Rather than bring in a true outsider to shake up the integration-troubled telecom giant, Sprint Nextel Corp. tapped Daniel Hesse as president and CEO of the company. Hesse was leader of Embarq Corp., a wireline business Sprint spun off in May 2006. Regardless of whether investors or analysts think a bigger change is needed or they applaud hiring someone with some familiarity and a good track record, the number one focus will be to restore the firm's subscriber ranks. Hesse believes the firm has what it takes; he says, "There is no company in the wireless industry with a stronger set of assets." While he didn't get specific about strategy, we can take a peek at his playbook from Embarq in this Telecommunications Online article, where Hesse's three principles were to improve customer and employee satisfaction, and to innovate on new services.

The 23-year AT&T veteran, who led AT&T Wireless to become the U.S.' largest wireless operator in the late '90s, made no mention of his WiMax plans regarding Xohm for 2008. — Baz Hiralal

Go to the Sprint announcement

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