From an enterprise user perspective, the appointment of Dan Hesse as Sprint’s new CEO is the appointment we hoped Sprint would make. The company is facing a number of important challenges, and thus can greatly benefit from Mr. Hesse’s depth of industry experience. Several key issues that the new CEO should swiftly address include:

1. The appointment of a chief operating officer. Sprint’s ambitions and challenges are such that one man can’t do it all in the timeframe that critical decisions need to be made and executed upon. Despite Mr. Hesse’s strong track record in telecom operations, the COO position is a full time job, and Mr. Hesse already has one as CEO.

2. The future of enterprise services, particularly landline. Enterprises need alternatives to the effective duopoly of AT&T and Verizon Business and would like Sprint to be a key enterprise service provider going forward. In order to fulfill this objective substantially, sustainable commitment from Sprint and its new CEO is required in 2008 and beyond. 

3. The future of WiMax. A key component of commitment to enterprises is their need to find an alternative access mechanism to traditional ILEC T1 connections, which are expensive and increasingly prone to outages.  WiMax has the potential to be that vehicle, and can bring with it packets and minutes to enhance Sprint’s top-line revenue.

– Lisa Pierce