Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel and Sprint Complete First Number Portability Operating Agreement Between Wireless Carriers

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 07:41:55 -0400

September 29, 2003 07:00 AM US Eastern Timezone

  Nextel and Sprint Complete First Number Portability Operating Agreement Between
Wireless Carriers
RESTON, Va. & OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2003--

Companies Push Forward to Make Wireless Local Number Portability a Positive
Experience for Customers;
Continue to Seek Direction from the FCC

Marking a milestone in the preparation for Wireless Local Number Portability
(WLNP), Nextel Communications Inc.  (NASDAQ:NXTL) and Sprint (NYSE: FON, PCS)
today announced the completion of the first Service Level Agreement (SLA) to
facilitate the porting of phone numbers between non-affiliated carriers. The
Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) WLNP mandate is effective on Nov. 24,
2003 and allows wireless customers to switch their phone numbers when moving
service to another carrier.

SLAs are contractual agreements between service providers that are intended to
facilitate the porting process and, ultimately, result in a quick and
consumer-friendly port between carriers. Because the FCC has provided no rules on
WLNP to govern the exchange of information between carriers about a number being
ported, and the time within which that exchange has to happen, Nextel and Sprint
have taken the initiative to set an industry precedent regarding mutual agreements
to help resolve this outstanding issue. Nextel and Sprint continue to look to the
FCC for WLNP industry standards and urge other carriers to actively negotiate and
work to standardize processes prior to November 24 in the absence of FCC action.
Sprint and Nextel are both preparing their internal systems and business processes
and aggressively testing to support number portability in advance of the November
24 deadline.

"In true Nextel style, we're 'doing' when some of the other carriers are just
talking," said Mark Schweitzer, senior vice president of marketing for Nextel. "We
continue to work at the forefront of the wireless industry making sure our current
and future customers can take action as soon as WLNP is available."

"In everything we do at Sprint we have adopted the pledge, 'Sprint makes wireless
easy for customers,'" said Len Lauer, Sprint president and chief operating
officer. "Our goal is to roll out as clear and simple a porting process as
possible."
In an effort to provide consumers a smooth porting process, Sprint and Nextel have
been actively pursuing SLAs with wireless and wireline service providers since the
beginning of the year, including all of the national wireless carriers. These
efforts, however, have proven extremely difficult given the lack of FCC guidance
on the standards for porting numbers between carriers, especially agreements with
wireline carriers that are seeking to impose new conditions on porting obligations
not required under FCC rules.

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