EDINBURG, Va.—Regional operator Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. is considering the sale of its wireless operations, the company said on Friday—one day before the forbearance agreement the company had signed with Sprint Nextel Corp. was to expire.
Shentel, a Sprint Nextel PCS affiliate, had been in discussions with the national carrier to settle on a new affiliate agreement, “but to date the parties have been unable to reach a mutually acceptable agreement,” Shentel said. “As a result, Shentel is now going to consider other alternatives in discussions with Sprint Nextel including the possible sale of Shentel’s PCS operations.”
The forbearance agreement between the two companies—in which Shentel agreed not to sue Sprint Nextel for violations of affiliate exclusivity related to the merger of Sprint PCS and the former Nextel Communciations Inc. and Sprint Nextel agreed to limitations on former Nextel operations in Shentel’s service area—has been extended through July 14. Shentel had nearly 123,000 retail customers and close to 39,000 wholesale customers on its network at the end of 2005.
Analysts expect that Sprint Nextel will wrap up the purchases of its remaining independent affiliates within the next few months.
