title: 4′33″

text: In 1951, Cage visited the anechoic chamber at Harvard University. An anechoic chamber is a room designed in such a way that the walls, ceiling and floor absorb all sounds made in the room, rather than reflecting them as echoes. Such a chamber is also externally sound-proofed. Cage entered the chamber expecting to hear silence, but he wrote later, "I heard two sounds, one high and one low. When I described them to the engineer in charge, he informed me that the high one was my nervous system in operation, the low one my blood in circulation." Cage had gone to a place where he expected total silence, and yet heard sound. "Until I die there will be sounds. And they will continue following my death. One need not fear about the future of music." The realization as he saw it of the impossibility of silence led to the composition of "4′33″".


title: 4′33″

text: Another cited influence for this piece came from the field of the visual arts. Cage's friend and sometimes colleague Robert Rauschenberg had produced, in 1951, a series of white paintings, seemingly "blank" canvases (though painted with white house paint) that in fact change according to varying light conditions in the rooms in which they were hung, the shadows of people in the room and so on. This inspired Cage to use a similar idea, as he later stated, "Actually what pushed me into it was not guts but the example of Robert Rauschenberg. His white paintings ... when I saw those, I said, 'Oh yes, I must. Otherwise I'm lagging, otherwise music is lagging'." In an introduction to an article "On Robert Rauschenberg, Artist, and His Works", John Cage writes "To Whom It May Concern: The white paintings came first; my silent piece came later."


title: 4′33″

text: Compositions that, like "4′33″", include no sounds produced by the performer, were conceived by a number of composers and writers before Cage. Examples include the following:


title: 4′33″

text: The musicologist Richard Taruskin has argued that "4′33″" is an example of automatism. Since the Romantic Era composers have been striving to produce music that could be separated from any social connections, transcending the boundaries of time and space. In automatism, composers wish to completely remove both the composers and the artist from the process of creation. This is motivated by the belief that what we think of as "self-expression" is really just an infusion of the art with the social standards that we have been subjected to since birth. Therefore, the only way to achieve truth is to remove the artist from the process of creation. Cage achieves that by employing chance (e.g., use of the "I Ching", or tossing coins) to make compositional decisions. In "4′33″", neither artist nor composer has any impact on the piece, so that Cage has no way of controlling what ambient sounds will be heard by the audience.


title: 4′33″

text: The premiere of the three-movement "4′33″" was given by David Tudor on August 29, 1952, in Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock, New York, as part of a recital of contemporary piano music. The audience saw him sit at the piano and, to mark the beginning of the piece, close the keyboard lid. Some time later he opened it briefly, to mark the end of the first movement. This process was repeated for the second and third movements.


title: 4′33″

text: In defining noise music and its value, Paul Hegarty in "Noise/Music: A History" (2007) contends that Cage's "4′33″" represents the beginning of noise music proper. For Hegarty, noise music, as with "4′33″", is that music made up of incidental sounds that represent perfectly the tension between "desirable" sound (properly played musical notes) and undesirable "noise" that make up all noise music.


title: 4′33″

text: "4′33″" challenges, or rather exploits to a radical extent, the social regiments of the modern concert life etiquette, experimenting on unsuspecting concert-goers to prove an important point. First, the choice of a prestigious venue and the social status of the composer and the performers automatically heightens audience's expectations for the piece. As a result, the listener is more focused, giving Cage's "4′33″" the same amount of attention (or perhaps even more) as if it were Beethoven's Ninth. Thus, even before the performance, the reception of the work is already predetermined by the social setup of the concert. Furthermore, the audience's behavior is limited by the rules and regulation of the concert hall; they will quietly sit and listen to 4′33″ of ambient noise. It is not easy to get a large group of people to listen to ambient noise for nearly five minutes, unless they are regulated by the concert hall etiquette.


title: 4′33″

text: The second point made by "4′33″" concerns duration. According to Cage, duration is the essential building block of all of music. This distinction is motivated by the fact that duration is the only element shared by both silence and sound. As a result, the underlying structure of any musical piece consists of an organized sequence of "time buckets". They could be filled with either sounds, silence or noise; where neither of these elements is absolutely necessary for completeness. In the spirit of his teacher Schoenberg, Cage managed to emancipate the silence and the noise to make it an acceptable or perhaps even integral part of his music composition. "4′33″" serves as a radical and extreme illustration of this concept, asking that if the time buckets are the only necessary parts of the musical composition, then what stops the composer from filling them with no intentional sounds?


title: 4′33″

text: The third point is that the work of music is defined not only by its content but also by the behavior it elicits from the audience. In the case of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", this would consist of widespread dissatisfaction leading up to violent riots. In Cage's "4′33″", the audience felt cheated by having to listen to no composed sounds from the performer. Nevertheless, in "4′33″" the audience contributed the bulk of the musical material of the piece. Since the piece consists of exclusively ambient noise, the audience's behavior, their whispers and movements, are essential elements that fill the above-mentioned time buckets.


title: 4′33″

text: In a 2013 TED talk, psychologist Paul Bloom put forward "4′33″" as one example to show that knowing about the origin of something influences our opinion about it as "that silence is different from other forms of silence". In 2013, Dale Eisinger of "Complex" ranked the composition eighth in his list of the greatest performance art works.


title: 4′33″

text: Several versions of the score exist: There are four known later versions, one of which is in the New York Public Library.


title: 4′33″

text: There is some discrepancy between the lengths of individual movements of the premiere performance, specified in different versions of the score. The Woodstock printed program specifies the lengths 30″, 2′23″ and 1′40″, as does the Kremen manuscript, and presumably the original manuscript had the same indications. However, in the "First Tacet Edition" Cage writes that at the premiere the timings were 33″, 2′40″ and 1′20″. In the "Second Tacet Edition" he adds that after the premiere a copy has been made for Irwin Kremen, in which the lengths of the movements were 30″, 2′23″ and 1′40″. The causes of this discrepancy are not currently understood, the original manuscript being still lost.


title: 4′33″

text: In 1962, Cage wrote 0′00″, which is also referred to as 4′33″ No. 2. The directions originally consisted of one sentence: "In a situation provided with maximum amplification, perform a disciplined action." At the first performance Cage had to write that sentence.


title: 4′33″

text: The second performance added four new qualifications to the directions: "the performer should allow any interruptions of the action, the action should fulfill an obligation to others, the same action should not be used in more than one performance, and should not be the performance of a musical composition."


title: 4′33″

text: In late 1989, three years before his death, Cage revisited the idea of "4′33″" one last time. He composed "One", the full title of which is "One = 4′33″ (0′00″) + ". As in all of the Number Pieces, "One" refers to the number of performers required. The score instructs the performer to build a sound system in the concert hall, so that "the whole hall is on the edge of feedback, without actually feeding back". The content of the piece is the electronically amplified sound of the hall and the audience.


title: 4′33″

text: "4′33″" has been recorded on several occasions: Frank Zappa recorded it as part of "A Chance Operation: The John Cage Tribute", on the Koch label, 1993; in 2002, James Tenney performed "4′33″" at Rudolf Schindler's historic Kings Road House in celebration of the work's 50th anniversary.


title: 4′33″

text: Several performances of "4′33″" including a "techno remix" by New Waver were broadcast on Australian radio station ABC Classic FM, as part of a program exploring "sonic responses" to Cage's work. The Swedish electronic band Covenant concluded their 2000 album "United States of Mind" with a rendition of "4′33″" entitled "You Can Make Your Own Music".


title: 4′33″

text: On January 16, 2004, at the Barbican Centre in London, the BBC Symphony Orchestra gave the UK's first orchestral performance of this work. The performance was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and one of the main challenges was that the station's emergency backup systems are designed to switch on and play music whenever apparent silence (dead air) lasting longer than a preset duration is detected. They had to be switched off for this performance. BBC Four broadcast the recording one hour later. On the same day, a tongue-in-cheek version was recorded by the staff of the UK "Guardian" newspaper.


title: 4′33″

text: A silence of four minutes and thirty-three seconds appears as the penultimate track of the 2009 Living Colour album "The Chair in the Doorway".


title: 4′33″

text: On December 5, 2010, an international simultaneous performance of Cage's "4′33″" took place involving over 200 performers, amateur and professional musicians, and artists. The global orchestra, conducted live by Bob Dickinson, former member of post-punk group Magazine, via video link, performed the piece in support of the Cage Against The Machine campaign to bring "4′33″" to Christmas number 1 in 2010. A second performance took place on December 12, 2010.


title: 4′33″

text: On November 17, 2015, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" uploaded a video of this piece being performed by a cat, showing that its performer isn't required to be human.


title: 4′33″

text: In May 2019, Mute Records released a compilation box set entitled "STUMM433" featuring interpretations of "4′33″" by more than 50 current and alumni Mute artists including Laibach, Depeche Mode, Cabaret Voltaire, Einstürzende Neubauten, Goldfrapp, Moby, Erasure, and others.


title: 4′33″

text: On 31 October 2020, the Berlin Philharmonic closed their last concert before a government-mandated COVID-19 related lockdown with a performance of the piece conducted by Kirill Petrenko, "to draw attention to the plight of artists following the lockdown of cultural institutions".


title: 4′33″

text: In the week leading up to Christmas 2010, a Facebook page was created to encourage people in the UK to buy a new rendition of "4′33″" in the hope that it would prevent the winner of the seventh series of "The X Factor" from topping the UK Singles Chart and achieving the Christmas number one. The page was inspired by an earlier campaign in which a Facebook page set up by Jon Morter and his then wife, Tracey, prompted people to buy "Killing in the Name" by American rap metal protest group Rage Against the Machine in the week before Christmas 2009, and has therefore been dubbed "Cage Against the Machine". The creators of the Facebook page hoped that reaching number one would help to promote the piece and "make December 25 'a silent night'."


title: 4′33″

text: The campaign received support from several celebrities. It first came into prominence after it was mentioned by science writer Ben Goldacre on his Twitter profile. One of several similar campaigns, the Facebook page was called "the only effort this year with a hope of [reaching Number One]" by "The Guardian" journalist Tom Ewing in September. XFM DJ Eddy Temple-Morris also voiced his support on his blog, as did "Guardian" journalist Luke Bainbridge. This version of Cage's work failed to make number 1, but charted at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Predrag Stojaković (, ; born June 9, 1977), known by his nickname Peja ("Peđa", Пеђа, ), is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant general manager and director of player personnel and development of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA).


