Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ivey, Mark
• Mason, Todd
• Seghers, Frances
• Keller, John J

Titel

Sprint's New Chief Has a Lot of Wires to Untangle

Ist Teil von

• Bloomberg businessweek (Online), 1987-07 (3009), p.29

Ort / Verlag

New York: Bloomberg Finance LP

Erscheinungsjahr

1987

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• GTE Corp. and United Telecommunications Inc. merged their faltering long-distance operations to create US Sprint Communications Co. -- a $3-billion fiber-optic transmission network. The high quality of transmissions attracted almost 3 million new customers in less than 9 months. As it turns out, that may have been more than the company was able to handle. The company has suffered from poor billing and collection procedures. Uncollectible accounts will lead to the parent companies taking a $76-million charge against 2nd-quarter 1987 profits. Sprint's losses for 1987 are expected to be at least $1 billion, following a $356-million deficit for the last half of 1986. Robert H. Snedaker, Jr., taking over the company after serving chief operating officer at United, is expected to straighten out the company's billing problems and cut costs in marketing and transmission. However, there is a fear that Snedaker's conservative management style could be harmful to Sprint since he enters at a time when maintaining a large market share is the key to Sprint's survival.