'Significant' January layoffs, price war on the horizon for Sprint?

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What you said is true. Thanks!
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You clearly are an executive at Sprint. Now I know why the company is failing with people like you at the top. Sprint just layed off 8000! That is drastic! That's 8000 families being effected!. Get your head out of your butt!

yeah, and i think i remember you too. Reston, right? I think i met you when i was in town. i remember the attitude and sense of despair...not being critical.

lots leaving on the at&t and vz bus, you're right.

good luck job hunting!

Can't take the heat! Get out of the kitchen! Better yet, make the positives outweigh the negatives. Good luck.

Being Anonymous

I remember too. Although I came to Sprint as a contractor with years of successful experience I decided to stay, albeit in a division that did listen. operational word is did, and now, well, I don't really care if I am laid off or not. How is that for mediocrity. I would have taken VSP but instead will use the time to look for a job and if or when I get the pink slip I will be ready to move on. Unlike many of my peers I have a great network outside of Sprint including some of the customers I support. A lot of my department is likely going to India, not bashing just stating the facts. To those we see small layoffs - wake up and smell the coffee. If management wants to retain staff they are going to have to give increases this year so to fund a 3% increase they will need to layoff at least 4% of the workforce. Then they need 3 billion over the short term to repay debt so there is probably another 6% reduction or more. I think 10% is being optimistic. Last year I know of divisions that saw 24% of the staff laid off while others had none. If ATT who is doing better in this economy is laying off 12K workers Sprint execs will say hey if they can layoff 12K then we surely can do 15K. Maybe they break it up into two layoffs in 2009, would not be the first time. So what if no work gets done because the employees are all PO. Oh, and if you got bonuses this year I would not expect any next year. The whole STI plan is likely to go away and only executive level bonuses will remain because after all they are the folks who make the company, uh, what is that word - successful? Any way even if you are not laid off your entire operational department may be outsourced to IBM or someone who will then lay you off and Dan and the senior team will not take a hit on that because after all they did not fire you, oh and that way there will be no separation payouts. Maybe getting the ax is the best way to go? I know, it is the most negative spin but better to be prepared for that then to think there will be a small layoff. Laid off or rebadged, same think in my opinion. Time to join most of my friends who worked here until the last couple of years and put on the Verizon or ATT badge. Or maybe a government job somewhere. I remember you, you are right on and the attitude is still here!

"it's fairly obvious that the 'Sprint Connection' board has become primarily a mosh pit for disgruntled ex-Sprint employees."

Sprint has become a mosh pit for distrungtled employees.

There.... fixed that for ya.

Puh-leeze, enough is enough. In case you haven't noticed, it's fairly obvious that the 'Sprint Connection' board has become primarily a mosh pit for disgruntled ex-Sprint employees. You aren't helping by posting rumours from 'Research Analysts'. Why not start a 'Verizon Connection'? Drop a few rumours there and perhaps the Sprint bashers will move over there and find something to complain about. You would be doing Kansas City a favor.

To the writer of "NOW Network": Thanks, you have made me LOL! Good work. By the way, some of the elves left over from 2002 are still at Sprint. They could not pour pee from boot with directions written on the heel but they could do all the things that Diane Stafford writes about.

And now I’m SLMAO!

Still Being Anonymous

Thank you thank you thank you... There couldn't be a most rediculous award. The billions we spend on diversity is just insane, Just hire good people! A CDO?! Are you friggin serious?!

Sprint is toast. Believe it.

What exactly is a NOW Network? NOW it works and NOW it doesn't? What exactly is Big Daddy Dan trying to sell in his NOW commercials? Big Daddy Dan....SHOW US THE NEW PHONES!!!

Its not the Sprint Employees fault nor the Nextel Employees fault that Sprint Nextel is heading towards its demise, its BIG DADDY DAN and his Elves with their Golden Parachute Bonus' flying the friendly skies.

Ask any one of the Exec's and they will tell you that the Sprint Nextel Network is running the BEST it ever has...well...DUH Dan and Exec's...because you are losing customers daily so therefore freeing up your bandwidth on your Network.

What about the HUGE costs Sprint Nextel pays each year for Green Cards, H1 Card sponsorships, etc., while laying off top talented employees born on America soil. The last layoff in March of this year, 97% were white/caucasian....3% were minorities...I am sure Dan is spit shining his "Diversity Trophy" daily while familes are out on the streets due to no job and horrible Management at Sprint Nextel.

