Sprint Nextel’s next president and CEO, succeeding the ousted Gary Forsee, will be Daniel R. Hesse. Sprint had previously hired Hesse to run its local telephony operations.
Sprint spun that business off in 2006; Hesse remained with the operation – christened Embarq – as its chairman, president and CEO.
Prior to joining Sprint, Hesse had a 23-year career at AT&T, culminating in a stint from 1997 to 2000 as the president and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services.
“Dan Hesse is the right person to lead our company,” said Sprint board member Irvine O. Hockaday Jr., who chaired the board’s CEO search committee. “He is a proven leader with deep wireless experience as a chief executive and an established track record of generating strong operating performance. He has the board’s full support to take decisive actions necessary to improve our performance.”
Under Forsee, Sprint began to reach beyond cellular services, entering a joint venture (JV) with cable operators that allowed the MSOs to expand their bundles from three to four services (video, data, VoIP and mobile telephony), and exploring the use of WiMAX as the basis for a nationwide data network.
The canned comments from the current board indicate a desire to pull back in and refocus on cellular, with an emphasis on branding, the bottom line and shareholder value.
