Another interview with Sprint (NYSE: S) CEO Dan Hesse, who stepped in nearly a year ago to turn the ailing carrier around. Hesse’s focus on customer service seems to be working—in a recent J.D. Power and Associates study, Sprint actually tied for first place in best customer service in the Southwest. This is after nearly two and a half years of coming in “dead last”.

Much of the Forbes.com interview covers familiar ground. Sprint continues to focus on customer service, while simplifying its tariffs. For instance, it has gotten rid of 85 percent of the combinations it used to sell, which it says is not just easier on subscribers, but on their own customer service reps who must be able to explain and sell them. Last week, it rolled out Ready Now in its stores, in which customers can get one-on-one help setting up the new features on their phone. It continues to evaluate what to do with Nextel and its iDen network, and is “excited” about WiMax, with Hesse dismissing that it’s over-hyped. As for handsets, he believes Samsung’s Instinct will continue to do well “for quite some time,” while tipping HTC’s Touch Diamond and Touch Pro as likely to do “really well,” if not become “iconic.”

Still, Hesse knows how damaged the Sprint brand is, noting that an “inherent, natural skepticism” lingers around the carrier. Hesse: “I used to be at AT&T (NYSE: T), and we always felt we could launch something new—because it came from AT&T, people believed it and thought it was wonderful. Some brands have that kind of fairy dust. Apple’s (NSDQ: AAPL) got it now—they could launch a new product, people wouldn’t even know what they were selling and there would be lines around the block. We’ve got the other issue. You bring out something great, like “Ready Now,” and people go, “Oh, it’s Sprint.” We’ve got to turn that around.”AT&T And Verizon To Massively Dominate US Wireless Market?

• AT&T And Verizon To Massively Dominate US Wireless Market?