P.S. Needs backhaul

Ok, I for one am tired of the unfounded accusations about lacking backhaul for WiMAX. What on earth are you talking about?

I read all these snarky commments about "forgetting backhaul" and Ms. Walker... Either post some documented facts about this supposed mistake or find another topic.

There's no way Sprint would forget to design backaul into the WiMAX network, or devices, or towers, or the air interface, or anything else that obvious. That's absurd. It's possible to critique mistakes without saying that a fundamental building block is missing.

To keep repeating "no backhaul" without proof makes you look like a fool and discredits anyone with a legitimate comment about Sprint. Not everyone who believes the company has much room to improve is a wingnut or a bitter exemployee or wants to turn everything into a debate about Visas.

I hope my cliquety misMANAGEMENT is reading these posts in shock and dismay while they frantically try to reprimand and fire those who speak of how Sprint REALLY operates the ship. Someone was right, Paul Henson is turning in his grave right now. Screw you for your pious righteous arrogance against your employee base. The ones who fight hard to make you proud while feeding us rah-rah BS every quarter. Once again, Sprint managed to conquer one insignificant measurement in the SW region JD Power survey and they want to claim national victory. Now go pick your nose in a stall somewhere fondling your blackberries while you think of some more BS powerpoint presentations you'd like for us to manufacture to make you look good to your uppers. P.O. to all you smooth talking wankers!!!

That is, if your Clearwire, T-Mobile, Verizon and ATT.

Let’s go and take a peek and see what’s under the tree.

Well here is a nice gift.

TO: Clearwire
FROM: The Sprint Xohm team

Here’s 49% ownership of our one market, WiMax network. Please take good care of it. It took our team of thousands, 2 full years to build it. P.S. Needs backhaul and paying customers with gas cards for the drive to Baltimore

Oh look, here’s another nice package.

TO: Verizon and ATT
FROM: Sprint

Since you guys both have new Blackberries (Bold, Storm) out for the Christmas holidays and ATT has the amazing iPhone and the best we at Sprint could do is give away old models that no one wants, here’s 500k of our highest ARPU customers for the both of you. All you have to do to keep them is to get their bill correct every month and make sure your Customer Care reps can read, write and speak English. And besides, the fewer customers we have on our network, the better it seems to perform.

I think this is the last gift under the tree.

TO: T-Mobile
FROM: Sprint

We’re not sure what you guys are doing right, but we’re going to give you 250k of our highest ARPU customers anyway just because we don’t understand how to operate and manage a wireless company.

Well here’s another gift under the tree (I almost missed this one)

TO: Sprint Employees
FROM: Sprint Executives

Due to the continued gross mismanagement of our company, the outdated, top down, draconian management style of our Board of Directors and Executives we give to you, the 8th annual 2009, pink slips.

No need, they brought India here and on the cheap.

I can't wait for Sprint to shut their doors. The poster child of the outsourcing and insourcing model that has been a dismal failure for all companies that have tried it.

Write your congressman and send an email to CNN and let's generate as much negative press about Sprint as we can.

That is how you fight back against companies that are anti-American.

Please, nobody go postal at work! Kick the dog or something...

Great point!! Sprint has spent alot on lobbying and donations to politicians. Where's the payback? I expect a bailout here...if it's ok for GM it better be for Sprint. Sprint is part of critical US telecom infrastructure and carries lots of government traffic.

My vote for Obama better help save us and my friends at Sprint. Obama talks about highway infrastructure spending, what about information superhighway spending? Help build wimax as part of the Obama broadband plan! Yes, I expect a bailout as we can't stand to see more layoffs or let Sprint go under.

And bring back Tim. Between Obama and Tim, Sprint will be back and stronger than ever!

Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse said he made a mistake last week by expecting signs of a turnaround to help win investor support for his plan to raise $3 billion in a convertible stock sale.
``We just kind of miscalculated,'' Hesse said today in a telephone interview. ``It's really easy to do when these markets are so turbulent..." Yes, he's the best out there!!! He is my super hero. I'll sleep better at night know my sprint stock will be worth something. LOL LOL LOL MF's!!!!!

