Sprint’s nose bleed has been working its way towards "gusher" status for quite some time, and their board is hoping that this latest move is the suture. Last year Sprint even went as far as cancelling subscriber contracts because they deemed them to be costing the company too much as a result of customer service calls. Of course firing customers might not have been the best idea in hindsight. You’d think they would relish every last one, as almost 640,000 subscribers headed for the hills on their own accord in the fourth quarter of 2007 alone. Clipping whiny customers was just the beginning, however, and Sprint will now be turning the gun on its own [again]. Word is in today that they will be laying off approximately 4,000 employees and closing at least 125 retail locations this year. No, axing 5,000 employees in 2007 apparently didn’t quite do the trick apparently. Perhaps Sprint should go back to laying cable for the railroad; this cellular thing isn’t working out so well. Dan Hesse and friends better have something up their respective sleeves as it’s going to take a bit more than WiMAX to turn this ship around.
