On Nov. 10, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said its ratings on the debt of the local telephone division (Sprint Local) of Sprint Nextel Corp. remain on CreditWatch with negative implications. The local division is composed of Centel Corp., Centel Capital Corp., Central Telephone Co., Sprint-Florida Inc., and Carolina Telephone&Telegraph Co. The implications were revised to negative from developing on Aug. 4, 2005, reflecting the potential that this entity could be rated below investment grade after its spin-off from Sprint Nextel. Sprint Nextel expects to complete the transaction in the second quarter of 2006 and has indicated that the standalone company will have about $7.25 billion in debt, including roughly $700 million in existing debt, and will