Wireless phone customers who call their provider when experiencing a problem are waiting on hold longer than in the past to speak with a service representative, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Wireless Customer Care Performance StudySM—Volume 2 released today.

Now in its sixth year, the semi-annual study provides a detailed report card on wireless carrier customer care service in three areas: telephone calls with a service representative and/or automated response system (ARS); visits to a retail wireless store; and via the Internet. Within each contact method, processing issues such as problem resolution efficiency and hold-time duration are also measured.

The study finds that the average amount of time wireless customers spend on hold before speaking with a customer service representative in 2008 is 4.4 minutes—up 34 percent from the average hold time in 2003 (3.3 minutes).

“As customers try new and increasingly complex wireless phone services and products—such as playing MP3 files, capturing still pictures or video or downloading ring tones—they are more likely to call their provider for support,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates. “Customer care centers and service representatives are under pressure to handle the increase in inquiries, while still trying to understand and resolve the customer’s issue on the initial contact. This can potentially increase the number of transfers and the hold times for customers. With an increase in hold times, providers run the risk of decreasing customer satisfaction and losing customers to other providers, as switching levels are 83 percent higher among customers who are put on hold, compared with those who are not.”

Forty-nine percent of wireless customers have contacted the customer care service center for assistance within the past year—an increase from 47 percent reported six months ago. Additionally, among customers who contacted the service department, 34 percent did so due to service/equipment issues.

Verizon Wireless ranks highest in wireless customer care performance with an index score of 103, followed by Alltel (102), T-Mobile (100) AT&T (97) and Sprint (-234). Specifically, customers report that Verizon Wireless performs particularly well in resolving problems in one contact.

“The fact that Verizon Wireless performs well in resolving issues with one contact is particularly noteworthy,” said Parsons. “Overall customer care performance is three times higher among customers whose issues were resolved in one contact over the phone, compared with those who had to contact their provider more than once for the same issue.”

Want to break your Sprint cellphone contract without paying an early termination fee? On January 1, 2009, Sprint will increase the Administrative fee to $.99 per line. Because this is what is known as a "materially adverse change of contract," and because of the basic contractual principle that you can't change someone's contract without their explicit permission (not the tacit, "opt-out" kind), you can use it to argue that the fee renders your contract void and you can end service without a termination fee. You do have to be willing to argue without giving up with a number of different Sprint employees first, like Matt did... Pass this on to anyone you know who is a sprint user.

another twit who copies and pastes the same comment over and over......next

For two years I worked in an out/inbound call center that took payments and collections for Sprint and Nextel. First hand I witnessed literally hundreds of horrifying acts committed this company.

From a man being stranded half way across the country attending his brother's funeral because a rep had maxed out his credit card by adding a zero and then refusing to refund him for 7 business days to an elderly man being "sold" 4 Motorola razors when it was very clear that he was confused and barely knew what a cell phone was.

If your interested in more detailed stories just email me I've felt dirty ever since I worked there and would like to come clean. Signed Dan Hesse

Is that all you can do is copy and past the same comment on each blog here?

The company began offering voluntary buyouts to employees in human resources, corporate communications, and finance in November. The workers have until Dec. 3 to apply for the offers, and those who get them will depart by the end of January. Sprint also has stopped buying all but essential office supplies, and has even reduced the number of printers its staffers use to cut expenses. “The cost cuts have been effective, but the EBIDTA [earnings before charges such as depreciation and taxes] is still declining,” says Arden. “There’s only so much cost they can take out of the business.”" Whoever the goof ball is below with her head in the sand about small layoffs....wake up!!! You will probably be the first one to go. We can only hope.

I am a new customer to sprint and in the short time that I have been a Sprint customer, I have experienced a lack of customer service unparalleled in my history as a customer of numerous carriers. Basically, Sprint agreed to replace a defective Treo 650 phone that I had, but in order to secure the return of the defective unit, they stated they would have to charge my credit card approximately $600 and then it would be reversed when they received the defective phone back (who does it this way...isn't it supposed to be "we'll charge your credit card if we DON'T receive the defective equipment back?"). Of course, they sent me the wrong model Treo 650 (w/o the camera) and when I called back and they told me it would be no problem to send me the right model Treo 650, what they didn't tell me was that they were now going to charge my Sprint account approximately $600 for the second replacement to be sent out to me. This charge, combined with my current month's balance (which wasn't even due yet) put me past some credit threshold on Sprint's account and so within a day or two, my phone was turned off (without me even being notified about it - I just couldn't make phone calls one day and this is how I found out about it).

