Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel CEO Dan Hesse has confirmed that the beleaguered carrier has received “significant interest” for its Nextel iDen business, but questioned whether any deal in which the buyer would have to raise capital to fund it would go through, the FT.com reports. Hesse, speaking at company’s debut of its Xohm 4G wireless mobile broadband service, also said that a sale wasn’t the company’s “only option”. Reports surfaced at the beginning of October that a consortium of PE firms might be offering $5-$6 billion for the unit—a whole lot less than the $35 billion the carrier paid three years ago. That deal was also questioned, thanks to the credit crunch. Hesse said in September that Sprint would only sell the iDen unit if they got a “compelling offer” and that the carrier had already begun “invigorating” the network and had launched four new handsets on it.

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