Sprint Communications - Official Communications Supplier

A Century of Evolution

The Sprint brand has always stood for technological innovation, excellent customer service and creative marketing, but its story began with a small local telephone company in Abilene, Kansas.

In 2004, Fly Fishing Team USA was pleased to announce that the Sprint Communications Company would be the team's communications equipment sponsor. Sprint joins other top tier corporate entities that have chosen to support the group in their sporting efforts around the world. Sprint is the official supplier of cellular technology to the team.

Founded by Cleyson L. Brown in 1899, the Brown Telephone Company quickly became a viable alternative to Bell, rapidly launching to local markets in Kansas and beyond.

Following the Depression years, the company reorganized as United Utilities, growing to become the second-largest non-Bell telephone company in America by the 1950s. In the 1960s, United Utilities introduced systemwide advertising campaigns and created its first sales organization to market services through subsidiaries.

In 1972 the company changed its name to United Telecommunications, and by 1976 this diversified corporation served more than 3.5 million telephone lines coast-to-coast and generated revenues exceeding $1 billion. By decade's end the company had installed its first fiber-optic cable and first digital switch, and in 1980 established UNINET as the world's third largest commercial packet data network.

By the mid-1980s the company announced its bold plan to enter the deregulated long distance market. Domestic long distance service officially launched in 1986 under the Sprint brand name, with the nation's first 100% digital, fiber-optic network as the centerpiece of the plan.

Over the next few years the company solidified its industry leadership and success through a series of high-profile technological advances, including the nation's first coast-to-coast fiber-optic transmission and the first transatlantic fiber-optic phone call. Sprint International then emerged in 1989 to promote the company's growing presence in the global marketplace.

By now possessing strong brand recognition in the long distance segment, United Telecommunications chose to adopt the nationally recognized identity of this unit by becoming Sprint Corporation in 1992.

By 1993, the company provided service to more than 6.1 million customer lines in 19 states. The company also took its first step toward becoming an all-service provider of long distance, local and wireless services by merging with Central Telephone Company of Illinois that same year. Significant marketing successes included a breakthrough flat-rate long distance calling plan in 1995, and also the popular prepaid calling card for domestic and international use.

In 1995, with its partners, Sprint acquired PCS wireless licenses in 29 major trading areas in the FCC's first auction. By 1998 Sprint acquired its partners' interests and had full management control of Sprint PCS, at this time creating two classes of stock - PCS Stock and FON Stock.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996, with its promise of a new competitive marketplace, presented new challenges and opportunities for Sprint in the area of local competition. As the telecommunications industry experienced upheaval in the Act's wake, Sprint worked to find the right balance of risk and reward. Circumstances, including market conditions and regulatory hurdles, cut short some initiatives such as Sprint ION and an attempted merger with WorldCom. Today, however, the company is drawing upon its unique wireline and wireless assets to focus on industry growth areas of data and mobile services.

By any measure, Sprint's Local Telephone Division outpaces the regional Bell companies, serving some of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. In merely five years, Sprint PCS has built the only nationwide PCS network from the ground up, and today it is the nation's fourth largest wireless company. And Sprint E-Solutions sets itself apart from competitors by combining a full suite of Internet services - network access, web hosting, applications management, and business and systems integration - with the reliability the Sprint brand connotes.

From its small-town roots, Sprint has evolved into a global communications company that serves 26 million customers in more than 70 countries. With more than 75,000 employees worldwide and an unmatched portfolio of telecommunications products and services, Sprint is continuing its legacy of leadership and innovation in the 21st century.