20 Things You Didn’t Know about Sprint

There’s no doubt that you have heard of Sprint, the telephone company, and there’s even a decent chance that you have service through them right now. That being said, there might be a lot of things about the company itself that you’re not aware of. If you want to learn more, you can read through the 20 things listed below that are unique to this company. By the time you’re finished, you’ll undoubtedly have the chance to learn something new about a company that you might have been doing business with for years.

1. They’re not just a telephone company

If you think they’re just a telephone company, think again. In reality, they’re much more than that. They provide all types of telecommunications services ranging from telephone service to internet and wireless service. If it’s a way to communicate, they’re either directly involved in it now or they have been in the past. They’re constantly on the cusp of technology so that they can be one of the leaders when it comes to developing new ways to communicate as well.

2. They’ve been known by several names

Today, they’re known as Sprint Corporation but that hasn’t always been the case. They started out as Brown Telephone Company and from there, they had a whole host of different names, not the least of which included United Telephone Company, Sprint Nextel, and the current Sprint Corporation. They were even known by their current name before they partnered with Nextel and are now going by the name that they basically became famous under so many years ago.

3. The company’s history dates back to the 1800’s

One of the more interesting things about this company is its longevity. It’s been around for a while, to say the least. As a matter of fact, it was one of the first telecommunications companies in existence. Back when it was still Brown Telephone Company, the corporation partnered with Pacific Railroad Company in order to get landlines to some of the most remote areas in the country. This partnership started it all.

4. Eventually, they stopped focusing on landlines

Even though they obviously got their start with landlines, they’re no longer involved with that particular part of the communication industry. It’s largely because there aren’t that many people that still use landlines and they’re more focused on future endeavors that include providing telecommunications services to the greatest number of individuals without remaining attached to more traditional forms of communication that no longer serve the majority of people well.

5. They were once part of Nextel

At one point during the early 2000s, they merged with Nextel Corporation and became Sprint Nextel. This would prove to be an important partnership that lasted for a number of years. While they were doing business together, Sprint really came into its own. It wasn’t long before you were seeing Sprint stores pop up all over the place and they went from being a relatively remote wireless telecommunications company to one that was at the forefront of virtually everything.

6. When Nextel went out of business, they took their old name back

Before they partnered with Nextel, they had been known as Sprint Corporation. Several years after they partnered with Nextel, that company went out of business. As opposed to Sprint going down with the ship, so to speak, they dissolve the partnership and went back to their original name. That is still the name that they use today.

7. They have thousands of employees

In reality, they actually have tens of thousands of employees. Sprint is easily one of the largest employers in the United States and currently, they have approximately 30,000 people that work for them. It’s not readily apparent how many of those individuals are full-time employees and how many work part-time or on a contract basis but nevertheless, that’s a large number of people employed by a single company.

8. They became multinational in the early 1990s

In approximately 1991, they made the decision that it was time to provide telecommunications services to more than just the United States. At that point, they expanded into Canada and became one of the foremost communications companies in the country. At the time this occurred, it was relatively rare for a communications company based in the United States to expand into another country but Sprint made it look easy and they’re still doing business in Canada today.

9. They’re based in Overland Park, Kansas

You might think that they have their offices headquartered in California like a lot of other companies that rely on technology but in reality, they’re based in Kansas. They actually have a very impressive campus in Overland Park that consists of a number of different buildings. They had the opportunity to purchase this campus a number of years ago, and it simply wasn’t something they could pass up. Today, they enjoy having access to a number of different buildings that are all in one central location and if you love old buildings, you’ll love their headquarters because the buildings themselves have been around since the turn of the century.

10. About 80 percent of the company is actually owned by someone else

In 2013, a Japanese company called SoftBank decided that they were interested in purchasing Sprint and they eventually did purchase 70 percent of the company. After that, they went ahead and purchased several shares in the company and that boosted their ownership all the way up to 80 percent. Many people considered this a hostile takeover but the purchase was approved by the FCC. Several years later, they decided to dissolve that partnership and Sprint went back to doing business for itself.

11. They talked about merging with another telecommunications company for years

For several years, they talked about merging with T-Mobile. These talks have occurred off and on and they’ve been very close to a deal a couple of different times. For one reason or another, both of those deals fell through and they ultimately wound up choosing not to go through with the partnership. However, that doesn’t mean that this is not still a possibility at some point in the future. As a matter of fact, it would seem that such a partnership is actually likely since they have tried to work together so many times in the past.

