Sprint Corporation

Sprint Corporation
Formerly
  • Brown Telephone Company (1899–1911)
  • United Telephone Company (1911–1925)
  • United Telephone and Electric (1925–1938)
  • United Utilities, Inc. (1938–1972)
  • United Telecommunications and United Telephone System (1972–1987)
  • Sprint Corporation (1987–2005, 2013–2020)
  • Sprint Nextel Corporation (2005–2013)
Company typePublic
NYSE: S
IndustryTelecommunications
PredecessorsSPC
GTE Sprint
US Sprint
Embarq
Nextel Communications
FoundedDecember 21, 1899; 124 years ago (1899-12-21)[1]
FoundersCleyson Brown
DefunctApril 1, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-04-01) (as an independent company)
August 2, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-08-02) (official)
FateAcquired by T-Mobile US
SuccessorT-Mobile US
Headquarters
Overland Park, Kansas
,
U.S.
Area served
United States
Services
RevenueIncrease US$33.60 billion (2019)
Decrease US$398 million (2019)
Decrease US$1.94 billion (2019)
Total assetsDecrease US$84.60 billion (2019)
Total equityDecrease US$26.07 billion (2019)
Number of employees
Decrease 28,500 (Q1 2019)
ParentT-Mobile US
Subsidiaries
ASN
Websitet-mobile.com

Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019.[2] The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.[3][4]

In July 2013, majority ownership of the company was purchased by the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Group.[5] Sprint used CDMA, EvDO and 4G LTE networks, and formerly operated iDEN, WiMAX, and 5G NR networks. Sprint was incorporated in Kansas.[6][7]

Sprint traced its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 to bring telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. In 2006, Sprint left the local landline telephone business and spun those assets off into a new company named Embarq, which later became a part of Lumen Technologies under the CenturyLink brand, which remains one of the largest long-distance providers in the United States.[8]

Until 2005, the company was also known as the Sprint Corporation, but took the name Sprint Nextel Corporation when it merged with Nextel Communications and adopted its black and yellow color scheme, along with a new logo. In 2013, following the shutdown of the Nextel network and concurrent with the acquisition by SoftBank, the company resumed using the name Sprint Corporation. In July 2013, as part of the SoftBank transactions, Sprint acquired the remaining shares of the wireless broadband carrier Clearwire Corporation that it did not already own.[9][10]

In August 2014, CEO Dan Hesse was replaced by Marcelo Claure.[11] In May 2018, Michel Combes replaced[12] Claure, and had been working to get Sprint's acquisition by its rival T-Mobile through regulatory proceedings.[13]

On April 1, 2020, Sprint Corporation completed their acquisition by T-Mobile US, which effectively made Sprint a subsidiary of T-Mobile until the Sprint brand officially discontinued in the beginning of August. Leadership, background, and stock changes happened immediately, with customer-side changes happening over time. The Sprint brand officially discontinued on August 2, 2020. Billing was already showing the T-Mobile brand, and on this date all retail, customer service, and all other company branding switched to the T-Mobile brand. New rate plans were also introduced as well for all new and existing customers from both companies, though all will be grandfathered into their current plan for at least 3 years should they choose not to switch to a new T-Mobile plan.[14][15][16][17][18] Customers with Sprint accounts were fully migrated to T-Mobile in the summer of 2023 officially discontinuing the Sprint brand.[19]

  1. ^ "History of Sprint Corporation". FundingUniverse. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "Sprint Newsroom". newsroom.sprint.com. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  3. ^ "PD-related healthcare costs increase after diagnosis". PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News. 801: 27. April 2018. doi:10.1007/s40274-018-4882-6. S2CID 195289225. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  4. ^ Canellis, David (March 12, 2020). "Yep, T-Mobile and Sprint's $26.5 billion mega-merger is really happening". TNW. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  5. ^ "Strategic Acquisition of Sprint by SoftBank (Amendment to Previously Disclosed Items)". SoftBank Corp. June 11, 2013. Archived from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  6. ^ "EDGAR Filing Documents". sec.gov. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Lopez, Napier (August 27, 2019). "The OnePlus 7 Pro 5G finally lands in the US via Sprint". TNW. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  8. ^ Canellis, David (February 17, 2020). "T-Mobile's merger with Sprint is now worth $40 billion, thanks to the bulls". TNW. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  9. ^ Insights, Moor (October 27, 2017). "Would A T-Mobile/Sprint Marriage Be A Match Made In Heaven?". Forbes. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  10. ^ Dubey, Ashutosh (May 24, 2021). "Sprint Call Screener, Visual Voicemail to be replaced by T-Mobile services". PiunikaWeb. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  11. ^ Gruley, Bryan; Moritz, Scott (January 26, 2016). "Inside the Plan to Pull Sprint Out of Its Death Spiral; A Japanese billionaire and a Bolivian telecom vet think they know how to fix the ailing company". Bloomberg Businessweek.
  12. ^ "MarceloClaure". Twitter. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  13. ^ Aiello, Chloe (May 2, 2018). "Sprint names Michel Combes as CEO and Marcelo Claure as executive chairman". CNBC. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  14. ^ "T-Mobile and Sprint's merger is officially complete". Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "T-Mobile Completes Merger with Sprint to Create the New T-Mobile". www.t-mobile.com. April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "What the T-Mobile & Sprint Merger Means for You | T-Mobile". www.t-mobile.com. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  17. ^ "T-Mo and Sprint will unify under the T-Mobile brand on August 2". Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  18. ^ "T‑Mobile Unveils Latest Un‑carrier Move: Scam Shield — A Massive Set of Free Solutions to Protect Customers From Rampant Scams and Robocalls | T‑Mobile Newsroom". T-Mobile Newsroom. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  19. ^ "Leaked document reveals the final date of Sprint's demise". PhoneArena.com. May 24, 2023.