Sprint lays off 4,000 employees, closes stores, cuts rates; may sell off assets

Following on the release of financial reports outlining Sprint (NYSE: S)’s drain-circling demise into red-ink hell, Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse has made some significant moves to help stem further losses. The troubled chief has decided to lay off about 4,000 employees across the US and plans to close retail store locations as well as cutting monthly wireless rates in an attempt to gain back some of its 1+ million lost subscribers last quarter.

While the No. 3 US carrier has managed to secure its WiMAX-future in its partnership with Clearwire, it’s future as a Big-Three voice-network operator hinges on Sprint’s ability to claw its way back to profitability. As such, Sprint’s Hesse is considering selling off company assets as well as securing new credit terms.

Nextel could also see itself set loose from Sprint’s grip, but Hesse mentioned that selling off the iDEN network side of its business would involve “significant complexities.” And, the $36 billion acquisition of Nextel would likely only net Sprint something like $5 billion in today’s market – a huge loss indeed, but $5 billion is still $5 billion that Sprint is badly in need of.

We’ll have to wait and see how the new cost-cutting measures, combined with moves to recapture lost customers, helps out Sprint’s bottom line.

[Via: Bloomberg]