Sprint Wins Air Force Deal

HERNDON, Va. -- Sprint (NYSE: FON, PCS) has been awarded a new six-month contract by the Department of Defense for day-to-day management of tactical communications systems for U.S. Air Force bases in Southwest Asia. The new award dovetails a similar contract announced in July, and the two deals together have a value of nearly $10.5 million. Sprint will now be supporting at least three Air Force bases in two countries within the region.

In a recent Town hall meeting at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressed how contractor support is critical to the military's success. Rumsfeld pointed out that some believe there "may be as many as 300,000 uniformed military personnel doing tasks that could be done by nonmilitary personnel -- civil service or contractors."

With this latest award, Sprint will provide best-in-class network management and operations to assist the military in making the most efficient use critical uniformed personnel.

"We're pleased the Air Force continues to place its trust in Sprint for assistance with its base communications," said Tony D'Agata, vice president and general manager for Sprint's Government Systems Division in Herndon, Va. "With the pressing needs of the U.S. military worldwide right now, contracting out services such as network management simply makes sense. It allows the Air Force to achieve cost savings, and affords them the opportunity to deploy personnel to support more pressing military operations or even send them home after months of international service."

Sprint Corp.