From CNET: Exactly one year ago on his first earnings conference call with investors, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said he would take the ailing wireless carrier on a "transformational journey."
Claure, who took over in August 2014, promised to "take bold actions" to win back customers burned by years of spotty and slow cellular coverage. He's kept his word. Over the next few months, he overhauled the wireless carrier's phone plans so customers didn't need an accountant to break them down. He introduced the concept of leasing a smartphone (since emulated by others, including Apple). He even had customer service reps deliver mobile devices to your home.
Has the journey been worth it?
Customers are indeed returning to Sprint. Its growth, however, hasn't been fast enough to fend off T-Mobile, which during the summer overtook Sprint as the nation's third-largest wireless carrier. And Claure's journey has been expensive, with the company losing money in every quarter that he has served as CEO.
Still, the Overland Park, Kansas, company hit a key milestone on Tuesday by reporting that it added 237,000 so-called postpaid smartphone customers, or folks who pay their bills at the end of the month and tend to have higher credit scores, for the three months that ended in September. It's the first time in more than two years that the company returned to growth in the postpaid segment, which is an indicator that consumers are starting to feel more confident about Sprint's service and that its lower prices are drawing in bargain seekers.
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