Sprint continues to lose subs

WiMAX pin-up Sprint Nextel reported a loss for the quarter to end June 30, as the operator’s woes endured and customers continued to jump ship.

The loss came in at $344m, compared to a profit of $19m in the same period last year, as the operator’s wireless subscriber base shrank by 2.1 million since the same period last year.

Over 901,000 wireless users jumped ship during the quarter, with churn remaining at 2 per cent. Net operating revenues also crashed by 11 per cent to $9bn.

Yet Sprint boss Dan Hesse insists the tide is turning. “We are seeing signs of progress from our efforts to improve the customer experience, rebuild the Sprint brand and increase our profitability,” he said. “Our company-wide retention efforts, which include Simply Everything plans, our Now Network campaign and the launch of the Instinct handset are proving to be effective retention tools, particularly for high-value customers, and this is beginning to have positive impacts on churn and ARPU.”