Sprint extends cooperative purchasing agreement to provide wireless services to state and local governments nationwide

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), February 16, 2011 – A national consortium of states has again selected Sprint (NYSE:S, news, filings) as an approved wireless provider, extending the company’s contract to serve as a supplier of wireless products and services to state and local governments across the nation for an additional year. The consortium — Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) — extended the contract with Sprint through Oct. 31, 2012. This latest contract extension, worth an estimated $360 million, increases the total lifetime value of the contract to $1.4 billion since 2006.

The Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) enables cooperative multi-state contracting to help states acquire quality services in a cost-effective and efficient manner. States purchasing Sprint’s products and services under WSCA include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. State and local governments in most states are able to utilize this dynamic contracting vehicle.

Sprint earned the contract extension based on its innovative product portfolio, record of strong customer service, superior value and pricing flexibility.

“It’s satisfying to extend the contract with WSCA,” said Paget Alves, president of Sprint’s Business Markets Group. “We’ve built solid relationships with state and local governments across the country based on trust and the expectation of mutual growth. We look forward to continuing to supply the best value, network and solutions to WSCA.”

Sprint’s Business Markets Group is composed of sales, support, marketing and operations personnel solely dedicated to enterprise, small and medium-sized business and public sector customers. BMG delivers wireless, wireline and converged solutions for companies, drawing on its 3G wireless network, 4G capabilities, the fastest national push-to-talk network,¹ a first-tier Global IP network and a comprehensive solutions portfolio of devices and applications.

For more information about Sprint Business Markets Group, visit:

www.sprint.com/business
http://www.sprint.com/business/mb/index.html
http://www.sprint.com/business/gov/index.html

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 49.9 million customers at the end of 2010 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. 6 in its 2010 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.

About WSCA

The Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA) http://www.aboutwsca.org was formed in October 1993 by the state purchasing directors from fifteen NASPO western states. The primary purpose of creating WSCA was to establish the means by which participating states could join together in cooperative multi-state contracting. This approach has helped states achieve cost-effective and efficient acquisition of quality products and services.

¹ Fastest claim based on initial call set-up time.