Amid $7B in network investments, Sprint Nextel claims ‘fewest dropped calls’

Sprint Nextel Corp. reiterated its plans for network investment this year, with a focus on upgrading its CDMA network with EV-DO Revision A, deploying WiMAX and also investing in its wireline network.
The carrier said it plans to spend more than $7 billion this year on upgrading and expanding its network, moves that will include the addition of several thousand new CDMA cell sites as well as new iDEN cell sites.
The carrier, which is floundering behind rivals AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, boasted that during 2006 company measurements showed double-digit decreases in the percentages of blocked and dropped calls on its CDMA network. Sprint Nextel claimed that an unnamed, third-party study found that the carrier “earned top honors for the ‘fewest dropped calls.'”
Sprint Nextel also reiterated plans to begin rolling out WiMAX services later this year in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, with plans to cover approximately 100 million potential customers by the end of next year.
The company also noted that between 2006 and 2007, it will invest about $1.4 billion into its wireline network. The carrier’s global IP network plays a critical role in wireless traffic backhaul and the company’s cable-based Voice over IP business.