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Standing at 6 ft 10 (2.08 m), Stojaković played mostly at the small forward position. He won the NBA Three-Point Contest two times, and was the first European-born player to win one of the All-Star Weekend competitions. Stojaković made 1,760 three-point field goals in his career which ranked 10th all-time at the point of his retirement. Stojaković currently ranks 23rd in this category.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: After starting in Crvena zvezda and while playing for PAOK, Stojaković was drafted fourteenth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 1996 NBA draft. In the NBA, he had a breakthrough season in 2000–01 following two seasons on the bench, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award. A three-time All-star and a member of the 2004 All-NBA Second Team, Stojaković enjoyed success with the Kings reaching the 2002 Western Conference Finals. He also played for the Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets and Toronto Raptors. Stojaković won an NBA Championship in 2011 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković helped to lead the senior FR Yugoslavian national team to gold medals in the 2001 FIBA EuroBasket and the 2002 FIBA World Championship. Often considered to be one of the greatest European basketball players ever, Stojaković was named the Euroscar Basketball Player of the Year by the Italian sports newspaper "Gazzetta dello Sport" and the Mister Europa Player of the Year twice by the Italian sports magazine "Superbasket".


title: Peja Stojaković

text: On December 19, 2011, he announced his retirement from playing professional basketball. On December 16, 2014, the Sacramento Kings retired his number.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Predrag "Peja" Stojaković was born into an ethnic Serb family, to parents Miodrag and Branka Stojaković, in Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. The Stojakovićs hail from the Papuk mountain region. However, his family later fled to Belgrade, at the start of the Yugoslav wars.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: In 1993, at the age of 16, Stojaković moved to Thessaloniki, Greece. Stojaković's father stayed behind in his homeland, and fought in the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, against the Croatian Army, until the fall of western Slavonia, in 1995, when he joined his son in Thessaloniki. Many of Stojaković's relatives now live in Serbia.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: At 15 years of age, Stojaković joined the Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) basketball club. With Red Star, he played in 2 senior men's level seasons (1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons). With the club, he also won a FR Yugoslav national championship, in the 1992–93 season. In the 1993–94 season, he only played in the FR Yugoslav national cup tournament. With Red Star, he played in a total of 39 games, in which he scored a total of 113 points, for a scoring average of 2.9 points per game.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković moved to Greece in 1993, at the age of 16, and joined the Greek League club PAOK Thessaloniki one year later.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: With PAOK, he won the 1994–95 Greek Cup tournament. He also played in the European-wide secondary level FIBA European Cup (FIBA Saporta Cup)'s 1995–96 season's Final.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković scored a memorable last-second three-pointer against Olympiacos, in Piraeus, in a 1998 Greek League playoff semifinals series, which won the game for PAOK, by a score of 58–55. That victory, which ended the five-year reign of Olympiacos as Greek League champions, allowed PAOK to face Panathinaikos in the league's finals series, although the club had a disadvantage in home games, and ultimately lost the five game series (and the league's championship) 3–2. Stojaković, who was closely guarded throughout the series by his future head coach in New Orleans, Byron Scott, who was wrapping up his basketball playing career, as one of Panathinaikos' key players, did not play at his normal level.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: In his final season with PAOK, Stojaković averaged 23.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game in the Greek League, and 20.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game in the European-wide top level EuroLeague's 1997–98 season.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the first round (14th overall pick) of the 1996 NBA draft while playing in Greece. He continued to play there until the Kings signed him prior to the 1998–99 NBA lockout season. After two seasons on the bench with Sacramento, he had a breakthrough season in 2000–01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: In 2001–02, he played in the NBA All-Star Game for the first time. His scoring average went up to 21.2 ppg, and he reached career highs in shooting percentage (.484) and three-point percentage (.416). His scoring average dropped slightly to 19.2 ppg in 2002–03, but he played again in the All-Star Game. In both seasons, he won the Three-Point Contest conducted during All-Star Weekend.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: In 2003–04, Stojaković was again selected as an All-Star, and finished second in the league in scoring with a career-high 24.2 ppg. He finished fourth in MVP voting and was voted on to the All-NBA 2nd Team. He also led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.933) and three-pointers made for the season (240). In 2004–05, he missed 16 games to injury, and was somewhat hampered in several games, but still averaged 20.1 ppg. Stojaković's number 16 was retired by the Sacramento Kings on December 16, 2014.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: On January 25, 2006, Stojaković was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for forward Ron Artest, ending his eight-year tenure with the Kings. However, he missed four games of their first round playoff series with the New Jersey Nets, all losses.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: During the 2006 offseason, he agreed to a deal with the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets worth $64 million over five years. On November 14, 2006, Stojaković scored a career-high 42 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, and became the first player in NBA history to open the game with 20 straight points for his team. His strong start to the season was halted by injuries, as a result missing all but the first 13 games of the 2006–07 season.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković bounced back the following season, starting all 77 games he played in, and was a key contributor in helping the Hornets win a franchise-record 56 games, and their first ever division title. In the first two games of their second round match-up against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, both wins, Stojaković averaged 23.5 points per game while shooting 63.7% from the three-point line. The Hornets ultimately lost to the Spurs in seven games, ending their run.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: The Hornets core of Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, David West and Stojaković would keep the Hornets in contention the following year, but injuries and the trade of Chandler forced New Orleans into a team rebuild, making the veteran Stojaković expendable.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: On November 20, 2010, Stojaković was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with Jerryd Bayless in exchange for Jarrett Jack, Marcus Banks, and David Andersen.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: After appearing in only two games, on January 20, 2011, Stojaković was released by the Raptors. He had missed 26 games due to a left knee injury.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: On January 24, 2011, Stojaković signed a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks won the NBA championship that year, with Stojaković averaging 7.1 points per game during the Mavericks' playoff run. He scored more than 20 points in two different playoff games for the Mavericks.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: On December 19, 2011, Stojaković announced his retirement, citing ongoing back and neck problems that hindered his play later in his career.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: In August 2015, Stojaković was appointed director of player personnel and development for the Sacramento Kings. In May 2018, Stojaković was announced as Assistant General Manager. In this role, he is serving as General Manager for the Stockton Kings, the Kings' NBA Development League affiliate. On August 15, 2020, the Sacramento Kings announced that Stojaković had stepped down from his position of assistant general manager.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: As a member of the senior FR Yugoslavia national basketball team, Stojaković earned a bronze medal at the 1999 edition of the FIBA EuroBasket, which was held in France. He also won gold medals at the 2001 FIBA EuroBasket, which was held in Turkey, and at the 2002 edition of the FIBA World Championship, which was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also competed at the 2000 edition of the Summer Olympic Games. Stojaković was named the MVP of the 2001 FIBA EuroBasket, and he was also named a member of the FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team at Indianapolis, in 2002. Joining him on that All-Tournament Team were fellow NBA stars Manu Ginóbili, Dirk Nowitzki, and Yao Ming, as well as New Zealand's Pero Cameron.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković acquired full Greek citizenship at the age of 17, while he was playing with PAOK in Greece. His name, in Greek transliteration, is Prentragk "Petza" Kinis Stogiakovits (). Stojaković also speaks Greek.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: He is married to Greek model Aleka Kamila. The couple has three children, including Andrej (born 2004). In 2014, the family lived in Glyfada, Greece.