Regular Sprint customer service was completely unhelpful and couldn't promise me anything beyond turning my phone back on for a day or two (and since I hadn't yet received the second replacement, there would be no way for me to return the defective phone before the service was turned off again). I should also mention that my father was in the hospital right around this time undergoing a cardiac catherization (or something along those lines where they use angioplasty and stents) and I needed to be able to communicate with my family to know how he was doing. Being that it was a weekend, I had to wait until Monday before I could call Sprint Corporate, and I finally got through to a representative who apologized for the inconvenience, agreed to turn my service back on again and ensure it wasn't turned off, and credited me my first month's balance in full. If this had been the end of things, I would have been OK (unhappy, but I would have managed). Unfortunately, it was just the beginning.

Even though I eventually got the second replacement and returned the first replacement and my defective phone promptly, Sprint apparently had a lot of problems receiving it, confirming it, and noting it on my account. In fact, they had so many problems that after I had confirmed they had received both units via UPS, my phone service was shut off a second time, and a THIRD time (after I was promised by the corporate representative that it wouldn't be shut off again)!!!

Additionally, Sprint screwed up again and credited the initial charges for both phones back to my Sprint account instead of one back to my Sprint account and one back to my credit card account. Because the only balance on my credit card account was the Sprint charge and I assumed they would be crediting it back to this card (and even confirmed this with the Sprint corporate representative), I didn't pay the balance, and when it wasn't credited back correctly, I got hit with late fees and finance charges on my credit card. All in all, even after I got through to their corporate office and was promised that there wouldn't be any more problems, they screwed things up even worse.

When things were finally straightened out, I called their corporate office back and spoke with the same representative that I initially spoke with to see what could be done to compensate me for ALL of these problems. I asked for three things which I didn't think was too greedy: to be let out of my 2-year contract so I could leave at any time (even though I informed them that at this point I wasn't planning on leaving since even though they had really screwed things up for me so far, the rate plan was better than I could get anywhere else), to receive the unlimited SMS messaging plan for free (normally $5/month), and to get a $5/month credit on my PCS Vision Plan (so instead of paying $15 a month, I'd only pay $10 - I'd read a bunch of places that Sprint was now even offering PCS Vision for $10/month in some places so this was hardly an over-the-top request). The representative came back after meeting with her management team (explain to me again why she needs to meet with her supervisors...I thought this was corporate, where the person I'm speaking to is authorized to do what is necessary, not to get approval from above) and told me that what they could do is give me 3 more months of service for free, and allow me to leave Sprint in the next 30 days with no early termination fee, but that she couldn't let me out of my 2-year contract permanently. I was fine with the 3 months of service for free, but given everything that had happened in the past, I really wanted the ability to leave Sprint at my convenience without an early termination fee. I argued for a while with the representative and got nowhere, and so now I have to decide within 30 days if I want to stay with them for another year and 10 months or leave and go elsewhere.

The problem with leaving and going elsewhere is that most of the other major carriers (Verizon, Cingular, etc.) don't offer rate plans comparable to Sprint's (I'm on the $50 Fair and Flexible 700 minutes plan with $5 no roaming, no long distance, nights and weekends starting at 9 PM, $15 PCS Vision Professional Pack (includes unlimited data usage with my Treo 650), and 100 SMS messages per month). The sooner the company goes out of business the better for the american consumer. Lick me hesse!

In 2008, Sprint wrote off losses of $29.7 billion resulting from impairment of the company's goodwill. Sprint has also struggled to reduce its customer churn rate which is one of the highest in the industry. Customers have been leaving Sprint due to what they perceive as poor customer service. Owing to corporation's large debt, Fitch Ratings cut Sprint's credit rating to Junk status. S&P is also considering a similar move. These are the only awards I'm aware of for Sprint. Are there more? Great job Dan! I think the Plan Man should be running the joint.

(1) Close stores in smallest third of markets, utilize Best Buywebsales for those markets. Can't justify the cost of staffing stores and marketing campaigns in markets that drive handfuls of applications each month. Let any prospective customers go to Best Buy.

