On Nov. 16, 2006, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'BBB+' rating to Reston, Va.-based wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp.'s $2 billion senior unsecured notes due 2016. The company will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of all or a portion of its $1.6 billion 6% senior notes due Jan. 15, 2007, of Sprint Capital Corp. The ratings on Sprint Nextel reflect a satisfactory business profile from its position as the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S.; Nextel's high average revenue per user (ARPU) and low subscriber churn from its entrenched enterprise customer base, which relies on the differentiated push-to-talk service; the Sprint wireless unit's high ARPU and industry-leading data penetration; healthy EBITDA margins; a
