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Friday, September 5, 2014

Sprint expands rural roaming program, adding 15 new carriers, (NYSE: T), (NYSE: TMUS), (NYSE: VZ)

Sprint Corp said on Friday it was adding 15 new rural and regional wireless providers to its U.S. roaming program, a move bolstering the company's efforts to cheaply expand its footprint as it fights to stay competitive as a national carrier. The program allows Sprint and its smaller partners to use each other's networks for roaming at a mutually attractive price. A total of 27 carriers, covering 565,000 square miles and a population area of more than 38 million people, have now entered into roaming agreements with Sprint.The 27 partnerships could save Sprint about $1.9 billion in expenditures on new cell phone towers and other infrastructure that would be necessary to bring 4G coverage to new areas on its own, based on calculations provided by a source familiar with the program estimates.With those savings, deals with rural carriers could offer Sprint a lifeline to improve its national presence following the collapse of the merger with T-Mobile US Inc.Like T-Mobile's, Sprint's network has been largely concentrated around metropolitan areas while the coverage by the two biggest U.S. carriers, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc, stretches nationwide.

AT&T Inc. (AT&T), is a holding company. The Company is a provider of telecommunications services. Shares of T traded higher by 0.69% or $0.2401/share to $35.18. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $31.74 and as high as $37.48. On average, 19902700 shares of T exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 8217865.

Shares of TMUS traded higher by 0.7% or $0.2112/share to $30.45. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $24.47 and as high as $35.50. On average, 4596870 shares of TMUS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2640629.

Verizon Communications Inc. (Verizon) is a holding company. Shares of VZ traded higher by 0.42% or $0.21/share to $49.93. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $45.45 and as high as $53.66. On average, 12836700 shares of VZ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 4829229.



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