Volatility Will Delay Sprint Pcs Offering

The volatility of world financial markets has led Sprint Corp. to delay plans to take its wireless operations public this year.

Sprint, the nation’s third-largest long-distance phone company, had hoped to sell stock in its Sprint PCS unit later this year and use the expected $600 million in proceeds to expand the mobile-phone services, currently used by 1.75 million customers in 160 U.S. markets.

Sprint’s investment bankers will re-evalute the stability of the markets and reconsider a public offering in three to four months, Sprint spokesman Bill White said.

“We’re in the middle of a very confusing, raucous, expensive transition in the world right now, and telecommunications is particularly unstable,” said Atlantabased telecommunications analyst Jeffrey Kagan.