SENSIBLE MERGERFrom a Nextel perspective, one of the main reasons the company merged with Sprint was to gain access to Sprint's 1,900 MHz data network; the wireless network that runs Nextel's Direct Connect feature runs on the 800 MHz spectrum.
“A big problem for Nextel leading up to the merger was that the company couldn't support its Direct Connect base and deliver the data services it was promising,” says Lisa Pierce, an analyst with Forrester Research, an information technology consulting group based in Cambridge, Mass. “They simply didn't have enough spectrum to do both,” she explains, adding that “the only way Nextel could keep going was to go down the merger road.”
Musselman essentially agrees, noting that Nextel looked into building a next-generation network, but it would have been cost-prohibitive. “The synergies of both companies complement each other,” he says, adding, “The merger gives us a much better spectrum position.”
This is great news for home builders interested in taking advantage of the dozens of data applications Sprint Nextel offers.
Pierce thinks Sprint Nextel will ultimately migrate to a single network, mainly because it's too expensive to maintain two. But the behind-the-scenes technology issues are of little concern to home builders. If Sprint Nextel can deliver enhanced data speeds and extended wireless coverage, builders will finally be able to make BlackBerrys running handheld data applications more ubiquitous in the field—and they'll also be able to set up shop more easily in remote locations.
It may come to pass that the kinds of complaints about Nextel's coverage that builders such as Paul Taylor Homes and NuWest Custom Homes report will fade away as the professed synergies of Sprint Nextel gather steam.