Sprint to Rejuvenate Network No One Will Buy

Looks like Sprint is going to keep Nextel after all. Seems it views Nextel’s iDen walkie-talkie network as a “key differentiator” against rivals and plans to aggressively rejuvenate it. Never mind that Nextel might fetch as much as $5 billion that could be used in the company’s market share battle with Verizon Wireless (VZ) and AT&T (T). Never mind that it has been hemorrhaging customers even faster than Sprint (S), adding to the company’s financial woes. Never mind that Sprint CEO Dan Hesse earlier this month said an iDEN sale was a possibility, telling reporters that “everything is on the table.”

Apparently, everything but Nextel is on the table.

Or, rather, Nextel is still on the table, but no one’s interested in buying it at the $5 billion+ price Sprint’s asking. Said Chris King, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, “I’m not sure they were going to see that kind of valuation, especially in this type of capital markets environment.”