UPDATED: Following iPCS court victory, Sprint Nextel to sell contested iDEN operations: Wireless providers could continue to spar in courtroom

Following a lengthy legal process, the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois has ordered Sprint Nextel Corp. to sell all Nextel operations in affiliate iPCS Inc.’s service areas. Sprint Nextel has 360 days to get rid of the iDEN network in the areas. The ruling is a major win for iPCS, which has worked tirelessly on the case since Sprint Corp. acquired Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005. iPCS argues the deal conflicted with the original, no-competition affiliate agreement it signed with Sprint.
When asked who might purchase the targeted iDEN operations, Sprint Nextel spokesman Matt Sullivan said any speculation is premature at this point. iPCS Wireless declined to comment on who may purchase the network. The carrier’s stock was up slightly after the news to around $5.37 per share.
However, winning the fight over Sprint Nextel is not the end of the road for iPCS. According to Ric Prentiss at Raymond James, iPCS now claims that Sprint Nextel is improperly withholding advanced technologies from iPCS and diverting those technologies to iPCS’ competitors. A court battle over this new issue is set to begin at the end of March.
Interestingly, iPCS also recently targeted Sprint Nextel’s teaming with Clearwire Corp. over WiMAX. The carrier claimed the joint venture also breached affiliation agreements. iPCS sued Sprint Nextel over this issue, which Sprint Nextel unsuccessfully appealed. However, iPCS eventually withdrew its injunction when Clearwire announced that it does not plan on launching WiMAX services in iPCS’ markets before July 2009.
Further, Clearwire added that if it moves forward with any launch plans it will provide iPCS with a written notice 60 days prior to a network launch.
Article updated Feb. 5 to remove inaccurate information.