using the Sprint brand. Sprint provided back-end support such as billing and telephone-based customer service, while the affiliates built and maintained the network, sold equipment to customers, and staffed the retail stores in their specific regions. Its customers could "roam" across Sprint-operated and affiliate-operated portions of the network without being aware of the distinction, and vice versa. Outwardly, efforts were made to make it appear as if the network was operated by a single entity under the Sprint name, though complex revenue-sharing agreements were in place which was very similar in nature to cross-carrier roaming tariffs. In later years, the relationship between Sprint and its affiliates grew contentious, particularly after Sprint's acquisition of Nextel. Various affiliates included Swiftel Communications in Brookings, South Dakota; Shentel in northern Virginia, and parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. Sprint Rural Alliance Sprint Rural Alliance (SRA) members (aka Sprint Partners) were carriers who used their own equipment and also sold their own service under their own name while using Sprint spectrum. Sprint was given access to the SRA network in return for allowing the use of Sprint spectrum. This allowed Sprint to keep the spectrum license for the geographic area being served by the SRA member. Alaska DigiTel in Alaska was an SRA Member. Former SRA Members included Alltel Wireless in Montana; This portion of the network was obtained by AT&T during the merger of Alltel and Verizon Wireless, Pioneer Cellular in Kansas and Oklahoma; they ended their agreement with Sprint on March 1, 2012, and transitioned to an agreement with Verizon through the LTE in Rural America program, nTelos; operated in West Virginia and was bought out and merged with Shentel which was a Sprint Affiliate. Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) Sprint Corporation provided capacity on its CDMA2000, EVDO, and LTE wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), which allowed other wireless providers to utilize its networks to offer its services. Sprint's prepaid brands operated using Sprint's networks, though they were not MVNOs, but rather wholly owned prepaid subsidiaries of the company. Bring Your Own Sprint Device Sprint Corporation allowed certain Sprint MVNOs to accept and activate old Sprint-branded phones through its "Bring Your Own Sprint Device" program which was established for Sprint's initiative to further reduce the number of cell phones that were thrown away each year. The program was also beneficial to MVNOs customers who did not want to pay