LAS VEGAS — Sprint Nextel sought to reverse its recent troubles Tuesday, unveiling with fanfare a handset similar to an iPhone and reaffirming its support for a next-generation wireless Internet technology.
Chief executive Dan Hesse, speaking to the wireless industry at its annual convention, said No. 3 Sprint is positioning itself to become “the wireless company of the future.”
Hesse said nothing in his speech about reports that Sprint has been trying to get top cable companies to help the carrier deploy a WiMax network. That wireless technology offers speeds akin to cable modems or digital subscriber lines with range much greater than Wi-Fi.
However, Hesse emphasized his support for the service, called Xohm. He said it will give Sprint a two-year market advantage over its rivals in deploying a next-generation high-speed network.
The new Sprint Instinct handset made by Samsung made a big splash at the show Tuesday.
“This is an answer to the iPhone,” said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst based in Atlanta. “We started to see answers to the iPhone come out last year. Those devices were good, but we knew they were just the first wave. This is the next wave.”
Kagan said that for Sprint to turn itself around, it will have to find a way to excite wireless customers as it did years ago when camera phones first appeared.
The Instinct handset “looks like something Sprint can ride to success this year,” he said. “Every year, there’s a hot phone. This could be it.”
Sprint’s announcements come after some hard months for the Reston, Va.-based company. The carrier said in January it would cut about 4,000 jobs and close 125 stores to save up to $800 million a year in labor costs this year.
