WASHINGTON-Sprint Nextel Corp. wireless affiliate UbiquiTel Inc. said its lawsuit against Sprint Nextel has been pushed back from its original trial date of Dec. 16 until Jan. 9. The lawsuit has also been consolidated with similar cases filed by fellow affiliates Horizon Personal Communications Inc. and Bright Personal communications Services L.L.C.
Sprint Nextel has also agreed to extend the forbearance agreement with UbiquiTel that sets parameters for Sprint’s operations of Nextel’s network in areas served by UbiquiTel. The agreement was extended until the court’s final decision is made.
The affiliates claim that Sprint Corp.’s acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. on Aug. 12 violated portions of their affiliate agreements. The issue drove a number of network partners into court. Sprint Nextel has acquired a handful of disgruntled affiliates, including US Unwired Inc. for $1.3 billion, IWO Holdings Inc. for $427 million, Gulf Coast Wireless L.P. for $287.5 million, and most recently its largest CDMA affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. for $4.3 billion.
According to the RCR Wireless News Database, only a handful of Sprint CDMA affiliates remain independent.
Sprint Nextel is also in negotiations with iDEN affiliate Nextel Partners Inc. to determine a valuation for Sprint Nextel to acquire the 68 percent of Nextel Partners it does not currently control. The process is expected to be complete by early February.
