Sprint, Ericsson in $5B network deal
In the seven-year management deal, 6,000 Sprint workers will transfer to Ericsson.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. said Thursday that Ericsson would manage its network as part of a seven-year deal worth $4.5 billion to $5 billion under which 6,000 Sprint workers would move to Ericsson.
Sprint (S, Fortune 500), whose shares rose 4.4%, said the deal would deliver "operational efficiencies" but did not give estimates for any savings.
Under the deal, Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, will keep full ownership and control of its network assets and continue to make network investment and strategy decisions itself.
The service provider, which has been struggling to stem customer losses, said the agreement would not result in any work force reductions as the transferred employees would become part of an Ericsson (ERIC) subsidiary based in Overland Park, Kansas, where Sprint's headquarters is located.
It said the job transfers would occur sometime in the current quarter.
Shares rose 19 cents to $4.48 on the New York Stock Exchange. 
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