Nextel, Sprint Agree on Number Portability

Nextel Communications Inc. and Sprint Corp. agreed to let their wireless telephone customers take their phone numbers with them when they switch from one carrier to the other.

The agreement between Sprint’s PCS Group, the No. 4 U.S. mobile phone company, and Nextel, the fifth-largest, comes ahead of a federal rule requiring “number portability” by Nov. 24, the companies said.

The primary goal of the portability rule is to allow most mobile phone users to keep their numbers when switching wireless providers.

Shares of Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint PCS fell 6 cents to $5.85 on the NYSE. Shares of Nextel, based in Reston, Va., rose 54 cents to $19.86 on Nasdaq.