"I don't want to lead you to believe that the economy will have no impact," he said in response to a question at a here, just nine days after the throughout most of the city. "We're monitoring the situation closely. There will be some impact on our business."

But he said Sprint feels "relatively fortunate" and "more insulated" than other businesses that depend on consumer spending because of the central role wireless devices are taking n peoples' lives.

"On the consumer side, in the last five years, wireless has become a staple," Hesse said. "People would rather give up TV or Internet before the cell phone." He said there are more concerns about the impact of the economy on the wireline side of telecommunications, "where customers are more likely to cut the cord" than with wireless.

Hesse acknowledged that a continuing poor economy could mean that Sprint might have to sell wireless devices "perhaps ... with not as many bells and whistles" for less, suggesting a phone in the US$99 range might be sold in the $79 range.

The Xohm service in Baltimore has been described as offering a range of network service options to attract a variety of users, including consumers, students and small and medium-size business users who travel within the city. A day rate of $10 is available, for example, with average downlink speeds of 2Mbit/sec. to 4 Mbit/sec.