, Columnist
Sprint Puts Its Future in Hock
The wireless provider's debt load is a hurdle its rivals don't have to clear.
This article is for subscribers only.
Sprint is a fitting name because it does feel like the wireless carrier is in a never-ending race to catch up to its rivals. Unfortunately for the $27 billion company, it also has to clear hurdles -- of the debt variety -- that the other top carriers don't.
Sprint is losing money, burning through cash and has had to turn to sale-leasebacks of its assets and airwaves. In its latest move, the company announced Wednesday that it will sell a portion of its 2.5-gigahertz and 1.9-gigahertz spectrum, raising $3.5 billion to help fund the business. Bloomberg's Scott Moritz has compared Sprint's mortgaging of its airwaves to "borrowing against the tires to make car payments."