Several years ago, I paid $100-ish to buy out my Sprint contract. I was fed up with their service. Every part about Sprint sucked. Service sucked, reliability sucked, customer service sucked, and billing sucked. I can’t even beging to tell you how many dropped calls, billing errors, and other problems I had with Sprint.
I had USCellular before that, and they weren’t any better, so I decided I’d give Nextel a try. I knew several people that used Nextel and everyone had nothing but good things to say about them. Sure, the monthly cost is almost double that of other carriers, but if it works it’s worth it, right?
So, for the last 2-3 years I’ve been an extremely happy and satisfied Nextel customer. Though the coverage area isn’t as large as most carriers, it covers the areas that I go to, so it’s great for me. 
The walkie-talkie part is also amazing.
Anyway, to get on to my rant, earlier this week it was announced that Sprint is buying out Nextel, though most news sources simply refer to it as a merger. The new company will be called Sprint Nextel, and you can read all the juicy details about it here.
With my past experiences with Sprint, I will not continue service with the new company. Granted it will be some time before the two networks fully come together, but I have no faith in Sprint, and will drop service (or buy out my contract) after the deal is finalized. I know several other people that feel the same way.
Though, neither company has come out to say what this means for the customers. Lower prices for former Nextel customers? Better price plans? What about the current contracts? My contract is with Nextel, not Sprint Nextel. Will I still be bound by the terms under my contract?
Years ago when Sega Online is picked up by Earthlink, former Sega Online suscribers were offered the option to discontinue service with the new provider. Will the Sprint Nextel deal offer the same? I hope so.