers, most of them businesses, which like Nextel's walkie-talkie "push to talk" instant connection feature. Sprint has also begun development of a walkie-talkie feature.
Sprint, on the other hand, has a nationwide wireless data system, something Nextel would have to spend billions to develop.
Nextel's management team is highly regarded, something that's never been said about Sprint's.