title: Peja Stojaković

text: Stojaković served in the Hellenic Army, a mandatory service by each male Greek citizen. He also runs the "Peja Stojaković Children's Foundation", which is a charity that is designed to help improve the lives of children in the Balkan countries of Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In July 2013, a majority of the company was purchased by the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Group. Sprint used CDMA, EvDO and 4G LTE networks, and formerly operated iDEN, WiMAX, and 5G NR networks. Sprint was incorporated in Kansas.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint traced its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 to bring telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. In 2006, Sprint left the local landline telephone business and spun those assets off into a new company named Embarq, which later became a part of Lumen Tech (formerly CenturyLink), which remains one of the largest long-distance providers in the United States.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Until 2005, the company was also known as the Sprint Corporation, but took the name Sprint Nextel Corporation when it merged with Nextel Communications and adopted its black and yellow color scheme, along with a new logo. In 2013, following the shutdown of the Nextel network and concurrent with the acquisition by SoftBank, the company resumed using the name Sprint Corporation. In July 2013, as part of the SoftBank transactions, Sprint acquired the remaining shares of the wireless broadband carrier Clearwire Corporation which it did not already own.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In August 2014, CEO Dan Hesse was replaced by Marcelo Claure. In May 2018, Michel Combes replaced Claure, and had been working to get Sprint's merger with its rival T-Mobile through regulatory proceedings.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On April 1, 2020, Sprint Corporation completed their merger with T-Mobile US which effectively made Sprint a subsidiary of T-Mobile, until the Sprint brand officially discontinued in the beginning of August. Leadership, background, and stock changes happened immediately, with customer-side changes happening over time. The Sprint brand officially discontinued on August 2, 2020. Billing was already showing the T-Mobile brand, and on this date all retail, customer service, and all other company branding switched to the T-Mobile brand. New rate plans were also introduced as well for all new and existing customers from both companies, though all will be grandfathered into their current plan for at least 3 years should they choose not to switch to a new T-Mobile plan.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: The Sprint Corporation traces its origins to two companies, the Brown Telephone Company and Southern Pacific Railroad.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Brown Telephone Company was founded in 1899 by Cleyson Brown, to deploy the first telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. The Browns installed their first long-distance circuit in 1900 and became an alternative to the Bell Telephone Company, the most popular telephone service at the time. In 1911, C. L. Brown consolidated the Brown Telephone Company with three other independents to form the United Telephone Company. C. L. Brown formed United Telephone and Electric (UT&E) in 1925. In 1939, at the end of the Great Depression, UT&E reorganized to form United Utilities.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1964, Paul H. Henson became president of United Utilities; two years later, he was named chairman. When Henson began working at the company in 1959, it had 575,000 telephones in 15 states and revenues of $65 million. Henson is credited with creating the first major fiber optic network, having recognized it as a way to handle more calls and provide better quality sound.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1972, United Utilities changed its name to United Telecommunications. In 1980, United Telecommunications began working on a 23,000 mile fiber optic network for long-distance calls. In 1989, this long-distance business became profitable for the company for the first time. In 1990, Henson retired from United Telecommunications; by this time the company's revenues had grown to $8 billion.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint also traces its roots back to the Southern Pacific Railroad (SPR), which was founded in the 1860s as a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company (SPC). The company operated thousands of miles of track as well as telegraph wire that ran along those tracks. In the early 1970s, the company began looking for ways to use its existing communications lines for long-distance calling. This division of the business was named the Southern Pacific Communications Company. By the mid 1970s, SPC was beginning to take business away from AT&T, which held a monopoly at the time. A number of lawsuits between SPC and AT&T took place throughout the 1970s; the majority were decided in favor of increased competition. Prior attempts at offering long-distance voice services had not been approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although a fax service (called SpeedFAX) was permitted.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In the mid-1970s, SPC held a contest to select a new name for the company. The winning entry was "SPRINT", an acronym for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1982, it was announced that GTE Corp. had reached an agreement to buy SPC's long-distance telephone operation, including Sprint. The deal was later finalized in 1983.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1986, GTE Sprint merged with the United Telecommunications Inc. property, US Telecom. The joint venture was to be co-owned by GTE and United Telecom named US Sprint Communications. The new entity also included communications firm GTE Telenet, and United Telecom Data communications Co., (formerly known as Uninet). In 1988, GTE sold more of Sprint to United Telecom, giving United Telecom operational control of the company. United Telecom announced it would complete its acquisition of US Sprint on April 18, 1990.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: United Telecom officially changed its name to Sprint Corporation in 1987 to capitalize on its brand recognition.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation entered the Canadian market in the early 1990s as a reseller of bulk long-distance telephone lines that it bought from domestic companies. Under Canadian foreign ownership regulations, Sprint could not open its own network. In 1993, Sprint entered into a strategic alliance with Call-Net Enterprises, a Canadian long-distance service, and bought 25 percent of the company. Call-Net's long-distance service was renamed "Sprint Canada", and expanded to include landline and internet services. In 2005, Call-Net and Sprint Canada's 600,000 customers were acquired by Rogers Communications.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In March 1993, Sprint merged with Chicago's Centel Corp. Centel remained in the Chicago area and was renamed Sprint Cellular Co. In 1994, Sprint spun off their existing cellular operations as 360° Communications to comply with an FCC regulatory mandate. In 1998, 360 Communications was acquired by Alltel, which was in turn acquired by Verizon in 2009.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1994, Sprint announces plans for a powerful new venture with three of the nation's major cable television companies, Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), Comcast Corp. and Cox Cable. The four companies outline plans to build a nationwide network to provide wireless personal communications service (PCS), and also affirm their support for a single integrated offering of wireless, local telephone and long distance services in a package with cable television service


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1995, Sprint and its cable television associates entered into a partnership with American Personal Communications (APC) to create a digital wireless network. In November 1995, the company began to offer wireless service under the Sprint Spectrum brand in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. This was the first commercial Personal Communications Service (PCS) network in the United States. Although the Sprint PCS service was CDMA, the original Washington-area network used GSM. Eventually, Sprint launched its new nationwide CDMA network, then in 1999 sold the decommissioned GSM infrastructure to Omnipoint which re-launched in May 2000. Omnipoint was later acquired by VoiceStream Wireless, which eventually became part of T-Mobile US. Sprint and T-Mobile US merged in 2020.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In September 1996, Sprint announced a deal with RadioShack, and in 1997, Sprint stores opened at RadioShack to offer communications services and products across the United States.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On October 5, 1999, Sprint and MCI WorldCom announced a $129 billion merger agreement between the two companies. The deal would have been the largest corporate merger in history at the time. However, due to pressure from the United States Department of Justice and the European Union on concerns of it creating a monopoly, the deal did not go through.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 1999, Sprint began recombining its local telecom, long-distance, wireline, and wireless business units into a new company, in an initiative known internally as "One Sprint". In April 2004, the separately traded wireless tracking stock PCS was absorbed into the New York Stock Exchange FON ticker symbol, Sprint's former ticker symbol (FON stood for "Fiber Optic Network", but was also a homophone of the word "phone"). This was challenged in many lawsuits by Sprint PCS shareholders who felt their stock was devalued because it was trading at the ratio of 1 share of PCS stock for 1/2 share of FON stock. The PCS shareholders claimed a loss of 1.3 billion to 3.4 billion dollars.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On December 15, 2004, Sprint Corporation and Nextel Communications announced they would merge to form Sprint Nextel Corporation. The merger was transacted as a purchase of Nextel Communications by Sprint Corporation for tax reasons; Sprint purchased 50.1 percent of Nextel. At the time of the merger announcement, Sprint and Nextel were the third and fifth leading providers in the U.S. mobile phone industry, respectively.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint shareholders approved the merger on July 13, 2005. The merger deal was approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and U.S. Department of Justice on August 3, 2005. Sprint Nextel was formed on August 13, 2005, when the deal was completed.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint and Nextel faced opposition to the merger, mostly from regional affiliates that provided wireless services on behalf of the companies. These regional affiliates felt that the new company would hinder competition.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On September 1, 2005, Sprint Nextel combined plan offerings of its Sprint and Nextel brands to bring uniformity across the company's offerings.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Nextel has licensed its identity to NII Holdings, Inc., of which Sprint Nextel owned 18%. NII has used the Nextel brand to set up networks in many Latin American countries. Following Sprint's purchase of Nextel, Nextel sold all of its investment in NII Holdings.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: The integration process was difficult due to disparate network technologies. Sprint tried to address this with the advent of PowerSource phones. These phones routed voice call and data services over Sprint's PCS spectrum while maintaining DirectConnect services over 800 MHz spectrum. However, this was not sufficient in coverage, due to the inability to roam on a non-PCS spectrum. Top Nextel Executives began leaving the company immediately after the merger closed. Tim Donahue, the Nextel CEO, stayed on as executive chairman, but ceded decision-making authority to Gary D. Forsee. Tom Kelly, COO of Nextel, took an interim staff position as Chief Strategy Officer. Two years after the merger, only a few key Nextel executives remained, with many former Nextel middle- and upper-level managers having left, citing reasons including the unbridgeable cultural difference between the two companies.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2006, Sprint spun off its local telephone operations, including the former United Telephone companies and Centel, as Embarq.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint's acquisition of Nextel was a disaster from a fiscal standpoint in 2008, the company wrote down $29.7 billion of the $36 billion sum it had paid for Nextel in 2005, wiping out 80 percent of the value of Nextel at the time it had been acquired. The write down reflected the depreciation in Nextel's goodwill since the date of acquisition.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Prior to their merger, Sprint and Nextel were dependent on a network of affiliated companies. Following the announcement of the merger agreement, some of these affiliates came forward with strong opposition to the Sprint-Nextel merger on the grounds that the merged company might violate existing agreements or significantly undercut earnings to these affiliates. In order for Sprint Nextel to allay some of this opposition, they initiated discussions of either acquiring some of these affiliates or renegotiating existing agreements. In several cases, the newly formed company was forced to acquire affiliated companies in exchange for their dropping their opposition to the merger. Forsee said that the company would likely have to acquire all of its remaining affiliates.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2005, Sprint Nextel acquired three of its ten wireless affiliates: US Unwired, acquired in August; Gulf Coast Wireless, acquired in October; and IWO Holdings, acquired in October. Alamosa PCS, which Sprint Nextel acquired on February 2, 2006, was the largest of its affiliate carriers. Other acquired affiliates include Ubiquitel, iPCS, Enterprise, and Northern. In 2021, after merging with Sprint in 2020, T-Mobile acquired the remaining two of Sprint's original ten affiliates, Shentel and Swiftel.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: After the Sprint-Nextel merger, the company maintained an executive headquarters in Reston, Virginia and operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse recognized that having two headquarters was not helping the merger effort, sent the wrong message to employees and contributed to the post-merger cultural clash. To resolve the problem, Hesse decided to consolidate all headquarters operations in the Sprint World Headquarters Campus located in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb in the Kansas City metropolitan area.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On October 14, 2012, the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank announced it intended to purchase 70% of Sprint Nextel Corporation for $20.1 billion. SoftBank stated that Sprint will remain a separate entity, and will remain a CDMA carrier until it is an all-LTE carrier. On April 15, 2013, Dish Network announced a higher bid for Sprint Nextel than the offer placed by SoftBank, with a $25.5 billion offer. On June 18, 2013, Dish retracted its bid and decided that it would instead focus on its intent to purchase Clearwire, however on June 26, 2013, Dish also retracted its bid for Clearwire, leaving the road clear for SoftBank to acquire the company. The United States Federal Communications Commission approved SoftBank's acquisition of a stake in Sprint. The FCC's acting chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and commissioner Ajit Pai both gave statements vociferously supporting the acquisition, saying the deal "serve[s] the public interest". The acquisition was completed on July 10, 2013.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On August 6, 2013, SoftBank purchased approximately 2% more shares of Sprint Corporation, increasing its ownership stake in the company to 80%.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On November 7, 2012, Sprint Nextel announced the acquisition of 20 MHz of spectrum and 585,000 customers from U.S. Cellular in Chicago, St. Louis, central Illinois and three other Midwest markets. The deal was expected to close in mid-2013.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Prior to July 9, 2013, Sprint Nextel only owned a 50.8% equity interest in Clearwire Corporation; On December 17, 2012, Sprint Nextel agreed to pay US$2.97 per share, US$2.2 billion in total, to purchase the portion of Clearwire shares that Sprint Nextel did not already own. On June 20, 2013, Sprint Nextel increased its offer to $5 per share, the transaction was approved by regulators on July 5, 2013, and closed on July 9, 2013, and Sprint Nextel became the complete owner of Clearwire and its assets.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On March 31, 2015, the U.S. bankruptcy court approved a $160 million takeover of electronics store chain RadioShack by Standard General. As part of the deal, the company entered into a partnership with Sprint to serve as co-tenants in 1,435 of its locations, beginning on April 10, 2015. Roughly a third of the retail space in each location is dedicated to Sprint products and services, and the stores will ultimately adopt Sprint as their primary brand in place of RadioShack. Sprint stated that this deal would increase the company's retail footprint by more than double.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On January 23, 2017, Sprint announced that they were buying a 33 percent stake in the music streaming service Tidal.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint derives revenue as a wireline IP network operator and as a long-distance telephony provider. Sprint is the United States' fourth largest long-distance provider by subscribers.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2006, Sprint Nextel exited the local landline telephone business, spinning those assets off into a newly created company named Embarq, which CenturyTel acquired in 2008 to form CenturyLink.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: SprintLink is a global Tier 1 Internet service provider network, operating an 100G Internet backbone. Customers include large multinational corporations, government agencies, retail and restaurant chains, Tier 2 and Tier 3 ISPs, and medium-to-small businesses. SprintLink has physical presence in 155 countries, including the United States, Western Europe, East Asia, Australia, and India. The network wraps all the way around the world with buried fiber optics in the United States and Europe, and undersea fiber in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. SprintLink is responsible for cable maintenance and administration in the TAT-14 Consortium. In 2008, Sprint was upgrading its SprintLink core to 100Gbit/s lines to offer increased bandwidth. As of June 2012, Sprint picked Ciena for upgrading its Sprintlink core to 400Gbit/s speeds.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2007, Sprint launched Ethernet services over its IP/MPLS network to an initial 40-markets. Sprint later expanded their Ethernet services to 65 markets in September 2011. Sprint then launched Ethernet over copper and Ethernet over DOCSIS in 2016 to complement its Fiber Ethernet offerings.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint offers its enterprise customers managed web-based services through its Sprint Web Services program. It allows enterprise customers to create managed web-based applications


