According to the press release that went out after the merger, "The new company will have robust wireless network capabilities, including Nextel's current nationwide 800MHz/iDEN network, Sprint's national 1.9GHz/CDMA network, and Sprint's nationwide deployment of wireless EVDO. Sprint Nextel's plans include migrating Nextel services over time, including push-to-talk service, to Sprint's CDMA EVDO network." So to answer your specific question regarding the quality of service for current Sprint subscribers, well, it remains to be seen how things play out once Sprint rolls out its EVDO network in early 2006. But until that time, you should expect things to remain the same. Additionally, the Sprint/Nextel merger differs from the Cingular/AT&T merger in that while Cingular and AT&T operate on the same network (GSM), Sprint and Nextel currently operate on different networks: CDMA and iDEN, respectively. And lastly, Sprint already has a walkie-talkie-like service, called Ready Link, with a few of its headsets.