Thanks to Torsten for this one -- Business 2.0's Michal Lev-Ram says Sprint's recently-announced WiMAX plans could be just what the company needs, particularly after the recent abrupt departure of COO Len Lauer.

"sprint has been experiencing slow customer growth and high churn rates -- the percentage of customers quitting the service," Lev-Ram writes. "Analysts blame a lack of attention to the Nextel business Sprint acquired last year, where a maxed-out network is resulting in dropped calls and poor signal strength. In third place behind Cingular and Verizon, Sprint can ill afford unhappy customers."

The company's promise of a new and groundbreaking nationwide WiMAX network by the end of 2008 could give it a significant boost. "WiMAX connections could reach speeds of 2 to 4 megabits per second, similar to a cable-modem Internet connection" Lev-Ram writes. "Unlike cable-modem connections, WiMAX networks would cover big areas, like cell-phone networks do today, allowing Internet usage on the go."