Nextel Cell Phones
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Nextel Cell Phones
Although Sprint and Nextel have formed an official relationship, Nextel still offers a variety of service under their own brand, and as such, have their own line up of cell phones. Nextel cell phones are typically designed with the rugged business user in mind, with the most prominent feature on their handsets being Push-To-Talk, or "walkie-talkie" like functionality over their cellular network. Another big selling point is that their plans offer unlimited incoming calls. For more on Nextel cellular service plans, check out our article here.
Brief Company History: Merger with Sprint
Nextel was founded in 1987, only back in those days, it went by the name FleetCall. The company -- then headed by Morgan E. O'Brien of Washington, DC -- officially changed its name to Nextel Communications in 1993. Shortly after, however, they announced a corporate merger with Sprint. Here is a short timeline, describing the deal:
- December 15, 2004: Merger announced with Sprint; new company to be dubbed Sprint Nextel Corporation. Sprint Corporation would purchase Nextel Communications for $35 billion.
- July 13, 2005: Shareholders overwhelmingly approve the merger, which would result in combined resources and profits.
- August 3, 2005: The US Department of Justice and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) -- a governing body that is responsible for approval of new cell phones for use in the United States, among other responsibilities -- give the merger the go-ahead, on the condition that Sprint Nextel continue to offer service on the 2.5GHz band for the next four years.
- August 12, 2005: Deal is completed, formalized, and Sprint-Nextel is born.
Following the merger, customers from both sides were offered the choice to convert their plans from Sprint to Nextel, and vice versa. Subscribers would need to change their handsets to the new "company", and as such, Sprint Nextel offered rebates of up to $40 to buy back old cell phones.
While Sprint Nextel is officially headquartered in Reston, Virginia, the company's operational and engineering offices can be found in Overland Park, Kansas.
Push To Talk (PTT) and iDEN
One of Nextel's unique features is their ability to offer push to talk (PTT) on their mobile handsets. This mimics the use of close-range walkie-talkies (or, as some put it, "the half duplex operation of a two-way radio"), helping business groups stay in touch with one another. You may have noticed the walkie-talkie like functionality of some cell phones used over the course of The Apprentice television series on NBC, where participants could simply press and hold a single button the outside of the phone and immediately broadcast a voice message to several members of his or her team.
Nextel operates under the iDEN protocol, a technology developed by Motorola. It is based on TDMA (time division multiple access), which can be said as being similar to CDMA (on which Verizon and Telus Mobility operate), as opposed to GSM-based technologies, as deployed by T-Mobile and Rogers Wireless.
The plan is to make PTT interoperable between Sprint and Nextel network users by 2008, with the Nextel brand being absorbed completely into Sprint by 2010.
Cell Phones Offered
As a large part of Nextel’s business operates on iDEN technology, a good proportion of the mobile operator’s line-up consists of Motorola Cell Phones (the only exceptions at this time are a pair of BlackBerry devices). Many of their handsets are designed to withstand the elements, featuring military-grade resistances to water, dust, and shock. Finding rubberized grips, beefy antennas, and fairly thick form factors is nothing out of the ordinary.
- Motorola i580is a feature-packed clamshell that can take a licking and keep on ticking. Although it is clearly designed with the rough and tumble outdoor business lifestyle in mind (I can imagine construction workers, surveyors, and people with similar occupations making use of this phone), the Motorola i580 comes with quite an impressive list of multimedia features, including a 1.3 megapixel camera with video playback, a multimedia player, and mobile web.
- Motorola i325 IS is technically a "candybar" styled phone, but with its extra girth and bulbous form, it's not the smallest phone on the block. Like much of the Nextel lineup, the i325 IS features an all-weather design, walkie-talkie services, GPS capabilities, and a fixed antenna. The speakerphone is loud and clear, and it can take on web/email functions with the best of them.
- BlackBerry 7100i does the walkie-talkie and GPS thing, but with the addition of BlackBerry's signature push email, personal information management, and SureType keypad, it really is a full business solution. Other key features include a large color display, Bluetooth Technology, Airplane Mode, and BlackBerry's classic scroll wheel for navigation.
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