Is Sprint's performance taking the zoom out of Xohm?

The departure of CEO Gary Forsee, combined with the poor performance of Sprint Nextel is putting the company’s WIMAX rollout in an increasingly precarious position.

The operator reported a 77 per cent drop in third quarter net income from $279m a year ago to $64m this year, while consolidated net operating revenues also fell to $10bn, compared to $10.5bn in the year ago third quarter. Also during the third quarter, the carrier noted capital investments of $73m related to the WiMAX initiative and wireless capital spending is expected to increase significantly in the fourth quarter.

Some aren’t goig to like that, especially rebel shareholder Ralph Whitworth. Is this the beginning of the end for the WiMAX poster child?