Sprint hanging on to Nextel, transitioning to QChat?

Sprint is currently facing a heavy decision on what to do with the Nextel network, whether it should continue to invest in it, turn it into a standalone company, or simply cease operating the Nextel brand altogether. MocoNews writes that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse recently gave a bit of insight to shareholders, saying that he does not see the iDEN network (which currently is only in use by Sprint) disappearing in the near future, and insists it is the best primary choice for network service. Hesse expects that Motorola would continue to support the technology, even with the company's current wireless problems.

Sprint has also shown increasing progress with its investments in Qualcomm's QChat technology, which bridges iDEN subscribers contact users on the CDMA network. Hesse also mentioned that Sprint will be expanding QChat into 40 markets; QChat is currently only available in Denver, Kansas City, and Cincinnati.

QChat is offered on six handsets offered by Sanyo, LG, Samsung, and Motorola. The technology is also slightly futureproof, due to its compatibility with Sprint's EVDO data network. Future implementations could include push-to-send photos, or other direct peer-to-peer functions.

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: sprint, network, Nextel, iDEN