American wireless carrier Sprint on Monday announced plans to slash 2,000 jobs after it posted $192 million operating loss in Q3 2014 against operating loss of $398 million.
Sprint said it posted net loss of $765 million in Q3 2014 against $383 million net income in Q3 2013.
Its third quarter revenue rose 9.5 percent to $8.48 billion.
Sprint, which is majority owned by SoftBank of Japan, said its postpaid net losses were 272,000, while prepaid net additions were 35,000 during the third quarter.
Postpaid tablet net additions were 261,000 in the quarter, while phone losses were 500,000 and other device losses were 33,000, said Sprint.
The wireless subscriber net additions indicate that Sprint initiatives are not effective to take on rivals such as T-Mobile US, AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the rapidly growing data market in the United States.
Sprint had 55 million connections in the third quarter.
Sprint cost cutting plans
Sprint is targeting $1.5 billion of annualized cost reductions. The wireless carrier said its labor cost is expected to decline $400 million.
“While the company continues to face headwinds, we have begun the first phase of our plan and are encouraged with the early results. Every day we are focused on improving our standing with consumers, improving our network and controlling our costs,” said CEO Marcelo Claure in a press release.
Sprint abandoned its attempts to merge with rival T-Mobile US in August due to strict regulatory conditions.
Baburajan K
[email protected]
