OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-An Illinois judge will not issue a temporary restraining order to block Sprint Corp.’s acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. Sprint affiliate iPCS Inc. requested the restraining order in its lawsuit against Sprint filed July 15.
Affiliate iPCS alleges that Sprint’s planned acquisition of Nextel will breach the carrier’s exclusivity obligations with iPCS. The carrier offers service under the Sprint brand to around 443,000 customers in portions of Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Tennessee. Nextel and its affiliate Nextel Partners Inc. operate in the same area. iPCS’ lawsuit comes shortly after similar moves from Sprint affiliates UbiquiTel and US Unwired Inc., which Sprint agreed to acquire for $1.3 billion.
Nextel Partners also has taken legal action against Nextel regarding the planned merger.