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2015, Sprint powered the Connected Officer program for the Los Angeles Police Department in partnership with Samsung, VMware, and Prodapt.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint wireline is also responsible for traditional telecommunications relay service (TRS), speech to speech relay service (STS), and captioned telephone service (CTS). Sprint is in the process of upgrading these services from a TDM network to an IP-based network


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation offers postpaid wireless voice and data services primarily under the Sprint brand.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: The Sprint Prepaid Group was a division of the company formed in May 2010 that is responsible for the operations of Sprint's pre-pay subsidiaries. SPG's branded products and services are sold via web and available at retailers nationwide, including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and other independent dealers.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Boost Worldwide, Inc. was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint that provides nationwide, prepaid wireless voice, messaging and broadband data products and services to customers in the contiguous United States under the Boost Mobile brand. The services are provided as an MVNO hosted on the Sprint-owned CDMA, EVDO, WiMAX, LTE, and LTE Advanced networks.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Velocity was Sprint Corporation's Connected Vehicle Platform, announced in 2012 in partnership with Chrysler.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation provided services using both its own spectrum and network equipment through affiliate agreements. Smaller affiliated companies operated their own network assets and retail operations but offered services to customers in their geographic region under the Sprint brand.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In the early stages of network build-out, the company relied significantly on network partners known as affiliates to rapidly expand its coverage. These affiliates would lease Sprint's PCS spectrum licenses in a specific geographic area, typically rural areas, and smaller cities, and provide wireless service using the Sprint brand. Sprint provided back-end support such as billing and telephone-based customer service, while the affiliates built and maintained the network, sold equipment to customers, and staffed the retail stores in their specific regions. Its customers could "roam" across Sprint-operated and affiliate-operated portions of the network without being aware of the distinction, and vice versa. Outwardly, efforts were made to make it appear as if the network was operated by a single entity under the Sprint name, though complex revenue-sharing agreements were in place which was very similar in nature to cross-carrier roaming tariffs. In later years, the relationship between Sprint and its affiliates grew contentious, particularly after Sprint's acquisition of Nextel. Various affiliates included Swiftel Communications in Brookings, South Dakota; Shentel in northern Virginia, and parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Rural Alliance (SRA) members (aka Sprint Partners) are carriers who use their own equipment and also sell their own service under their own name while using Sprint spectrum. Sprint is given access to the SRA network in return for allowing the use of Sprint spectrum. This allows Sprint to keep the spectrum license for the geographic area being served by the SRA member. Alaska DigiTel in Alaska is a current SRA Member. Former SRA Members include Alltel Wireless in Montana; This portion of the network was obtained by AT&T during the merger of Alltel and Verizon Wireless, Pioneer Cellular in Kansas and Oklahoma; they ended their agreement with Sprint on March 1, 2012, and have since transitioned to an agreement with Verizon Wireless through the LTE in Rural America program, nTelos; operated in West Virginia and was bought out and merged with Shentel which is a Sprint Affiliate.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation provides wholesales capacity on its CDMA2000, EVDO, and LTE wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which allows other wireless providers to utilize its networks to offer its services. Sprint's prepaid brands also operate using Sprint's networks, however, they are not MVNOs, but rather wholly owned prepaid subsidiaries of the company.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation allows certain Sprint MVNOs to accept and activate old Sprint-branded phones through its "Bring Your Own Sprint Device" program which was established for Sprint's initiative to further reduce the number of cell phones that are thrown away each year. The program is also beneficial to MVNOs customers who do not want to pay subsidized prices.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation offers its MVNOs a program called the "Custom Branded Device Program", which gives MVNOs access to completely unbranded Android smartphones with no references to Sprint that the MVNO can then customize with its own branded apps and services through Sprint's Mobile ID and Mobile Zone products. Though these phones are free of Sprint branding, they continue to be certified to run on Sprint networks.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On May 9, 2006, Sprint Nextel and Alltel agreed on a new Nationwide Roaming partnership. It was reciprocal, giving Alltel customers access to the Sprint 1x and EV-DO network and Sprint customers access to Alltel's denser, rural 1x and EV-DO voice and data coverage. The roaming reciprocity agreement between Alltel and Sprint was set to expire in 2016.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint and Verizon Wireless have a reciprocal data roaming agreement that allows for the use of Sprint Power Vision content like TV, movie downloads, and stream radio in Verizon 1x and EVDO coverage areas.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint also has a reciprocal 1xRTT, EVDO and LTE data and voice roaming agreement with U.S. Cellular. Sprint has an LTE roaming agreement with AT&T as well, which is typically limited to 3G speeds. Several cases of Sprint phones simultaneously roaming on Verizon's CDMA network for voice and AT&T's LTE network for data have been observed in 2017.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2018 with the announcement of the Sprint and T-Mobile merger, Sprint gained access to roaming on T-Mobile's LTE network for 4 years. Roaming on T-Mobile is counted as native data usage and has no speed restrictions.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: The following is a list of known CDMA, LTE, and NR frequencies which Sprint employed in the United States:


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint operated a nationwide CDMA network in the 1,900-MHz PCS band. In 2006, Sprint's EV-DO "Power Vision" network reached more than 190 million people. Sprint then continued to upgrade their 3G EV-DO network until it reached 260 million people in 2007. Today, Sprint covers over 300 million PoPs with EV-DO services. Sprint has recently added eHRPD to its network (EV-DO routed through an LTE core network) in order to facilitate smooth handoffs between LTE and EV-DO.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: As a result of the Merger with T-Mobile US, Sprint's CDMA network was completely shut down on May 31, 2022.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On July 28, 2011, Sprint announced that it had decided to end its rollout of the 4G network using WiMAX technology, in favor of more internationally accepted LTE technology. Sprint had also announced that it entered into a 15-year agreement that included spectrum hosting, network services, 4G wholesale and 3G roaming, with LightSquared. That deal, however, was later dissolved due to regulatory issues which LightSquared was unable to resolve with the FCC.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint announced initial LTE deployment plans at the Sprint Strategy Update conference on October 7, 2011. Network Vision-partner Samsung began LTE deployments on October 27, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Sprint projected that the LTE network would cover 123 million people in 2012 and over 250 million people by the end of 2013.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On January 5, 2012, Sprint announced via Twitter its first 4G LTE markets, that included Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio; on June 27, 2012, Sprint stated that it would launch its new 4G LTE network in the first five markets the following month and on July 15, 2012, Sprint commenced operating the LTE network. In addition to the five announced markets, it was launched in 10 other markets, with more markets to be covered by the end of the year.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint initially deployed LTE in the 1900 MHz PCS G block, and over time added LTE to its 1900-MHz PCS A-F block spectrum. Sprint has also deployed LTE in the 850-MHz E-CLR band and the 2500-MHz BRS/EBS band.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In February 2013, Sprint's Prepaid Group, which operate Virgin Mobile USA and Boost Mobile, began offering products and services using Sprint's LTE network.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint has begun to roll out VoLTE, although the deployment is currently limited to certain markets. iOS devices newer than the iPhone 8, as well as a few select Android flagship devices, support VoLTE on Sprint. VoLTE and Wi-Fi Calling are interoperable, and devices can transfer calls between the two networks. Calls initiated on Wi-Fi by non-VoLTE devices will transfer calls to the LTE network if Wi-Fi coverage becomes too weak to sustain the call, although they are unable to initiate calls on LTE.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: As a result of the Merger with T-Mobile US, the Sprint LTE network is scheduled to be shut down on or around June 30, 2022.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint has a variety of wireless and mobile broadband products selection from a full range of manufacturers, that are preloaded with the largest mobile operating systems including Google's Android, Apple's iOS, and Microsoft's Windows Phone. Sprint partner device manufactures including Apple, BlackBerry, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, Sonim, and ZTE.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In order to offer broadband directly to the home, Sprint launched a co-branded Broadband Wireless Access Point device along with Linksys, a unit of Cisco Systems. This unit allows Sprint customers to set up a special network in a home or office computer network, connecting multiple computers or laptops wirelessly to Sprint's PowerVision network. This broadband service to the Internet will allow some customers to have broadband without paying for telephone service. The PowerVision router may allow one to bypass the local telephone and cable broadband service providers. Such Broadband offerings to the home or office without cable or DSL means the router could be used to provide cheaper VoIP services through Sprint's high-speed network.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On October 31, 2005, the Sprint Music Store was launched. Initial record-label participation included EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. On November 1, 2006, after one year of service, the store had sold more than 8 million songs, partly thanks to the five free songs it offered customers at launch. On April 1, 2007, the Sprint Music Store started offering music downloads at the price of 99 cents per track to customers who agreed to subscribe to a Vision pack of $15 or higher. Sprint Music Store is no longer available.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: The service was re-launched as Sprint Music Plus in 2011, managed by RealNetworks. It offers full-track music files from various labels (albums and single tracks), ringback tones, and ringtones. Since July 2013, Sprint Music Plus app has been managed by OnMobile Global, a company headquartered in Bangalore, India.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: As of May 16, 2012, Sprint has allowed subscribers to bill application purchases from Google Play to their phone account.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On September 17, 2007, Sprint Nextel launched the Airave, which increased cell reception over an area of and could handle up to three calls at once by hooking into an existing broadband connection and using VOIP. The Airave helped eliminate poor signal quality inside buildings. Airave was used only for voice calls using a Sprint CDMA phone and was unavailable for Nextel iDEN phones or data cards/USB modems. By default, the Airave unit allowed any Sprint phone to connect through it, but it could be reconfigured to accept only connections from up to 50 authorized numbers in order to eliminate unwanted use. The Airrave uses the customers' own bandwidth to connect calls—potentially slowing internet speeds on less ample connections, and causing the customer to essentially subsidize the Sprint network. That being said, Sprint is one of the only carriers that historically has not charged its customers for this type of device if the customer can demonstrate that Sprint coverage is inadequate where they live.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Airave 2.0 is a device that supports up to six devices simultaneously and data usage. The device requires a land-based internet service (such as DSL or cable modem) to produce the CDMA signal. The Airave 2.5 improved reliability and had two LAN ports.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Airave 3.0 is a device that broadcasts both CDMA and LTE using band 41 that was approved by the FCC in late 2016 and became available in 2017. It requires a cable internet connection and includes a WAN RJ45 port and two RJ45 ethernet LAN ports.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: The Magic Box creates its own Band 41 LTE signal and uses Band 41 or Band 25 LTE signal instead of a cable connection for the internet. It is designed to be placed on a window sill and broadcasts to the inside of the building plus outside the building for 100 meters or further.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: CLEAR was the brand of mobile broadband services offered by Clearwire Corporation, which was acquired by Sprint Nextel in July 2013. The brand provided mobile and fixed wireless broadband communications services to retail and wholesale customers in Belgium, Spain, and the United States. Sprint ended the CLEAR brand in September 2013 shortly after it closed its acquisition of Clearwire, and it no longer offers CLEAR-branded products and services to new customers.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Nextel began offering pre-paid wireless products and services via wholly owned MVNO Common Cents Mobile on May 13, 2010. Sprint Nextel intended these products and services as a lower-cost alternative, charging $.07 per minute for voice calls with round-down timing and $.07 per text message. The products and services were initially available through Walmart stores; Sprint Nextel had planned to expand the distribution of Common Cents Mobile to other outlets, but never did.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On May 18, 2011, Sprint Nextel discontinued operating its Common Cents Mobile pre-paid brand, on the basis, it was a duplicate of the offerings of the Virgin Mobile USA PayLo brand. Common Cents Mobile customers were transitioned to a Virgin Mobile payLo service plan that allowed the former Common Cents Mobile customers to keep their existing $.07 per minute rate.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Nextel decided to decommission the iDEN (Nextel National) network it had acquired after merging with Nextel Communications in order to repurpose the network for LTE coverage, Sprint stopped offering Nextel Direct Connect walkie-talkie service. Instead, Sprint persuades many of its customers into their replacement service – Sprint Direct Connect which operates on the CDMA network.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint Corporation and provided nationwide, prepaid wireless voice, messaging, and broadband data products and services to customers in the contiguous United States under the Virgin Mobile, payLo, and "Assurance Wireless Brought to You by Virgin Mobile" brands. It operated as an MVNO and provided services to its customers via the Sprint-owned CDMA, EVDO, WiMAX, and LTE networks.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. also offered lifeline telephone service subsidized by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's Universal Service Fund under the "Assurance Wireless Brought to You by Virgin Mobile" brand. The program offers a free wireless phone and 250 free local and domestic long-distance voice minutes per month to eligible low-income customers in 31 states. End users do not receive a bill, nor are they required to sign a contract, and do not pay activation fees, recurring fees, or surcharges.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Nextel operated an iDEN nationwide network in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz SMR frequency band. Sprint Corporation acquired the iDEN network as a result of its merger with Nextel Communications in 2005. The iDEN network was originally deployed as a dispatch radio service and is unique in blending the half-duplex push-to-talk one-to-many broadcast capability of a walkie-talkie with the one-to-one private communication of a phone. Sprint later marketed "push-to-talk" services under the Nextel Direct Connect name.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In October 2010, as part of the "Network Vision" plan, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse announced the decommissioning of the iDEN network to reduce costs, improve the coverage and performance of the 3G CDMA network and enable Sprint Nextel to focus on 4G LTE technology. Sprint Nextel announced on May 29, 2012, that it will stop marketing iDEN devices in the third quarter of 2012 and that the iDEN network could be completely decommissioned "as early as June 30, 2013". As of June 5, 2012, Sprint and Boost Mobile ceased offering iDEN devices, removing the devices and their associated service plans from the Sprint and Boost Mobile websites and retail locations. The Nextel national network was shut down on schedule at 12:01 am on June 30, 2013.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation operated a 4G WiMAX network in the 2.5 GHz band, which had been operated by Clearwire Corporation before it was acquired. Sprint also provided its prepay partners Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile access to data services via the WiMAX network; including other Mobile virtual network operators under wholesale agreements.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Nextel had won rights to radio spectrum in the 2.5 GHz band to provision fourth-generation services and began to build out a WiMAX network, offering services under the Xohm brand. However, on May 7, 2008, Sprint Nextel announced it would merge its WiMAX wireless broadband unit with Clearwire Corporation, receiving equity in Clearwire in return. The two companies completed the transaction on November 28, 2008. Sprint became the owner of Clearwire, after outbidding Dish Network for the company.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On October 8, 2008, Sprint Nextel launched WiMAX in Baltimore and showed off several new laptops that will have embedded WiMAX chips. They announced that Sprint will be offering dual-mode 3G/4G products by the end of the year. Baltimore was the first city to get Xohm, but it was launched soon after in more cities, such as Chicago and Philadelphia.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: On April 19, 2011, Sprint Nextel announced it agreed to pay at least $1 billion to Clearwire so it can operate on the 4G WiMAX network through 2012, and a later agreement, announced in December 2011, specified terms allowing Sprint, its subsidiaries, and wholesale customers to continue having access to the Clearwire 4G WiMAX network through 2015. On July 9, 2013, Sprint Nextel acquired the remaining stock shares it did not already own in Clearwire and its assets.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation is working on migrating WiMAX customers to LTE compatible devices in order to begin transitioning the WiMAX bands to TDD LTE. In July 2013, Sprint announced its first tri-band products capable of accessing TDD-LTE data connections in the 2.5 GHz band still used for WiMAX.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint planned to shut its WiMAX network on November 6, 2015, however, an emergency injunction was granted by a judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court on November 5, 2015, to keep the WiMax network online for another 90 days, due to the ongoing lawsuit from non-profit groups. The groups, Mobile Beacon and Mobile Citizen, said that the network shutdown violates the contract which requires Sprint to provide high-speed internet services for low-income families and public institutions, as most of the equipment was still not LTE-compatible. Sprint pledged to provide upgrades to the equipment and work out a solution with the groups as soon as possible. Most of the WiMax network not running in the affected areas were shut down. On February 1, 2016, the same court declared that Sprint can proceed with the network shutdown in the remaining 75 cities. Sprint took the network of 16 cities, including New York City, offline on February 2, 2016, and closed 39 more on February 29, 2016. On March 31, 2016, the last 25 cities' networks were shut down.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: For devices launched after February 15, 2015, Sprint will unlock phones when Lease/Service/Billing Agreements have been satisfied and accounts are in good standing.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: For devices launched before February 15, 2015, Sprint does not authorize the use of GSM-capable devices, including both phones and tablets it sells, on a United States-based competitor's network, such as T-Mobile or AT&T. Unlike the aforementioned companies, which have comparatively lenient policies about unlocking phones, such as when the device is paid off or the contract is fulfilled, and Verizon, whose GSM-capable devices ship with the GSM portion already unlocked, Sprint will unlock devices for international use only for customers in good standing after contacting customer support.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: This limitation means phones and tablets sold by Sprint which were launched prior to February 15, 2015, will only lawfully function on the Sprint network, a policy that prevents what may otherwise be compatibility with another carrier's network. Additionally, the resale value of Sprint-sold iPhones generally are the lowest of devices sold by the top four carriers in the country. Means to unlock a GSM-capable iPhone exist, such as using a SIM interposer, but the device may not function fully or correctly on the desired network, and unlocking of the device had been a violation of the law under the terms of the DMCA up until August 1, 2014, when President Obama signed into law a bill allowing the unlocking of cell phones.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In May 2014, the company was fined $7.5 million by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for failing to honor consumer requests to opt-out of marketing messages delivered by phone and text messages. Sprint was ordered to implement a comprehensive two-year plan to comply with the commission's rules including training of Sprint employees on how to comply with "Do Not Call" rules. American consumers have had the option of nominating not to receive telemarketing calls and texts since 2003, by placing their names on the National Do Not Call Registry.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: As required by law in the United States, in response to court orders and warrants, Sprint Nextel provided law enforcement agencies with its wireless subscribers' GPS locations over 8 million times in one year between September 2008 and October 2009. The disclosures occurred by way of a special, secure portal which Sprint developed specifically for government officials, which enabled users to automatically obtain Sprint customers' GPS locations after the request has been reviewed and activated by Sprint's surveillance department.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In 2016, Sprint began a major television advertising campaign promoting its reliability as being within 1% of other major providers, such as Verizon. The advertisements feature Paul Marcarelli, an American actor once known for pitching Verizon with the phrase "Can you hear me now?" In the ads, Marcarelli notes that he has switched to Sprint and touts pricing of approximately half that of other providers, commenting "Can you hear that?" The ads feature the slogan "Don't let a 1% difference cost you twice as much."


