Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel CEO Says Co To Benefit From Portability

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:29:55 -0500

Nextel CEO Says Co To Benefit From Portability

November 17, 2003 6:04pm

   By Christine Nuzum 
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
  
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Nextel Communications Inc. (NXTL) Chief 
Executive Tim Donahue suggested the company will gain market share 
after rules take effect next week that will allow consumers to keep 
their phone numbers when they switch carriers. 

"We believe Nextel will be a beneficiary/winner in the portability 
theater," he said, during a UBS conference here Monday. 

The number of customers switching carrriers is expected to rise 
sharply following implementation of the "number portability" rules. 

Nextel's churn, or customer turnover rate, was 1.4% for the third 
quarter. 

"We expect we can keep it at that level," said Donahue. 

However, the wireless industry "will have bumps" for about 90 days 
following the start of wireless number portability, he added. 

Donahue dismissed any notion of significant competition from "push-
to-talk" phones recently launched by Sprint PCS Group (PCS) and 
Verizon Wireless, which is majority owned by Verizon Communications 
(VZ). Until this year, Nextel was the only purveyor of this walkie-
talkie mobile phone service popular in industries such as 
manufacturing, trucking and public safety. 

Donahue said that because of slower speeds, the Verizon Wireless 
product is not comparable to Nextel's push-to-talk phones and that 
the same appears to be true for Sprint PCS' offering, which was 
launched Monday. 

"Our business has not been remotely affected by this," he said. He 
added that he has no reason to believe that rival technologies will 
catch up any time soon. 

Nextel expects that a deal with NII Holdings Inc. (NIHD) will bring 
its push-to-talk service to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Peru 
beginning in April or May of 2004. The company also expects a deal 
to sell push-to-talk service in Canada. 

-By Christine Nuzum, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5172 

 http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/031117/1803001349_1.html

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