Sprint Nextel Sells Its Towers; Raises Around $670 Million

Sprint (NYSE: S – News) Nextel is ditching its cellphone towers. In a bid to raise some much needed cash, the troubled carrier has agreed to sell nearly all of its towers to the private-equity backed firm TowerCo for around $670 million in cash, the two companies announced Wednesday. Sprint will sell around 3,300 towers to TowerCo and lease them back from the firm for both its current CDMA and iDEN networks, as well as for its future WiMax efforts.

Nokia, Qualcomm settle long-running dispute

SAN DIEGO – The legal salvos between Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. stopped months ago, part of what officials at the wireless industry heavyweights described as a truce in a long-running battle that spanned three continents.

Peace came Wednesday as the two sides prepared for a courtroom showdown. Nokia, the world’s largest handset maker, and Qualcomm, the world’s largest maker of chips that run cell phones, agreed to settle a high-stakes licensing dispute and drop all legal complaints against each other in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

The agreement, announced after markets closed, thrilled Qualcomm investors. The company’s shares soared 18.7 percent, or $8.38, to $53.20 after hours. During regular trading, its shares rose 1.6 percent, or 72 cents, to $44.82 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.