The long-term corporate credit rating on Sprint Corp. was lowered to 'BBB-' from 'BBB+' and the short-term corporate credit rating was lowered to 'A-3' from 'A-2' on June 14, 2002. As of March 31, 2002, Overland Park, Ks.-based Sprint had total debt outstanding of about $25 billion, including equity-linked units. Sprint is a global communications company providing local, long distance, and wireless services. The company is the third-largest long-distance provider and the fourth-largest nationwide wireless network provider in the U.S. The downgrade was based on the higher business risk profile of the company, especially of the wireless sector, due to: Increased competition from other nationwide service providers, The effect on the quality of the subscriber base from a substantial portion
