Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Bill Gates & Nextel Partners-

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2002 12:17:55 -0500

Gates' Cascade Investment, L.L.C.
  Increases Stake In Nextel Partners With 3.75 Million Share Purchase;
  Investment Firm Now Holds 5.2 Percent of Outstanding Common Stock
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BW0188 DEC 02,2002 6:04 PACIFIC 09:04 EASTERN

( BW)(WA-NEXTEL-PARTNERS)(NXTP) Gates' Cascade Investment, L.L.C.
Increases Stake In Nextel Partners With 3.75 Million Share Purchase;
Investment Firm Now Holds 5.2 Percent of Outstanding Common Stock

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2002--Nextel Partners,
Inc. (Nasdaq:NXTP) announced today that Cascade Investment, L.L.C.,
the private investment arm of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, has
purchased an additional 3.75 million shares of Nextel Partners stock.

Cascade Investment now owns 5.2 percent of Nextel Partners
outstanding common shares.

Cascade purchased the shares from Craig O. McCaw's Eagle River
Investments, LLC. Cascade, an original investor in Nextel Partners,
purchased 4.97 million shares upon the company's formation in 1998.
Cascade has since increased its position and now owns 12.7 million
shares, well over double their initial investment. Following the sale,
McCaw remains a major shareholder in the company with approximately
15.8 million shares of Nextel Partners or 6.4 percent of the company's
outstanding common shares.

"We are very pleased that Cascade has expanded its position in
Nextel Partners. They have a proven reputation as smart investors and
we believe the additional investment is a validation of our
operational success and of the overall long term prospects of the
Company," said John Chapple, Nextel Partners Chairman and CEO.

"Nextel Partners is a well run company with a unique business plan
and a strong operating history," said Michael Larson, Manager of
Cascade Investment. "We are familiar with the company's management
team and recognize their high level of commitment and operational
expertise. They have a strong track record over the years of
successfully running wireless services businesses."

"I am very proud of the results that have been delivered by the
team at Nextel Partners," said Eagle River Chairman and CEO Craig O.
McCaw. "I continue to hold a significant position in the company and
believe that as the economy stabilizes, and as the team continues to
deliver against its operational goals, Nextel Partners will remain a
bright star."

On October 28, 2002 Nextel Partners reported another solid
operating quarter that included its first-ever positive EBITDA
quarter. The company reported $7.9 million of EBITDA, reaching a
better than breakeven point faster than expected. Nextel Partners now
forecasts being EBITDA positive for the full year 2002. This forecast
is several million dollars ahead of estimates from the beginning of
the year. Nextel Partners has credited the accelerated EBITDA to its
ability to generate an industry leading Lifetime Revenue per
Subscriber equaling $4,313 and an industry best churn rate of 1.6
percent.

Nextel Partners, Inc., (Nasdaq:NXTP), based in Kirkland, Wash.,
has the exclusive right to provide digital wireless communications
services using the Nextel brand name in 31 states where approximately
52 million people reside. Nextel Partners offers its customers the
same fully integrated, digital wireless communications services
available from Nextel including digital cellular, text and numeric
messaging, wireless Internet access and Nextel Direct Connect(R)
digital walkie-talkie, all in a single wireless phone. Nextel Partners
customers can seamlessly access these services anywhere on Nextel's or
Nextel Partners' all-digital wireless network, which currently covers
197 of the top 200 U.S. markets. To learn more about Nextel Partners,
visit www.nextelpartners.com. To learn more about Nextel's services,
visit www.nextel.com.

Some of the information contained in this press release may
contain forward-looking statements. As such, this information should
be read together with the information contained in the filings we have
made with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, including, without limitation, our most recent Annual Report
on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on
Form 8-K.

Nextel, the Nextel logo, and Nextel Direct Connect are trademarks
and/or service marks of Nextel Communications, Inc.

--30--cla/se*

CONTACT: Nextel Partners
Investors:
Alice Kang, 425/576-3696
or
Media:
Susan Johnston, 425/576-3617
Todd Wolfenbarger, 801/244-9600

KEYWORD: WASHINGTON
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKING INTERNET
E-COMMERCE
SOURCE: Nextel Partners, Inc.

©2002