OK, we're late to this discussion. But the idea of a telecom service provider outsourcing management of its network -- as Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE:S) is thinking about doing, according to The Wall Street Journal -- seems surprising.
Not that Sprint doesn't have plenty of reasons for moving to a new playbook. Quarterly results released Monday were the kind of comparatively good news that only comes from a company struggling to right itself. The company lost $594 million, but subscriber losses
are slowing, according to the AP. As Chris Nolter wrote Friday on Dealscape, the Boost Mobile prepaid wireless service is a
bright spot.
According to the Journal piece,
Sprint is talking to Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson about managing the network and moving 5,000 to 7,000 Sprint employees over there. Sprint would still own the cell towers and fund capital investment, but it would be freed up to concentrate on "product development, marketing and strategic partnerships."
A telecom company that doesn't run its network and still pays for the new gear? Highly unusual in the U.S., but apparently not elsewhere. The Journal piece cites India's Bharti Airtel Ltd. as a company that has done it.
And indeed, having previously outsourced its wireless operations to Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network, and its IT infrastructure to IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Bharti last week said it will
outsource its fixed-line operations to Alcatel Lucent SA (NYSE:ALU), according to the Hindustan Times. -
Kenneth Klee
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This is the week Hesse iis flying back From Cape Cod to outsourse / sell us out. For the media any can cut jobs to increase profits. Hesse has been on the job for a year and you need to starrt asking the question whhat heas he done to increase sales. Not Much! He and his staff need to be outsourced...