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint cellphones were product placed in such movies such as "Men in Black II" (2002), "The Departed" (2006), "Dan in Real Life" (2007), "Superbad" (2007), "Wild Hogs" (2007), "27 Dresses" (2008), "Baby Mama" (2008), "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (2008), "Eagle Eye" (2008), "The Spiderwick Chronicles" (2008), "Sex and the City (film)" (2008), "" (2009), "Bride Wars" (2009), "" (2009), and "The Gambler" (2014).


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint was the official wireless sponsor of the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. Sprint Power Vision customers were able to watch the VMAs on a live simulcast on their Sprint Power Vision handset free of charge.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: In "Time Magazine"'s November 13, 2006 issue, Sprint Nextel's NASCAR FanView was named One of Best Inventions of 2006. The NASCAR FanView is a portable PDA that runs on Sprint's data network. The device offers fans access to "Race telecast and up to seven in-car camera channels, direct audio feeds allowing the user to listen to live driver and team conversations, as well as the radio broadcast and an exclusive audio-replay feature."


title: Sprint Corporation

text: From 2008 to 2016, Sprint Corporation was the major title sponsor of NASCAR’s top racing series, formerly called the NEXTEL Cup, which became known as the Sprint Cup Series on February 9, 2008. Since then, Sprint signed a contract extension with NASCAR to continue sponsoring the series through the 2016 season. Sprint was replaced by Monster Energy after the 2016 season.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Corporation held the naming rights to the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri; after the merger in 2020, the arena was renamed the T-Mobile Center (not to be confused with T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas).


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint Nextel announced in December 2011 that it reached a multi-year exclusive partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to be the league's official wireless service partner.


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint was a major sponsor of the NBC television series "Heroes" and provided exclusive web content to subscribers. Sprint is also the mobile sponsor of NBC's "The Voice".


title: Sprint Corporation

text: Sprint is a major sponsor of competition reality shows, such as "Big Brother" and "Survivor" on CBS, enabling viewers to vote each week for "Player of the Game".


title: Janel Parrish

text: Janel Meilani Parrish Long (born October 30, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She starred as Mona Vanderwaal in the mystery-drama television series "Pretty Little Liars" (2010–2017) and its spinoff "" (2019), and as Margot Covey in the "To All the Boys" film series (2018–2021). She also portrayed Young Cosette in the Broadway production of "Les Misérables" (1996), and Jade in the teen comedy film "Bratz" (2007).


title: Janel Parrish

text: Parrish was born in Kāne'ohe, Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Honolulu and, in her teens, California. Her mother Joanne (née Mew) is of Han Chinese descent, and her father Mark Parrish, is of German, Irish, and English descent. She has one sister, Melissa Nohelani, who is eight years older and served as an officer in the U.S. Army. Her parents are former bodybuilders, and her mother worked for a Honolulu health club.


title: Janel Parrish

text: At age six, Parrish saw a production of "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center and fell in love with the idea of performing. She began playing the piano, and within a year was also studying acting, singing, tap and jazz dance. She entered several talent contests, and became well known to local Oahu residents. At age 14, she appeared in the 2003 remake of "Star Search", performing the song "On My Own" from "Les Misérables". She attended Moanalua Elementary School, and Moanalua High School for her freshman year. Parrish lived in Kaneohe, Hawaii until the age of 14, when she and her family moved to Burbank, Los Angeles so she could pursue a career in the entertainment industry. Parrish was then homeschooled in order to accommodate her work schedule.


title: Janel Parrish

text: Parrish began her acting career when she was cast as Young Cosette in the National Touring Company of "Les Misérables", and later portrayed the role for two months in the Broadway production at the Imperial Theatre. She subsequently appeared in several community theatre productions in Hawaii – most notably as Jean Louise "Scout" Finch in Manoa Valley Theatre's revival of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1998. In 1999, Parrish landed her first substantial television role in NBC's action series "Baywatch", appearing in two episodes as Hina, a young girl whom Mitch Buchannon (David Hasselhoff) saves from drowning.


title: Janel Parrish

text: In 2000, Parrish was featured in Disney's live-action television film based on the Pinocchio story "Geppetto", portraying the role of Natalie. She then went on to appear as Vanessa in The WB's short-lived sitcom "The O'Keefes". Parrish also appeared in shows and made-for-television films on the Disney Channel, and also guest starred in Fox's sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show", Nickelodeon's children's comedy-drama series "Zoey 101", and Fox's teen drama series "The O.C.". Parrish then portrayed Bratz member Jade in the 2007 live-action film "Bratz". The role was her first in a motion picture, as well as her first starring role. She also provided her voice for the "Bratz 4 Real" video game. In May 2007, shortly before the release of "Bratz", she was signed to the William Morris Agency. She then landed a recurring role in the NBC supernatural drama series "Heroes".


title: Janel Parrish

text: Parrish played Mona Vanderwaal for the duration of the Freeform teen drama series "Pretty Little Liars", based on the book series by Sara Shepard. Mona is introduced in the first season as a teenage outsider who uses her intelligence and resources to torment others anonymously. In March 2012, Parrish was promoted to a series regular for the third season, and stayed a regular for the remainder of the series. For her performance as Mona, she won Choice TV – Villain at the Teen Choice Awards four times from five nominations.


title: Janel Parrish

text: In February 2012, Parrish returned to her stage roots in a production of the musical "Spring Awakening". She portrayed Anna, while also understudying the lead female role of Wendla Bergmann. That same year, she had a supporting role in the romantic comedy-drama film "Celeste and Jesse Forever". She subsequently guest starred in the CBS drama series "Hawaii Five-0", playing the role of Rebecca Fine, an ambitious and strong-willed chemistry student, and made a guest appearance in Lifetime's fantasy legal drama series "Drop Dead Diva" as cheerleader Chelsea Putnam. Also in 2014, Parrish led the cast of the Lifetime thriller film "High School Possession" as Lauren Brady. The following year, she had a guest role as villainess Jillian Havemeyer in NBC's comedy-drama series "The Mysteries of Laura". In 2017, she guest starred in Fox's procedural drama series "Rosewood", playing Selena Monet, a young popstar. In November 2017, Parrish began portraying Sandy Dumbrowski in a Toronto production of "Grease", alongside Katie Findlay. She then portrayed Lisa Wagner in the romance film "Until We Meet Again", alongside Jackson Rathbone.


title: Janel Parrish

text: Parrish co-starred as Margot Covey in the film adaptation of Jenny Han's young adult romance novel "To All the Boys I've Loved Before", with Lana Condor and John Corbett, and appeared alongside Angela Trimbur and Fairuza Balk in the home-invasion thriller "Hell Is Where the Home Is". Parrish will co-star with Mickey Rourke in the upcoming boxing drama "Tiger". She reprised her role as Mona Vanderwaal in the "Pretty Little Liars" spin-off drama series, "". The show premiered on Freeform on March 20, 2019 and concluded on May 22, 2019.


