Sprint to cease service on its iDEN network as early as June 30, 2013; Company continues to facilitate migration of iDEN customers to Sprint Direct Connect Service

Sprint today announced plans to transition business and government

customers from its iDEN (2G) Nextel National Network onto Sprint® Direct

Connect® — its next-generation, push to talk service, which operates on

Sprint’s 3G CDMA network. Sprint also announced that it plans to cease

service on the iDEN Nextel National Network as early as June 30, 2013 as

part of its Network Vision plan — a series of network updates designed

to offer next generation network capabilities to customers.

Sprint will send written notices to business and government customers

beginning June 1, 2012 regarding the iDEN Nextel National Network

shutdown. The company will continue to notify customers of favorable

offers designed to facilitate a smooth migration to Sprint® Direct

Connect®. Additional notices are planned for distribution to the iDEN

base multiple times over the next year as the shutdown of the iDEN

Nextel National Network becomes more imminent.

Sprint launched Sprint Direct Connect, the industry’s newest PTT gold

standard, in October of last year. The service provides broadband data

capabilities, familiar push-to-talk features, and rugged and reliable

handset options. Sprint Direct Connect coverage is expected to broaden

throughout 2012.

Over the past eight months, Sprint has announced four rugged Sprint

Direct Connect handsets catering to push-to-talk users including the

Kyocera DuraMax, Kyocera DuraCore, Kyocera DuraPlus and the Motorola

Admiral™. Last month, Sprint made International Direct Connect?

available on its Sprint Direct Connect devices, expanding the reach of

push to talk capabilities to and from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru

and Chile.

Network Vision represents a nationwide update of the Sprint network

using the newest, most-advanced equipment in the industry. Sprint plans

to consolidate multiple network technologies into one seamless network

with the goal of increasing efficiency and enhancing network coverage,

call quality and data speeds for customers.

Network Vision is expected to add net economic value for Sprint from

reduced roaming costs, cell site reduction, backhaul efficiencies, more

efficient use of capital, and energy costs savings. Sprint anticipates

that iDEN Nextel National Network push to talk functionality will become

inoperable as early as June 30, 2013; however, Sprint CDMA voice and

data services on PowerSource devices (dual mode iDEN and CDMA devices)

will still be available. The company has already discontinued selling

iDEN devices in certain channels. It will discontinue selling iDEN

devices in all channels and all brands carrying iDEN Nextel products

over the next several months. Sprint will continue to support customers

with iDEN devices during the network transition and will work with those

customers to ease their transition to Sprint’s CDMA service.

For more information:

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline

communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers,

businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56

million customers at the end of the first quarter of 2012 and is widely

recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative

technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national

carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data

services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost

Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international

push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek

ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of

the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications

company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com

or www.facebook.com/sprint

and www.twitter.com/sprint.

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation

Reform Act of 1995

* This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the

meaning of the securities laws. The statements in this news release

regarding network performance, coverage and capabilities, business and

network efficiencies, migration of services new technologies, timing of

deployment, and products and services, as well as other statements that

are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. The words

“estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” intend,” “expect,” “should,”

“believe,” “target,” and similar expressions are intended to identify

forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are estimates and

projections reflecting management’s judgment based on currently

available information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties

that could cause actual results to differ materially from those

suggested by the forward-looking statements. With respect to these

forward-looking statements, management has made assumptions regarding,

among other things, development and deployment of new technologies;

efficiencies and cost savings of multimode technologies; customer and

network usage; customer growth and retention; service, coverage and

quality; availability of devices; the timing of various events and the

economic environment. Sprint Nextel believes these forward-looking

statements are reasonable; however, you should not place undue reliance

on forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations

and speak only as of the date of this release. Sprint Nextel is not

obligated to publicly release any revisions to forward-looking

statements to reflect events after the date of this release. Sprint

Nextel provides a detailed discussion of risk factors in periodic SEC

filings, including in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended

Dec. 31, 2011.