• CNBC.com, Friday, February 20, 2009 10:45 AM

Sprint Nextel shares surged 20% on Thursday, as investors overlooked a fourth quarter loss that was narrower-than-expected. The company had other good news to share, too: Its exclusive deal to sell Palm's new Pre phone will last through the end of the year.

CNBC.com broke the news, citing an unnamed source who confirmed that the exclusive arrangement would last through the end of 2009. The Palm Pre, which is viewed as a potentially strong competitor to Apple's iPhone, is scheduled to go on sale sometime in the first half of the year.

CNBC says that that many analysts see the Pre as Palm's best chance to improve its weak market position as it has been losing customers to the iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry. When the Pre was announced last month, some analysts were disappointed that Sprint would be the exclusive carrier because the company had been losing customers to rivals over the last few years.

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