title: Janel Parrish

text: At age eight, Parrish won a statewide singing competition in Hawaii. She began writing her own music as a teenager and eventually became the lead singer of the three-piece girl group, Impulse. In 2007, Parrish was signed to Geffen Records as a solo artist to produce her first album. Her first single, "Rainy Day", which she wrote herself, and its music video, was released on July 7, 2007. The song also featured on the "Bratz" soundtrack. Parrish made appearances in Prima J's music video for "Rockstar" and NLT's music video for "She Said, I Said", which were both featured on the "Bratz" soundtrack. She also provided background vocals for the latter. In April 2015, she released two songs, "Heart Made of Stone" and "Senseless", both of which she co-wrote with Vince Pizzinga.


title: Janel Parrish

text: In August 2014, Parrish was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of "Dancing with the Stars". She was paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy. During week three, "Movie Night", the couple became the first to earn a perfect score with their Jazz dance, and held the record for earliest perfect score on the show (the record was later matched by Bethany Mota and her partner Derek Hough on the same night). Parrish and Chmerkovskiy reached the final but ended up in third place, behind Alfonso Ribeiro and Sadie Robertson, who took first and second place respectively.


title: Janel Parrish

text: She modeled Camille La Vie & Group USA's prom dresses for "Seventeen" magazine and served as a special guest judge at the annual Camille La Vie & Group USA and "Seventeen"'s "Celebrity Prom" event in March 2014. She has graced the covers of numerous fashion magazines, including "Nationalist", "Pulse Spikes, Luca," "Vulkan" and "Modeliste".


title: Janel Parrish

text: Parrish is popular on social media and endorses products such as beauty and wellness products on Instagram. She has partnered with several brands, including "Room & Board Modern Furniture" products, "Robitussin" cold relief, "Beauty Rest Black" mattress and "Glade" candles.


title: Janel Parrish

text: In October 2018, she appeared in an anti-bullying public service announcement for Disney and ABC’s #ChooseKindness campaign with Sasha Pieterse for National Bullying Prevention Month. "I have had experiences being bullied. For me, it was definitely high school. I was not the popular girl at all," she told "People" magazine.


title: Janel Parrish

text: Parrish began dating chemical engineer Chris Long in September 2016, and became engaged to him on October 23, 2017. They married on September 8, 2018 at Kualoa Ranch, Oahu, Hawaii. Her father-in-law was killed by a drunk driver two weeks before the wedding. "We went to Hawaii and we had the most beautiful day, and during our vows, when Chris started talking about his dad, the sky opened up and it just started pouring rain on us. It was such a beautiful, I mean I don't think anybody was dry eyed, like everybody cried because it was such a beautiful moment," Parrish recalled to "ET" in 2019.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: The Intelligence of Dogs is a 1994 book on dog intelligence by Stanley Coren, a professor of canine psychology at the University of British Columbia. The book explains Coren's theories about the differences in intelligence between various breeds of dogs. Coren published a second edition in 2006.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: Coren defines three aspects of dog intelligence in the book: "instinctive intelligence", "adaptive intelligence", and "working and obedience intelligence". Instinctive intelligence refers to a dog's ability to perform the tasks it was bred for, such as herding, pointing, fetching, guarding, or supplying companionship. Adaptive intelligence refers to a dog's ability to solve problems on its own. Working and obedience intelligence refers to a dog's ability to learn from humans.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: The book's ranking focuses on working and obedience intelligence. Coren sent evaluation requests to American Kennel Club and Canadian Kennel Club obedience trial judges, asking them to rank breeds by performance, and received 199 responses, representing about 50 percent of obedience judges then working in North America. Assessments were limited to breeds receiving at least 100 judge responses. This methodology aimed to eliminate the excessive weight that might result from a simple tabulation of obedience degrees by breed. Its use of expert opinion followed precedent.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: Coren found substantial agreement in the judges' rankings of working and obedience intelligence, with Border collies consistently named in the top ten and Afghan Hounds consistently named in the lowest. The highest ranked dogs in this category were Border collies, Poodles, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and Doberman Pinschers.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: Dogs that are not breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club or Canadian Kennel Club (such as the Jack Russell Terrier) were not included in Coren's rankings.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: Coren's book presents a ranked list of breed intelligence, based on a survey of 208 dog obedience judges across North America. When it was first published there was much media attention and commentary in terms of both pros and cons. Over the years, Coren's ranking of breeds and methodology have come to be accepted as a valid description of the differences among dog breeds in terms of their trainability. A 2009 measurement of canine intelligence using another method confirmed the general pattern of these rankings, and Coren included an updated study using owner ratings of dog trainability and intelligence in the 2006 edition of the book.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: The value of survey-based cognition findings have been dismissed by some cognitive researchers and dog trainers.


title: The Intelligence of Dogs

text: The 1995 edition of Coren's book lists 130 dog breeds, and assigns them to 79 ranks with some ties, grouped into six descending categories.


title: Lyocell

text: Lyocell, originally trademarked in 1982 as Tencel, is a form of regenerated cellulose. It consists of cellulose fibers, made by dissolving pulp and then reconstituting it by dry jet-wet spinning. The fiber is used to make textiles for clothing and other purposes. Unlike rayon made by some of the more common viscose processes, Lyocell production does not use carbon disulfide, which is toxic to workers and the environment.


title: Lyocell

text: "Lyocell" has become a genericized trademark, used to refer to the Lyocell process for making cellulose fibers. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission defines Lyocell as "a fiber composed of cellulose precipitated from an organic solution in which no substitution of the hydroxy groups takes place, and no chemical intermediates are formed". It classifies the fiber as a sub-category of rayon.


title: Lyocell

text: Other trademarked names for Lyocell fibers are Lenzing Lyocell (Lenzing), Newcell (Akzo Nobel), and Seacell (Zimmer AG). The company Birla also sells it under the brand name Excel.


title: Lyocell

text: The development of Tencel was motivated by environmental concerns; researchers sought to manufacture rayon by means less harmful than the viscose method.


title: Lyocell

text: The Lyocell process was developed in 1972 by a team at the now defunct American Enka fibers facility at Enka, North Carolina. In 2003, the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) awarded Neal E. Franks their Henry E. Millson Award for Invention for Lyocell. In 1966–1968, D. L. Johnson of Eastman Kodak Inc. studied NMMO solutions. From 1969 to 1979, American Enka tried unsuccessfully to commercialize the process. The operating name for the fiber inside the Enka organization was "Newcell", and the development was carried through a pilot plant scale before the work was stopped.


title: Lyocell

text: The basic process of dissolving cellulose in NMMO was first described in a 1981 patent by Mcorsley for Akzona Incorporated (the holding company of Akzo). In the 1980s the patent was licensed by Akzo to Courtaulds and Lenzing.


title: Lyocell

text: The fiber was developed by Courtaulds Fibres under the brand name "Tencel" in the 1980s. In 1982, a 100kg/week pilot plant was built in Coventry, UK, and production increased tenfold (to a ton/week) in 1984. In 1988, a 25-ton/week semi-commercial production line opened at the Grimsby, UK, pilot plant.


title: Lyocell

text: The process was first commercialized at Courtaulds' rayon factories at Mobile, Alabama (1990), and at the Grimsby plant (1998). In January 1993, the Mobile Tencel plant reached full production levels of 20,000 tons per year, by which time Courtaulds had spent £100 million and 10 years on Tencel development. Tencel revenues for 1993 were estimated as likely to be £50 million. The second plant in Mobile was planned. By 2004, production had quadrupled to 80,000 tons.


title: Lyocell

text: Lenzing began a pilot plant in 1990, and commercial production in 1997, with 12 metric tonnes/year made in a plant in Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitztal, Austria. When an explosion hit the plant in 2003 it was producing 20,000 tonnes/year, and planning to double capacity by the end of the year. In 2004 Lenzing was producing 40,000 tons [sic, probably metric tonnes]. In 1998, Lenzing and Courtaulds reached a patent dispute settlement.


title: Lyocell

text: In 1998 Courtaulds was acquired by competitor Akzo Nobel, who combined the Tencel division with other fiber divisions under the Accordis banner, then sold them to private equity firm CVC Partners. In 2000, CVC sold the Tencel division to Lenzing AG, who combined it with their "Lenzing Lyocell" business, but maintained the brand name Tencel. They took over the plants in Mobile and Grimsby, and by 2015 was the largest Lyocell producer at 130,000 tonnes/year.


title: Lyocell

text: It is used in many everyday fabrics. Staple fibers are used in clothes such as denim, chino, underwear, casual wear, and towels. Filament fibers, which are generally longer and smoother than staple fibers, are used in items that have a silkier appearance such as women's clothing and men's dress shirts. Lyocell may be blended with a variety of other fibers such as silk, cotton, rayon, polyester, linen, nylon, and wool. Lyocell also is used in conveyor belts, specialty papers, and medical dressings.


title: Lyocell

text: Lyocell shares many properties with other fibers such as cotton, linen, silk, ramie, hemp, and viscose rayon (to which it is very closely related chemically). Lyocell is 50% more absorbent than cotton, and has a longer wicking distance compared to modal fabrics of a similar weave.


title: Lyocell

text: Compared to cotton, consumers often say Lyocell fibers feel softer, and "airier", due to their better ability to wick moisture. Industry claims of higher resistance to wrinkling are as yet unsupported. Lyocell fabric may be machine washed or dry cleaned. It drapes well and may be dyed many colors, needing slightly less dye than cotton to achieve the same depth of colour.


