Trouble in operator land: Sprint Nextel has forecast flat to slightly higher revenues in 2007 and said it will slash 5,000 jobs to cut costs as profit is under pressure from lower margins, sending shares down 8 percent, reports Reuters.
“In the near term, a lower margin revenue mix, investment of an additional $1.1 billion in our business operations and start-up costs associated with the build-out of our fourth generation WiMAX wireless network will pressure profitability,” said Sprint CEO Gary Forsee said in a statement.
AP: During Q4, Sprint added 742,000 net subscribers, ending the year with a customer base of 53.1 million. Those numbers include wholesale subscribers such as Virgin Mobile. The Q4 net additions included 876,000 from both wholesalers and affiliate companies, as well as 171,000 new customers for Boost, a wholly owned subsidiary geared toward younger consumers.
Offsetting the gains, however, was a net decline of 306,000 direct subscribers driven by a continuing exodus of Nextel subscribers amid frustration over worsening service quality.