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Sprint Nextel Corporation is the third largest of all the biggest American telecoms, as defined by the number of subscribers. The company was formed in 2005 when Sprint purchased Nextel for $35 billion. Sprint itself can be traced back to the Brown Telephone Company's founding in 1898. Brown Teleco became United Utilities after emerging from bankruptcy in 1938, during the Great Depression, which was just then about to start lifting, finally. In 1972 the name was changed again, to United Telecommunications, after various acquisitions.

The next name change came about in 1991, to "Sprint," after the acquisition of U.S. Sprint, which was a joint-venture between United Telecom and other telecoms of the day, such as GTE (which itself was acquired by Bell Atlantic, known today as Verizon). While it is unusual for a parent company to adopt the name of its children companies, "Sprint" was chosen because market research had indicated that the name was much more widely recognized by likely consumers. Interestingly, the name "Sprint" was chosen by internal contest by an ancestor company of U.S. Sprint's, Southern Pacific Communications Company (which itself was a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad -- a rail freight company!), wanted to distinguish a communications service of theirs from those of their rivals with a unique name.

In the 1990s, Sprint entered the cellular telephone business through the acquisition of various regional carriers. Market share was increased through carefully vetted partnerships as well as internal consolidation. Closing out the decade, Sprint attempted to merge with the now-defunct MCI WorldCom, which was a major telecommunications company, in what would have been the biggest corporate merger in history then. In the end, it was concern over a resulting monopoly that brought about the heavy pressure from both the United States Department of Justice and the European Union which caused the deal to collapse.

Just slightly over five years later, Sprint became successful in acquiring Nextel (which was a merger in practical terms but legally described as a sale for tax purposes). There was much opposition from regional affiliates of the two companies over non-compete agreement violations, but it was overcome. It was decided both companies would retain their separate brands, as if competing just like before. But most key executives left Nextel after the merger, citing various reasons, including cultural differences between the two organizations. Customers of the two previously distinct companies then had the option of switching services from one to the other. However, such a conversion would have require new equipment.

What will the company be called next -- and when? Only time will tell. The trend among telecommunications companies towards mergers is here to stay, and the only guarantee is that the company's name will change.