Sprint CEO Forsee steps down

Sprint Nextel today said its Chief Executive Gary Forsee is stepping down, effective immediately. Forsee who has been CEO since 2003, has been under fire from stockholders who have been disappointed in the firm's performance over the past couple years.  They have also watched as AT&T and Verizon have grown in that time.

Sprint decided it was time to put new leadership in place "to move the company forward in improving its performance and realizing corporate objectives," according to a statement attributed to board member Irvine Hockaday. The board will focus on chief executive candidates outside the company, he said.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company has been actively seeking a replacement for Forsee.

According to the USA Today after Sprint's disappointing second-quarter earnings report Sprint's board decided that new leadership was needed and started looking for a new CEO.

The search process began in earnest in late summer, with the goal of finding a suitable replacement by year's end. Earlier this year Probe Financial Associates, a research firm that specializes in the carrier market, said Sprint may be ripe for take over and that Forsee could e vulnerable if the company's wireline, traditional wireless and WiMAX businesses didn't start performing better.

Probe said the carrier needs to improve its operational performance. Specifically the company needs to work on high customer churn rates, growing its subscriber base and building its average revenue per user (ARPU).