Nextel had long worked closely with a single vendor, Motorola, on both equipment and standards. As a result of these efforts, and what was reported to be a strong focus on customer satisfaction across the organization, Nextel was known for industry-leading customer retention rates, average revenue per user, and customer lifetime value. The company also developed capabilities allowing it to assess and review customer relationship values objectively and to project and respond to customer loyalty. They invested significantly in analytics capability, which allowed them to surpass their competitors in handling customer concerns effectively. Nextel was also an industry leader in customer lifecycle management. The company was the first in the United States to integrate global positioning system features into their phones and to complete their 2G network upgrade. Unlike other cellular networks, the Nextel network operated in the Specialized Mobile Radio band, and Nextel was one of the first providers in the United States to offer a national digital cellular coverage footprint. Nextel was the first company to implement a nationwide push-to-talk system similar to a walkie-talkie, marketed as DirectConnect. It was the first company to successfully provide unlimited calling plans to a large customer base. Nextel affected the cellular phone market in several ways. Later, Nextel would use the push-to-talk feature as a key marketing advantage. Initially, FleetCall did not want to include the push to talk feature in their phones, but the FCC required it as the initial frequencies were licensed for dispatch use. These "non-cellular" frequencies were made usable for a consumer and business wireless voice telephone service with the iDEN technology developed by Motorola, which some observers at the time said would not be practical. The core of the business model was to buy these fleet dispatch frequencies from existing operators at a substantial discount when compared to the cost for the equivalent bandwidth available via auction from the Federal Communications Commission. The founders chose the name "FleetCall" because the company's network used the 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio frequencies designated by the Federal Communications Commission for use in fleet dispatch. Other early investors and employees include Mark Warner, now a United States Senator from Virginia, and Jack Markell, the former Governor of Delaware. In 1995, wireless industry pioneer Craig McCaw became a significant investor in the company. FleetCall changed its name to Nextel Communications in 1993. O'Brien and Chris Rogers and investment bankers Brian McAuley and Peter Reinheimer founded FleetCall in 1987. The Nextel network was officially shut down at 12:01am on June 30, 2013, and Sprint began the process of deploying LTE equipment on the 800MHz spectrum formerly used by the iDEN network.īefore the acquisition by T-Mobile US, Sprint Corporation continued to offer pre-paid services under the Boost Mobile brand and also offered push-to-talk services as Sprint Direct Connect using CDMA equipment. In late 2010, Sprint Nextel announced plans to decommission the Nextel iDEN network on May 30, 2012, Sprint Nextel announced that it would shut down the Nextel network as early as June 2013. offered postpaid services under the Nextel brand and prepaid services under the Boost Mobile brand. Īt the time of its 2005 merger with Sprint Corp., Nextel had over twenty million subscribers in the United States and served 198 of the top 200 markets. Nextel was headquartered in Reston, Virginia, United States. Shares traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol NXTL. Prior to merging with Sprint Corporation in 2005, Nextel Communications, Inc. Nextel was one of the first providers in the United States to offer a national digital cellular coverage footprint. Nextel's iDEN network offered a then unique push-to-talk "walkie-talkie" feature in addition to direct-dialed voice calls. Nextel's network operated in the 800-MHz Specialized Mobile Radio band and used iDEN technology developed by Motorola. Nextel provided digital, wireless communications services, originally focusing on the fleet and dispatch customers, but later marketed to all potential wireless customers. FleetCall changed its name to Nextel Communications, Inc. Nextel Communications traces its roots to the 1987 foundation of FleetCall by Morgan O'Brien, Brian McAuley, Chris Rogers, and Peter Reinheimer. Nextel in Brazil, and formerly in Argentina, Chile, Peru, the Philippines, and Mexico, is part of NII Holdings, a stand-alone, publicly traded company not owned by Sprint Corporation. was an American wireless service operator that merged with and ceased to exist as a subsidiary of Sprint Corporation, which would later be bought by T-Mobile US and folded into that company.
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