Sprint Nextel, the nation’s third-largest cell-phone carrier, is betting big on 4G. The company has spent several billion dollars in recent years to build wireless broadband service capacity to try to leapfrog larger rivals by offering consumers and businesses fast connections for smartphones, laptops, and other devices.
The advent of 4G networks could present a do-or-die situation for Sprint. Investors are pessimistic about the company’s long-term prospects. Sprint is losing more than 2 percent of its highest-paying wireless subscribers each year, nearly double the rate of competitors AT&T and Verizon Wireless, according to a Mar. 21 report from Barclays Capital analyst James M. Ratcliffe, who has a “neutral” rating on Sprint’s shares.
Sprint bet on Palm’s Pre smartphone, which launched to great fanfare in 2009, but which hasn’t come close to matching AT&T’s sales of Apple’s iPhone. Verizon, T-Mobile USA, and AT&T are taking steps to blunt any advantage Sprint might gain as it rolls out its faster network.
As a result, Sprint’s stock performance has badly trailed those of its peers since July 2006, when its shares began sliding in value. On Mar. 29, Sprint’s shares closed down 1 percent, or 0.26 percent, at 3.79.
To lure customers while keeping current ones loyal, Sprint has recently issued a flurry of announcements about its 4G capabilities. On Mar. 23 at the wireless trade show in Las Vegas, Sprint unveiled the EVO, a smartphone made by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC that will be the first in the U.S. to access a 4G network. It will be capable of dishing up thousands of videos from Web sites such as Hulu, Google’s YouTube, and Blockbuster without straining the network.
Carriers Look to Big 4G Pipelines
The device joins Sprint’s well-received Overdrive 4G mobile data hotspot introduced in January, which lets users connect up to five…