US-based telecommunications holding company Sprint has announced the name of its new chief executive officer and president – billionaire entrepreneur Marcelo Claure, who is the founder of wireless company Brightstar. Claure is scheduled to take the new role starting August 11 2014. He will replace Daniel R. Hesse, who is the current chief and will leave the company by then.
The company also disclosed that it has given up the idea of a merger with the smaller carrier T-Mobile US, which also faced uncertainty by the antitrust regulators.
Masayoshi Son, Sprint’s Chairman, and Chief Executive of SoftBank, the Japanese carrier that owns the majority of Sprint, has been quoted saying that “While we continue to believe industry consolidation will enhance competitiveness and benefit customers, our focus moving forward will be on making Sprint the most successful carrier.”
Claure is joining the company during difficult times as it is losing customers as a result of its slow upgrade to the latest technology, called 4G LTE, which is much faster than the previous technology, 3G. This is largely benefitting its rivals including AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, who all are offering broad LTE networks.
Hesse has been quoted saying that “I’m proud of the resilience of Sprint’s people during a difficult transformation, and I’m optimistic about how they will build on a foundation of innovation to succeed in the future.”
