Sprint Announces Winners of SprintSpeed Stories Contest

From July to October of this year, Sprint’s (NYSE:S) 54 million customers had the opportunity to share their stories of how they are living life at SprintSpeed through its online contest, Sprint Speed Stories. Today, Sprint announces the eight winners of the contest which was held between July 23 and October 26. The entries were submitted on the contest website at www.sprintspeedstories.com and the customer stories provided numerous examples of the different ways Sprint customers are using their wireless services to enrich their lives. "At Sprint our focus is on not only providing the best service in the industry, but also to provide our customers with products and solutions that add value to their lives,” said Bill White, senior vice president for corporate communications at Sprint. "This contest shows the importance of wireless communications today, and their stories show how the availability of these services positively impacts the lives of our customers.” Through a combination of public voting online and scoring by a panel of outside expert judges, Sprint awarded prizes to the top stories in each of the following eight categories: MOBILE U - How students are using wireless in school MOMS 2.0 - Moms communicating on-the-go FAMILY UNITS - How the wireless family stays in touch 1st RESPONSE - How wireless helps you help others WIRED-LESS BIZ - Getting the job done better with wireless tools SO GLOBAL - How you keep your roots planted without wires PIX & FLIX - Unique camera phone stories WALKIE–TALKIE - Share your chirp story Winners won prize packages that included the latest Sprint phones and accessories as well as tickets to theater and sporting events. A grand prize winner, which was chosen as the best overall story of all of the category winners, received $5,000. Some of the winners’ stories are: 1st Response and Grand Prize Winner: On August 17, Peter Tomasello of Redding, Mass., went hiking on a mountain he had climbed many times. On this day however, he decided to take a bit of a challenge and not follow his usual trail. With his backpack of food, water and his Sprint cell phone he took off for a section of the mountain that he thought were the cliffs. He realized he was soon in trouble when he got to a point where there was significant water run-off as a result of recent rain making the cliff very wet and slippery. Knowing it would be too dangerous to go back down the same way, he continued climbing hoping to reach to top safely. Once he reached a very small ledge about 50 feet from the ground, he became stuck. Tomasello decided to call 911 for help on his Sprint phone and was connected to a dispatcher with the State Park Service. He tried to give her his area of location so they could send out a rescue team. After more than two hours on the ledge talking to dispatch on his phone, a park ranger finally spotted him and a team of rescuers were able to get him back down to the ground safely. "I believe Sprint is worthy of thanks because had I not had reception I probably would be dead right now. This is not something to take for granted considering this incident occurred in the mountains where not all networks have coverage.” Family Units Winner: After his parent’s divorce, Reymundo Enriquez of Salem, Ore., was sent to live with his grandmother in Mexico at the age of two. He finally returned to the United States 10 years later after not having any communication with either his mother or father during his years in Mexico. Coming back to the U.S., Enriquez noticed how prevalent wireless technology was in this country. He also quickly noticed how his father always had his mobile phone with him and stayed in close contact with family members all across the U.S., something his friends and relatives in his town in Mexico did not do. "Now that I’m older and I depend on my wireless phone everyday it seems unreal how a border kept my father and I from having a long distance father and son relationship.” Mobile U Winner: Michael Greiner of Des Moines, Iowa, was finishing up a research paper when the power went out in his dorm. Knowing his professor’s policy on no late papers – no excuses, he powered up his laptop and Sprint Mobile Broadband card and went right to work. He finished his paper and emailed it to his professor by deadline at midnight. Because of the all night power outage only five out of 103 students turned in their papers on time. "I ended up getting an ‘A’ on a paper worth 40 percent of my grade and an ‘A’ in the class thanks to Sprint’s Broadband Network and a good laptop battery.” Moms 2.0 Winner: Nicole Andal of Lee's Summit, Mo. is a busy mom who uses her phone from everything to calling daycare and getting directions to capturing memories of her son’s life using the video and photo features. As a working mother she uses all of her phone’s features especially the GPS navigation which gives her turn-by-turn driving directions and helps to route around traffic and construction. She uses Sprint TV to catch up on shows she’s missed while taking care of her son, cooking or cleaning. And, her phone allows her to capture images instantly and send them to her husband or other family members quickly and easily. "Any mother can be an Alpha mom, but when it comes to scheduling, multi-tasking, and keeping control in a chaotic and crazy life, Sprint has jumped ahead in the world of cellular phones and service.” Pix & Flix Winner: Although very tired after driving at least eight hours late one night, Jeffrey Newcomb of Ceres, California knew he needed to keep going. So, he stopped at a convenience store and decided to get an espresso, having heard it was stronger than coffee. Not a coffee drinker, he didn’t realize that after filling up the 24oz cup with shots of espresso and a little chocolate syrup it would become the strongest cup of java he would probably ever have. Back on the road and 15 minutes later, the espresso kicked in and his heart began to race, his head was pounding, he was sweating and his breathing was very fast. So, Newcomb quickly pulled over and called his wife, a nurse. Unable to understand him clearly, he decided to hold his phone up to the espresso cup and take a picture to relay to his wife that he had been drinking coffee. As soon as she saw the photo, she could only laugh as she realized what he had done. Her remedy to Newcomb was to take a long walk and drink some water. "A picture really is worth a thousand words -a thousand words and at least 30 shots of espresso.” Wired-less Biz Winner: When a customer’s computer crashed during a meeting to revise a contract, Louis Burgh of Saugerties, N.Y. pulled out his Sprint Mobile Broadband card to finish the job. Burgh was able to quickly download a new contract on his laptop – denying a competitor the opportunity to steal one of his most important clients. Sprint’s Mobile Broadband card saved the deal and his business. When they finished, he used Sprint’s location-based services to find a restaurant and celebrate his victory. "For once I’ve got a business tool that isn’t all work and no play – it helped us unwind as well, without worrying about where to go or how to find it.” The SprintSpeed Stories contest embodied the spirit of what the company’s products and services enable its wireless customers to do. Whether it is being able to locate the nearest hospital using wireless GPS navigation, checking sports scores and mobile email, or creating a photo album of family memories, the stories Sprint received were a true testament to the value wireless solutions bring to our lives. 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 is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving about 54 million customers at the end of the third quarter 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international walkie-talkie capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.