NEW YORK — Sprint Nextel says it will start phasing out the Nextel part of its network in 2013, a decision that follows near-constant subscriber losses since Sprint bought Nextel in 2005.
The shutdown should be complete in 2015. Sprint, the country’s third-largest wireless carrier, had said it would eventually shut down the aging Nextel network but hadn’t said when until Monday.
Nextel’s signature feature is its fast push-to-talk function, which resembles a walkie-talkie. It once made Nextel popular with outdoor workers such as construction crews. However, the network doesn’t support fast data transfers, making it unsuitable for smartphones. Sprint plans to offer Nextel subscribers a push-to-talk function on the Sprint network instead.
The Nextel network being phased out has been an enormous burden to Sprint. The company has been saddled with the cost of running two incompatible networks, contributing to quarterly financial losses since 2007. Nextel phones don’t work on the Sprint network, and vice versa, although a few phones can use either network.
“The (Nextel) network and the associated customers have become something of a millstone around Sprint’s neck in recent years, and finally having a road map for solving that problem is a big step forward,” Ovum analyst Jan Dawson said.
Shares in Kansas-based Sprint rose 25 cents, or 6.4 percent, to $4.17 on Monday.