title: Lyocell

text: The Lyocell process uses a direct solvent rather than indirect dissolution such as the xanthation-regeneration route in the viscose process. Lyocell fiber is produced from dissolving pulp, which contains cellulose in high purity with little hemicellulose and no lignin. Hardwood logs (such as oak and birch) are chipped into squares about the size of postage stamps. The chips are digested chemically, either with the prehydrolysis-kraft process or with sulfite process, to remove the lignin and hemicellulose. The pulp is bleached to remove the remaining traces of lignin, dried into a continuous sheet and rolled onto spools. The pulp has the consistency of thick posterboard paper and is delivered in rolls weighing some 500 lb (230 kg).


title: Lyocell

text: At the Lyocell mill, rolls of pulp are broken into one-inch squares and dissolved in N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO), giving a solution called "dope". The filtered cellulose solution is then pumped through spinnerets, devices used with a variety of synthetic fibers. The spinneret is pierced with small holes rather like a shower head; when the solution is forced through it, continuous strands of filament come out. The fibers are drawn in air to align the cellulose molecules, giving the Lyocell fibers its characteristic high strength. The fibers are then immersed into a water bath, where desolvation of the cellulose sets the fiber strands. The bath contains some dilute amine oxide in a steady state concentration. Then the fibers are washed with demineralised water. Next, the Lyocell fiber passes to a drying area, where the water is evaporated from it.


title: Lyocell

text: Manufacture then follows the same route as with other kinds of fibers such as viscose. The strands pass to a finishing area, where a lubricant, which may be a soap or silicone or other agents, depending on the future use of the fiber, is applied. This step is a detangler, prior to carding and spinning into yarn. At this stage, the dried, finished fibers are in a form called tow, a large, untwisted bundle of continuous lengths of filament. The bundles of tow are taken to a crimper, a machine that compresses the fiber, giving it texture and bulk. The crimped fiber is then carded by mechanical carders, which perform an action sort of like combing your hair, to separate and order the strands. The carded strands are then cut and baled for shipment to a fabric mill. The entire manufacturing process, from unrolling the raw cellulose to baling the fiber, takes roughly two hours. After this, the Lyocell may be processed in many ways. It may be spun with another fiber, such as cotton or wool. The resulting yarn can be woven or knitted like any other fabric, and may be given a variety of finishes, from soft and suede-like to silky.


title: Lyocell

text: The amine oxide used to dissolve the cellulose and set the fiber after spinning (NMMO) is recycled. Typically, 99 percent of the amine oxide is recovered. NMMO biodegrades without producing harmful products. Since there is little waste product, this process is relatively eco-friendly, though it is energy-intensive.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Black Book () is a 2006 war drama thriller film co-written and directed by Paul Verhoeven, and starring Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman and Halina Reijn. The film, credited as based on several true events and characters, is about a young Jewish woman in the Netherlands who becomes a spy for the resistance during World War II after tragedy befalls her in an encounter with the Nazis. The film had its world premiere on 1 September 2006 at the Venice Film Festival and its public release on 14 September 2006 in the Netherlands. It is the first film that Verhoeven made in the Netherlands since "The Fourth Man", made in 1983 before he moved to the United States.


title: Black Book (film)

text: The press in the Netherlands was positive; with three Golden Calves, "Black Book" won the most awards at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2006. The international press responded positively, as well, especially to the performance of Van Houten. It was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language, and was the Dutch submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007, but was not nominated.


title: Black Book (film)

text: It was three times more expensive than any Dutch film ever made, and also the Netherlands' most commercially successful, with the country's highest box-office gross of 2006. In 2008, the Dutch public voted it the best Dutch film ever.


title: Black Book (film)

text: In 1944, Dutch-Jewish singer Rachel Stein is hiding from the Nazi regime in the occupied Netherlands. When the farmhouse where she has been hiding is destroyed by an Allied bomber, she goes to see a lawyer named Smaal, who has been helping her family. He arranges for her to escape to the liberated southern part of the country. Aided by a man named Van Gein, Rachel is reunited with her family and boards a boat that is to take them and other refugees to the south. However, they are ambushed on the river by members of the German SS, who kill them and rob the bodies of valuables. Rachel alone survives, but does not manage to escape from occupied territory.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Using a non-Jewish alias, Ellis de Vries, Rachel becomes involved with a Dutch resistance group in the Hague, under the leadership of Gerben Kuipers and working closely with a doctor, Hans Akkermans. Smaal is in touch with this Resistance cell. When Kuipers's son and other members of the Resistance are captured, Ellis agrees to help by seducing local SD commander "Hauptsturmführer" Ludwig Müntze. At a party at the local SD headquarters, Ellis recognises "Obersturmführer" Günther Franken, Müntze's brutal deputy, as the officer who had overseen the massacre of refugees on the boat. She obtains a job as a secretary at the SD headquarters while also falling in love with Müntze who, in contrast to Franken, is not abusive or sadistic. He realises that she is a Jew, but does not care.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Thanks to a hidden microphone that Ellis plants in Franken's office, the Resistance realises that Van Gein is the traitor who betrayed Rachel, her family, and the other Jews to the SS. Against Kuipers's orders, Akkermans decides to abduct Van Gein to expose him. Their attempt goes wrong, and Van Gein is killed. Franken responds by planning to kill 40 hostages, including most of the plotters, but Müntze, who realises the war is lost and has been negotiating with the Resistance, countermands the order.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Müntze forces Ellis to tell him her story. On her evidence, he confronts Franken with a superior officer, "Obergruppenführer" Käutner, who orders Franken to open his safe, expecting to find the valuables stolen from the Jews he had killed, this being a capital offence. However, the safe contains no valuables, and Franken then tells Käutner that Müntze has been negotiating with Dutch resistance "terrorists" for a truce. Müntze is imprisoned and condemned to death. The Resistance plots to rescue their imprisoned members; Ellis agrees to cooperate only on the condition that they also free Müntze. The plan is betrayed, and the would-be rescuers find the prisoners' cells filled with German troops. Only Akkermans and one other man manage to flee.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Ellis is subsequently arrested and taken to Franken's office. He knows about her and the bug and, knowing that the Resistance is listening in, he stages a confrontation to make them believe that Ellis is the Nazi collaborator, responsible for the failure of the rescue. Kuipers and his companions swear to make her pay for her treason. Ronnie, a Dutch woman working at the SD headquarters to whom Ellis had confided her role in the Resistance, helps her and Müntze escape.


title: Black Book (film)

text: When the country is liberated by the Allies, Franken attempts to escape by boat, but is killed by Akkermans, who takes the Jewish loot. Suspecting Smaal is the traitor, Müntze and Ellis return to confront him. Smaal states that the identity of the traitor is evidenced by his 'black book', in which he had detailed all his dealings with Jews. However, he refuses to discuss further, wanting to go to the Canadian authorities. When they are about to leave, Smaal and his wife are killed by an unknown assailant. Müntze chases him into the street, only to be recognised by the Dutch crowd and arrested by soldiers from the Canadian Army. The Dutch also recognise Ellis and arrest her as a collaborator, but not before she grabs the black book.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Müntze is brought before the ranking Canadian officers and finds that Käutner is helping to keep order among the defeated German forces. Käutner convinces a Canadian colonel that under military law, the defeated German military retains the right to punish its own soldiers. Due to the previously issued death warrant, Müntze is executed by a firing squad.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Ellis is imprisoned with other accused collaborators, and humiliated and tortured by the violently anti-Nazi volunteer jailers, but rescued by Akkermans, who is now a colonel in the Dutch Army. Akkermans brings her to his medical office, and says that he killed Franken when the Nazi tried to escape. He shows her the valuables stolen from Jewish victims. When informed about Müntze's fate, Ellis goes into shock, and Akkermans administers a tranquilliser which is in fact an overdose of insulin. Ellis, feeling dizzy, sees the bottle of insulin and survives by quickly eating a bar of chocolate. She realises then that Akkermans is the traitor who had collaborated with Franken and had killed the Smaals. While Akkermans is distracted, waving to a crowd that cheers him, she jumps from the balcony into the crowd below, and runs away. He tries to follow, but is blocked by the crowd.


title: Black Book (film)

text: Ellis proves her innocence to Canadian military intelligence and to the former Resistance leader Gerben Kuipers by means of Smaal's black book, which lists how many Jews had been taken to Akkermans for medical help just prior to their murders. Together, Ellis and Kuipers intercept the fleeing Akkermans, who is hiding in a coffin in a hearse with the stolen money, gold, and jewels. They kill the driver, and while Kuipers drives the hearse, Ellis screws down the coffin's secret air vents. They drive to Hollands Diep where the original SS trap had been sprung, and wait until Akkermans suffocates. Ellis and Kuipers wonder what to do with the stolen money and jewels.


title: Black Book (film)

text: The scene changes to Israel in 1956, reprising the opening scenes, and shows Rachel meeting her husband and their two children, and walking back into Kibbutz Stein, with a sign at the gate announcing that it was funded with recovered money from Jews killed during the war. In the final scene, the tranquility of Rachel and her family is interrupted by explosions heard in the distance; the siren announces an air attack and Israeli soldiers position themselves at the front of the kibbutz.


title: Black Book (film)

text: After 20 years of filmmaking in the United States, Verhoeven returned to his homeland, the Netherlands, for the making of "Black Book". The story was written by Verhoeven and screenwriter Gerard Soeteman, with whom he made successful films such as "Turkish Delight" (1973) and "Soldier of Orange" (1977). The two men had been working on the script for fifteen years, but they solved their story problems in the early 2000s by changing the main character from male to female. According to Verhoeven, "Black Book" was born out of elements that did not fit in any of his earlier movies, and it can be seen as a supplement to his earlier film about World War II "Soldier of Orange".


title: Black Book (film)

text: Verhoeven has emphasised that the story does not show an obvious moral contrast between characters, for a theme of moral relativism: