Nextel Communications Inc

Nextel, OneComm to Merge: Nextel Communications Inc. said it will acquire OneComm Corp. in a merger worth more than $650 million, adding big portions of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest to its fast-growing web of mobile radio systems. The news boosted share prices for Denver-based OneComm, which had just $12 million in revenue last year. Its stock jumped $8.25 to $28.50 in Nasdaq trading. Shares in Nextel fell 62.5 cents to $29.25 on Nasdaq.

Sprint Nextel Corp. agreed to buy two affiliates for $714.5 million, ending some of the legal fights that sprang from the Sprint-Nextel merger. The company plans to acquire Gulf Coast Wireless for $287.5 million, including an unspecified amount of debt, and IWO Holdings Inc. for $427 million, including $208 million of net debt. The purchases will add more than 332,000 customers and help Chief Executive Gary Forsee's effort to resolve disputes with the Reston, Va.-based company's affiliates.

Nextel Communications Inc. is in discussions with AT&T Wireless about a merger that would create a $100-billion enterprise with about 18 million customers in markets across the country, sources with knowledge of the talks said Thursday.

U.S. antitrust authorities have extended their review of No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp.'s planned acquisition of rival Nextel Communications Inc. Antitrust lawyers have said they expected a second request for information in part because of the size of the deal in a rapidly consolidating industry. Nextel's proposed acquisition by Sprint, which also is a traditional local and long-distance provider, is currently valued at $33.8 billion. Nextel rose 44 cents to $28.

Nextel Communications Inc. posted a profit for the second straight quarter in a highly competitive wireless telephone industry on strong demand. Nextel said it was helped by increased business from the construction and government sectors, lower capital spending and outsourcing customer service and computer operations. Reston, Va.-based Nextel reported net income of $383 million, compared with a loss of $150 million in the same quarter a year ago. Shares of Nextel, the No. 5 U.S.

Nextel Communications Inc. offered to pay an additional $362 million to clear some local-TV operations from airwaves the company wants as part of a plan to cut interference between police radios and mobile phones. The amount is in addition to $850 million Nextel has offered to pay to reprogram radios for police and other users that would switch frequencies to a different part of the radio spectrum. The Reston, Va.

Craig McCaw is relinquishing control of Nextel Communications Inc., the company he helped build into the fifth-biggest provider of mobile-phone service in the U.S. McCaw, 53, will reduce his stake in Nextel to less than 5% from more than 10%, losing the right to three of 11 board seats. Shares of Reston, Va.-based Nextel shares slipped 42 cents, or 3.3%, to $12.47 on Nasdaq.

Nextel Communications Inc., the wireless telephone company being bought by Sprint Corp., said fourth-quarter profit fell 26%. Sales surged, led by the company's Boost Mobile unit aimed at younger clients. Net income dropped to $471 million, or 41 cents a share, from $634 million, or 55 cents, a year earlier, when the company had a gain from the sale of investments. Sales rose 19%, the Reston, Va.-based company said. Profit was cut by an income tax provision of $232 million.

American Mobile Systems Inc., a Woodland Hills company that provides mobile radio services in Florida, agreed last week to be acquired by wireless communications giant Nextel Communications Inc. in a stock deal valued at about $65 million. Nextel, based in New Rutherford, N.J., already owns about 10% of American Mobile's shares.

MCI WorldCom Inc., the No. 2 U.S. long-distance company, is in preliminary talks to buy wireless phone company Nextel Communications Inc., people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The companies declined comment. A deal could be blocked by several factors, including price, Nextel's substantial $7.7-billion debt, and the aversion of MCI Chief Executive Bernie Ebbers to acquisitions that hurt the company's profit, industry sources said.

Nextel Communications Inc., the wireless telephone company being bought by Sprint Corp., said fourth-quarter profit fell 26%. Sales surged, led by the company's Boost Mobile unit aimed at younger clients. Net income dropped to $471 million, or 41 cents a share, from $634 million, or 55 cents, a year earlier, when the company had a gain from the sale of investments. Sales rose 19%, the Reston, Va.-based company said. Profit was cut by an income tax provision of $232 million.

Furthering the consolidation of the wireless industry, Sprint Corp. on Wednesday unveiled plans to acquire rival Nextel Communications Inc. in a cash and stock deal worth $33.8 billion. Sprint would remain the country's No. 3 cellular provider, but Nextel's 15.3 million high-revenue subscribers would make the combined company a stronger competitor in a winnowing field. The new company -- to be called Sprint Nextel -- would have 38.5 million customers, compared with Cingular Wireless' 47.

Sprint Corp. moved closer to an agreement to buy Nextel Communications Inc. for more than $36 billion in a mostly stock deal, sources familiar with the situation said Friday. The companies, which have held on-again, off-again talks in the last year, renewed negotiations in recent days for a merger that would create a wireless giant with 39 million customers.

Sprint Corp., the No. 3 U.S. mobile phone company, and Nextel Communications Inc. are in talks about a possible merger, people familiar with the matter said Thursday. A merger would combine Sprint with the fifth-largest U.S. mobile phone company and create a provider with a market value of about $70 billion. Pressure on mobile phone companies to increase in size has grown since Cingular became Cingular Wireless in October through the purchase of AT&T Wireless Services for $41.

Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications Inc. said Tuesday that they had resolved disputes over U.S. airwaves and trademark names, ending a 15-month legal battle between the mobile phone service providers. Verizon Wireless, the second-largest U.S. mobile phone carrier, said it wouldn't challenge a government decision to allow Nextel to swap airwaves worth as much as $4.86 billion. In return, Reston, Va.

Nextel Communications Inc. has sued the California Public Utilities Commission to overturn regulations that created the stiffest cellphone consumer protection laws in the U.S. Nextel, which filed its suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last week, charged that the PUC's approval of the Telecommunications Bill of Rights would exert state regulatory control over wireless services in violation of federal policy and the U.S. Constitution. The rules would force Verizon Communications Inc.

Federal regulators on Thursday approved a controversial plan to minimize cellphone interference on police and fire radios by moving 13 million customers of Nextel Communications Inc. to a different swath of airwaves. The unanimous decision by the Federal Communications Commission marked a defeat for Verizon Wireless Inc., which had lobbied the agency to auction the disputed frequencies -- worth about $4.8 billion -- instead of "giving" them to Nextel. FCC Chairman Michael K.

Verizon Communications Inc. said Federal Communications Commission officials may face criminal penalties should they approve Nextel Communications Inc.'s plan for reducing interference from mobile phones with police radios. Nextel, based in Reston, Va., has offered to give up some airwave rights and spend $1.36 billion to reprogram some equipment already in use in exchange for new frequencies that may help the company expand its high-speed Internet service.