SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After an intensive competitive bid process, Sprint (NYSE: S) has won the wireless business for the city of San Diego, the second largest city in California. The decision to choose Sprint follows a comprehensive nine-month competition that evaluated costs, technology and wireless coverage.
The city’s contract, which names Sprint as San Diego’s official wireless provider, is estimated at $1.3 million per year. The two-year agreement includes an option for three additional years. Sprint will supply 3,000 new devices, including HTC EVO™ 4G, HTC EVO™ 3D, Motorola Photon™ 4G, Blackberry® devices and mobile broadband air cards. Sprint will continue to service the existing 2,000 Sprint devices – mainly public safety ruggedized modems – already used by the municipality.
Sprint also entered into a marketing agreement with the city of San Diego that allows for exclusive marketing rights to San Diego city employees, retirees and business licenses. “We’re honored to be working with the city of San Diego and thrilled by their decision to award Sprint its wireless services business,” said Kevin Kunkel, vice president-Sprint West Region. “Sprint won this contract because of the overall value we offer, the dedication of our sales and support teams, the strength of our network, and our commitment to the public sector and first-responders. Our public-private marketing partnership will undoubtedly be a mutually beneficial collaboration for Sprint and for San Diego.”
Sprint is also working with the city of San Diego to offer a free recycling option for city employees’ wireless devices. Sprint recently earned the No. 3 spot on Newsweek’s 2011 Green Rankings. This is the second straight year that Sprint has ranked in the top 10, up from No. 6 last year. Sprint’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, support device recycling programs, and bring more sustainable mobile devices and emerging technologies to market helped place Sprint among the greenest companies in the United States.
“The city of San Diego will benefit greatly from its partnership with Sprint, a company with a world-wide reputation for innovation and service,” said Jerry Sanders, San Diego mayor. “Given Sprint’s reputation and history, this is exactly the sort of public-private collaboration that our city should continue to pursue.”
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 53 million customers at the end of 3Q 2011 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. 3 in its 2011 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.
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