Sprint is the de-acronymized name for SPRINT: Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony They started doing public long distance on their own (rai

Sprint is the de-acronymized name for SPRINT: Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony They started doing public long distance on their own (railroad) network in the 1970s. They were restrained (and frequently sued by) AT&T. The breakup opened the floodgates. They were sold like a half dozen times in the 80s. But, MCI was AFAIK the largest early fiber pioneer.