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Sprint Reports Fiscal Results for Business-to-Business Unit in Third Quarter 2009
Nov 07, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) --
Sprint Business Markets Group (BMG) announced it has reported financial results for the third quarter of 2009.
In a November 3 release, Sprint reported that the second quarter, revenue attributed to business customers was more than $3.5 billion, generated across Sprint's wireless and wireline networks. Notably, Internet revenues in the third quarter were up 5 percent year-over-year, reflecting demand for Global MPLS services. Internet revenues have increased to 41 percent of wireline revenues in the third quarter, up from 35 percent in the same quarter last year.
BMG contributed to the best year-over-year postpaid gross addition improvement in Sprint Nextel history by delivering the highest number of total business customer additions in years. Major customer wins in the quarter included banks, tier one retailers, healthcare providers, a multi-national energy company, an airline and U.S. cities. Additionally, business customer deactivations decreased to their lowest point since second quarter of 2008.
In the quarter, Sprint sharply differentiated itself from rivals with devices that have performed well among businesses, including the Palm Pre, the Sprint MiFi 2200 by Novatel Wireless and the first Android device - the HTC Hero. In all, Sprint has launched or announced 16 new smart, touch and QWERTY devices with a full selection of operating systems in 2009.
Launched in the third quarter, Sprint Business Advantage Plans have been roundly applauded by customers and industry experts for packing more value, flexibility and simplicity than any other similar pricing plans for business. And Sprint's core offering to businesses - its network - in the quarter reached a new all-time high performance level.
In terms of business services, BMG launched SIP trunking, which enables a single IP connection to converge voice, data and video communications; refreshed its Managed Network Solutions portfolio and built momentum for its Unified Communications-enablement offering among customers. Sprint received top honors in the Nemertes 2009 Pilothouse awards for MPLS Services, ranking highest overall and winning top honors in value, customer service and technology. Sprint also beat chief rivals, AT&T and Verizon in IP network reliability.
On the 4G front, Sprint gathered momentum in the quarter, deploying service in 17 markets across the U.S. and is expected to provide coverage for over 30 million people by the end of the this year. The company plans to launch many more markets in 2010.
The company's position of financial strength elicited continued confidence from business customers in the quarter as Sprint improved its cash position, liquidity and debt profile. The company increased its cash balance, ending the third quarter with $5.9 billion in cash and short-term investments and $7.5 billion in total liquidity. The company reduced net debt by $2.7 billion over the last four quarters. It has no remaining significant maturities in 2009, and more than enough cash on hand to pay debt maturities through 2011.
((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))
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