(2) Outsource marketing activities to your marketing firm and maintain your national branding message. If you have no capital for projects, why are you paying marketing project managers? Corporate marketing needs to be cut by 80% to 90%.

(3) Compensation for Best Buy needs to pay more than Verizon and AT&T for the best customers, but only marginal for sub-prime customers.

(4) Get your costs in line, get the iPCS drama overwith, and call MICROSOFT!

Great contribution. I'm assuming you would consider yourself one of the 80% then? Can you enlighten us with other statements of wisdom. Mr IQ? Mr Genius? Go back to you ten key and count your pennies, IQ boy!

They should give everyone an IQ test before they post on this web site. 80% of the postings would be eliminated!

Another person with their head in the sand. We received bonuses. Maybe we shouldn't have received bonuses. Who deserves bonuses when the company is falling apart!? You must be an idiot!

Sprint is a great company to work for. Even during the economic downturn a nice healthy bonus was given to most employees last month. Customer care is significantly improved, and Sprint has received numerous awards for their quality of service. Lay-offs ? There may be some additional lay-offs coming, but not to the drastic measure that this article is reporting. I would agree that those people complaining should put their time to better use.

As I sit here reading all these comments, it seems like a lot of people on here are happy Sprint is laying people off. Hey moron, if you live in KC and a lot of Sprint people get laid off, it WILL affect you. Sprint is the largest company in KC by far, and whether you like it or not, they have an impact on you. It is going to be a lot harder for you to find a job when you get laid off from your no name company when many Sprint employees are competing for the same job. If a lot of Sprint employees get laid off, the company you work for or own will probably see a decrease in sales when all those Sprint employees start to cut back on their spending. Some of these people on here are so dumb that it makes my head hurt. Seriously, get a life and get back to work. It is people like you that need to be laid off. You're nothing but a drain on society and the companies you work for.

I will be out early with my "Homeless Sprint Employee" sign. Don't be shy with the dollar bills or blocks of cheese. I'll take either. You won't miss me because I'll be wearing a gold lamay tong for your pleasure.

Too bad Dan does not have a grasp on reality. I can tell by watching his black and white commercials while the device in his hand will hardly cover 2 fingers. Can a football be seen on the screen? Could a pin drop be seen? LOL! By the way Dan, there is a recession going on now and majicjack may not do browsing or texting but it will let me talk to my family all I want too for 29.95 yearly while I'm unemployed or retired on pension. Goodbye wireless!

Being Anonymous

hey buddy. Stop tapping my foot under the stall. Wait, it's Dan Hesse.

I will spit a lugee in the face of the person who brings me my pink slip.

I've been having a good time playing catch on my floor. It's me, Shree, Maripelli, Shravistka, etc. What good times! Me and my Indian buddies are going to eat some curry now. The nice thing about the empty floors are the empty bathrooms. No wait when you have to make a run for the stall. Yummm! The bathroom smells like an indian restaurant too! I'm typing this on my verizon phone as I sit here and relieve myself.

I don't mind taking unemployment. I hope that I see some of the managers I've been working with in the line as well. At that point, I will be delivering them a five knuckle sandwich for them to chew on. This place is a fricken carnival. I work my butt off and I look over the cube wall and see many playing solitaire or picking their noses or sleeping. I'd rather be flipping burgers, which is what I'm going to do next.

I work for Sprint here in Reston and walking around the building and staring at all the empty cubes makes me feel depressed. Definately awaiting that pink slip. It's funny to note that a lot of the contracted engineers are Indian though... this whole damn place stinks of curry!

What I've heard internally is that we will see headcount reductions in OP alone close to 8,500. I hope they start on the floor with the goof ball who wrote that Dan is an excellent CEO. We'll see how he/she/it feels after the pick slip comes. Hey buddy, don't take all the cheese. I'll need some to feed my family as well.

I love the earlier response from the sprint employee who continues to stand up for the company. "If you would work as hard as the rest of us....". The company is going down baby! You either are pumping yourself with anti depressants or you are a tard if you believe that people aren't working hard. I would suggest that you should take the autographed picture of Dan Hesse off your cube wall and go back to eating your box of twinkies.

Everyone I ever worked with or sold to at Sprint had over inflated egos. It's time for them to feel like everyone else in this god forsaken community we call overland park. Good bye Sprint!

