Sprint to address iDen court ruling in "coming weeks"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N) said on Wednesday it would "take steps in the coming weeks" to address the Illinois Supreme Court's refusal to hear its appeal of a 2006 ruling requiring it to divest its Nextel iDen network in the markets where affiliate iPCS Inc (IPCS.O) operates.

Matt Sullivan a spokesman for Sprint, which has been looking at alternatives for its iDen network, declined to elaborate on whether such steps could involve a deal with iPCS or a divestiture of the iDen network.

Credit Suisse analyst Chris Larsen said the ruling left Sprint with the choice of buying iPCS, trying to negotiate a new agreement, or stop running the iDen network in iPCS markets. Sprint bought the network in its 2005 purchase of Nextel and has been struggling to stem iDen customer losses.

"The company would likely lose some customers, but depending on iPCS' demands, this option may be the most economically advantageous," Larsen said in a research note.

Sullivan said Sprint serves several hundred thousand iDen customers in the markets where iPCS operates in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa and Nebraska.

The Illinois Supreme Court decision, finalized on Wednesday, upheld a ruling by the Appellate Court of Illinois.

Sullivan said Sprint has 180 days to comply with the ruling.

He also said that, while Sprint had exhausted its rights to appeal the decision first made by the Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County, it had asked that court this week to set aside the initial ruling.

Sprint had discovered that iPCS did not produce documents it believed were required for the case, he said.

An iPCS spokesperson said the company intended to vigorously oppose Sprint's petition and declined to comment on whether any deal was in the works between the companies.

The suit arises from Sprint's 2005 purchase of Nextel, after which it ended up buying several affiliates that use the Sprint brand to resolve legal problems.

IPCS has also brought a lawsuit against Sprint in the Cook County Court's chancery division asking it to rule that Sprint's plan for a joint venture with Clearwire Corp (CLWR.O) to build a WiMax network would breach its iPCS agreement.

Sprint has been struggling to stem subscriber losses since the Nextel purchase as it has been plagued with customer service and network problems.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Andre Grenon)