12. That goal is to become the leading telecommunications company across-the-board

Clearly, Sprint has a goal and that is to become and remain the leading telecommunications company in the world. They’re very close to achieving that goal. While they’re not necessarily the biggest company, even in the United States, they have managed to survive a number of mergers and partnerships with other companies that went bankrupt, yet Sprint is still standing. That fact alone, coupled with the length of time that they’ve been in business, is enough to create the possibility of them becoming the largest company of their type at some point in the future.

13. They offer many different types of services

If you’re looking for a company that provides you with an opportunity to utilize your smartphone or have internet access, Sprint is capable of providing those services. They can provide internet via Broadband or through wireless access and they even offer different types of programs to their customers. You can choose a traditional plan or you can opt to go with a prepaid plan, choosing virtually any type of phone you want in the process.

14. They have a true nationwide network

It seems like virtually every telecommunications company says that they have the best nationwide service for mobile phones, but Sprint actually comes pretty close. They get service in more areas than most companies, even in places where the majority of major mobile phone carriers don’t get any signal at all. This really goes back to their roots, and they’re very proud of the fact that they’re still capable of delivering high-quality service.

15. The company usually works well for people in rural areas

Because of their ability to provide service in a number of different areas, they usually work exceptionally well for rural areas where it might not be possible to get mobile phone service through any other means. Of course, there are those rare times where you can’t get service from Sprint in a particular area, but more often than not, they manage to handle this type of situation fairly well.

16. For many years, the company was used almost exclusively by First Responders

During the time that Sprint and Nextel were partners, it was practically universal that this was the company used by First Responders. It was not at all uncommon to see police officers, firefighters and emergency medical providers walking around with the familiar yellow and black mobile phones that were a trademark of Nextel. This is because Sprint worked hard to partner with agencies that were tasked with protecting the public and therefore, provided their phones to First Responders. There was even a time when Nextel was producing a specific phone for this purpose, one that was built to withstand a lot more punishment than your typical smartphone. For a number of years, it proved to be a good partnership.

17. They also operate in Puerto Rico

The company also operates in Puerto Rico, something that many people aren’t really aware of. Again, this goes back to the company’s roots, providing reliable cell phone service in an area where it can be difficult to get a signal at times. Depending on the particular area of Puerto Rico that you’re talking about, it can prove to be somewhat of a challenge to get a signal at times but thanks to Sprint, it’s now a lot easier.

18. You can stream music through their own service

If you don’t have Sprint, you probably won’t know anything about this one, but you can actually stream music through Sprint’s own service. Think of it as much the same thing as iTunes for people that have iPhones, only this one is designed to work specifically with any phone that Sprint sponsors. It works well for people that listen to a lot of music and don’t want it to end up tying up their data because when they subscribe to this service, the music streaming is actually a separate entity that doesn’t use additional data charges.

19. They’ve also teamed up with Google Play

In order to provide their customers with the most options possible, Sprint also recently teamed up with Google Play. This gives customers the option of using the company’s own music streaming service or downloading apps, music and videos through Google Play. That way, customers can choose one or both services and customize everything that they download to fit their own needs and desires. It’s really one more way that Sprint works to completely satisfy their customers and provide them with as many options as possible.

20. They are still one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world

Even after all of the mergers, the partnerships and the attempted takeovers, Sprint Corporation is still without a doubt one of the largest and most influential telecommunications companies in existence. They may not be the biggest and they certainly don’t have a monopoly on any single area, but they are consistent about providing high quality service and listening to their customers. Most people that have Sprint seem to be fairly happy with their service and that’s not something that you typically hear from a lot of customers that have other cell phone carriers. It is definitely something worth thinking about if you’re in the mood to choose a new cell phone carrier, especially when you consider that Sprint has been around for well over 100 years and they’re continuing be on the verge of new technology.

As you can see, Sprint is not just some fly-by-night company that’s here today and gone tomorrow. Instead, there a company that knows how to get the job done and deliver services to their customers even when no one else can. Perhaps that’s the very reason that they’ve managed to survive over the course of so many years when other companies have fallen by the wayside. Somehow, they have managed to survive against the odds and they still work to provide new and innovative types of services to their customers.

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