cellular technology

Sprint Nextel Corp. said Friday it plans to sell a chunk of its cellular network in the Midwest to comply with an Illinois court decision.

The Overland Park, Kan.-based wireless provider said it is working with financial adviser Citi to find interested buyers for its Nextel-branded network in parts of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska.

It said the sale would have minimal effect on its financial results and customers would not see a change in service.

Six in 10 people on the face of the globe have cell-phone subscriptions, and more than 60 percent of cell-phone users come from developing nations.

So says a United Nations report published Monday. The report's findings suggest that mobile phones are the communications tool of choice in poor countries.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reports an estimated 4.1 billion cell-phone subscriptions at the end of 2008. That compares to about one billion just six years ago. Fixed-line subscriptions grew by only one billion since 2002.

From what Verizon has said this week about its plans to build out a new wireless network based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, its 4G technology appears to be on a collision course with the WiMAX technology pushed by Clearwire and Sprint.