ANALYSIS OF SPRINT AND
NEXTEL MERGER IN AUGUST 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY iii
INTRODUCTION 1
ANALYSIS OF MERGER 2
BEFORE THE MERGER 2
AFTER THE MERGER 4
CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY 9
CONCLUSIONS 13
RECOMMENDATIONS 14
APPENDIX 16
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1. 2005 TIMELINE OF SPRINT/NEXTEL LEGAL ISSUES 6
FIGURE 2. MARKET SHARE 7
FIGURE 3. CURRENT SPRINT/NEXTEL CUSTOMERS 9
FIGURE 4. REASON(S) FOR LEAVING SPRINT/NEXTEL AFTER MERGER 10
FIGURE 5. SATISFACTION OF CURRENT SPRINT/NEXTEL CUSTOMERS 11
FIGURE 6. CHANGE IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION POST-MERGER 12
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Purposes of the Report
The purposes of this report are to (1) address the problems Sprint and Nextel incurred before the merger, (2) discuss the merger itself, (3) determine problems that arose as a result of the merger, (4) determine if the merger fixed previous problems by collecting primary data from consumers through a survey, and (5) recommend ways to alleviate the problems.
The Sprint Nextel Merger
In August 2005, two major telecommunication providers, Sprint and Nextel, merged into the third leading wireless carrier known as Sprint Nextel Corporation. Executives believed the merger would bring greater success to Sprint Nextel, than remaining as separate entities.
Both Sprint and Nextel experienced problems before the merger. Sprint was accused of billing problems, unauthorized charges, poor customer service, and weak signal strength. Nextel faced similar problems. They too were accused of poor customer service, billing discrepancies, cancellation difficulties, and unethical sales practices.
As expected, both problems and benefits arose from the merger. Profit and market shar ...