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Sprint Profits Dive 77% As Subscribers Defect

Network loses most customers since Nextel merger

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 1, 2007 12:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – Sprint Nextel subscribers jumped ship this quarter, taking the stumbling wireless giant’s profits with them. Profit fell 77% this quarter, Bloomberg reports, as 337,000 contract customers departed, the biggest exodus since the Nextel merger. The company said it would miss its 10% growth goal next year. “Their whole strategy is in disarray,” said one analyst, calling the outlook “pretty dismal.”

Sprint shares fell $.65 in early trading. Acting CEO Paul Saleh said the company was “operating with a renewed sense of urgency,” and was focused on keeping existing customers rather than seeking out new ones. Saleh is for now replacing ousted CEO Gary Forsee, who oversaw the troubled Nextel merger. Former Nextel customers have been the fastest to drop contracts.

In a file photo passers-by walk past a Sprint Store in Boston, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 . (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
In a file photo passers-by walk past a Sprint Store in Boston, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 . (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)   (Associated Press)
Gary Forsee, former CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp., gives a news conference in New York in this Aug. 8, 2006 file photo. Forsee stepped down Oct. 8, 2007 in response to growing criticism and plunging profits (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
Gary Forsee, former CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp., gives a news conference in New York in this Aug. 8, 2006 file photo. Forsee stepped down Oct. 8, 2007 in response to growing criticism and plunging profits...   (Associated Press)
A Sprint phone store sign is enveloped by sunlight and shadows in this Feb. 28, 2007 file photo, in Murray, Utah. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, file)
A Sprint phone store sign is enveloped by sunlight and shadows in this Feb. 28, 2007 file photo, in Murray, Utah. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, file)   (Associated Press)
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