Who, other than Hesse himself or his pathetic kiss up entourage would comment in any way about "hesse is an excellent CEO", "perhaps one of the best". What are you smoking. Pull your head out of your arse and Hesse's. When you have to cut costs and reduce subscription fees, things aren't going well. This is the last thing a "good CEO" does. If the company was bloated for some time, a "good CEO" would have addressed this organizational issue years ago. Hesse is not a good CEO. He is a narcisist. What CEO puts himself out there in front of the american public to sell their products and services. This is so outdated. Do you know who full of yourself you have to be. Don't confuse confidence in the organization with delusions of grandeur and securing his fifteen minutes of fame. Dan will be gone within the next twelve months. I predict he will become a face model. Give me a break!!!

I am one of the most well-known wireless leaders in Northern California providing wireless solutions for corporate accounts. The difference between my company and everyone else is my exceptional vision and leadership especially on the B2B side. Without sacrificing quality, integrity, and customer service, my abilities have gained me the knowledge and expertise to win numerous awards including top seller award for Northern California from a variety of wireless carriers. Having said that, I was approached by Nextel in 2002 to become one of their B2B Authorized Representatives as a result of my success from previous years. With my exceeding success through the B2B channel, Nextel approached me to do a joint venture on launching new retail locations in the Northern California market since there was no strong retail presence. With knowledge, experience, and expertise I put together one of the most dynamic teams of highly motivated and well qualified communication consultants. In 2003, my ex-colleague and dear friend was invited to join in this new vision. I launched eight locations in Northern California and I was invited to launch new locations in Arizona, Colorado, and Minnesota. In 2005, when the merger with Sprint occurred, the new management team: Mark Sadighian, Paul Harris, and Dennis McSweeney no longer shared the vision that Nextel had with my company. At the same time I found out that my partner was embezzling money and started a new wireless company with another carrier. When I approached Mark Sadighian with my new found news, the advise that I received was to separate our partnership and for me to start a new company under a new name. I was granted an exclusive dealer contract with Sprint/Nextel and their service center. Two months into my new company, I submitted six new retail locations that were denied to me for expansion, but at the same time were handed to someone else. Sprint/Nextel set me up for failure, after I invested hundred of thousands of dollars into the new company. Sprint/Nextel decided at that point not to support me in my visions, ideas, and ventures. As a result, I am seeking other dealers that have had a similar experience as me for a class action lawsuit. Before I posted my story online, I requested the immediate assistance from the CEO of Sprint, Daniel Hesse. He never responded to any of my emails, and at this point left me with no choice, but to put together a class action lawsuit for Authorized Dealers. I will not stop until my losses are compensated. If you are interested in contacting me with any questions, concerns, or to assist me in participating in this class action lawsuit please email me at: sprintactionlawsuit@gmail.com or visit www.nextel.bz

Yea, I remember you very well, when I worked at Sprint as a consultant and as a vendor.
You would not partner with me. You would not listen to my opinions and the facts that were based on decades of telecommunications experience. You were angry, hostile and confrontational. You were rude, crude and unprofessional. You choose to play games and office politics vs. trying to find and solve problems, because you were the problem. And then, you chose to blame others for your failures and incompetence.
You know very little about telecommunications or wireless. You do not care about quality or take pride in your workmanship. You cannot manage people, having no leadership skills. You make yourself feel big, by making others feel small.
Now, you are going to get laid off. The games you played are finally over. You have the audacity to send me a LinkedIn invitation. Now you want to network with me because it’s you that will soon be out of a job.
Oh yea, I remember you very, very well.
And guess what, FORGET YOU!

Be sure to say goodbye to the cheap Indian labor that will still be working at Sprint.

This is old news Dave. AT&T is laying off massive numbers of employees as well. Maybe instead of continuously nit picking we should look at the positive steps this company is making.

Additionally, why does it always seem like there are ignorant people (for the most part) commenting here. We need to implement an IQ test benchmark before allowing people to comment.

According to a leading magazine, Sprint has six of the top 10 phones for the holiday buying season. They offer the most savings on unlimited calling and data plans -- great in a very tough economy. Improved customer service and network coverage are making huge differences. I've had them for about five years and have been very impressed with the moves made under Hesse. He is clearly the best CEO they've had in years and possibly one of the best in the communications industry.