As Sprint prepares to undertake a massive network improvement strategy amid losing ground to rival T-Mobile US, the company’s chief of corporate strategy and development has put in his resignation.
Michael Schwartz became Sprint’s SVP of corporate strategy and development on Jan. 2, 2013.
His resignation takes effect on Nov. 6, according to a very brief Oct. 9 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Here’s the entirety of the applicable section: “On October 9, 2015, Michael Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Development of Sprint Corporation (the “Company”) informed the Company of his decision to resign from the Company effective as of November 6, 2015.”
There’s no other information available as to why Schwartz is leaving.
Before taking his role at Sprint, Schwartz was VP of marketing, corporate development and regulatory at Telesat; SVP of marketing and corporate development at SES New Skies; chief development and financial officer of Terabeam; and co-founder and president of an Internet infrastructure company, according to his corporate bio.
Schwartz also held two senior positions at AT&T Wireless Services, including VP of acquisitions and development. He holds physics and law degrees from Harvard University.
Sprint is largely owned by SoftBank, which has invested heavily in the domestic carrier led by CEO Marcelo Claure.
The company announced it will sunset its WiMAX network on Nov. 6, which could leave as many as 300,000 Americans without reliable access to the Internet, according to service reseller Mobile Citizen. The group filed a lawsuit against Sprint subsidiary Clearwire and has started a petition to “stop the shutdown.”
Sprint said it is working hard to keep the service on after the WiMAX network goes dark. The carrier said Mobile Citizen’s customers will not lose access if Mobile Citizen can work with Sprint to transition customers to LTE as other providers have done.
The company also has made the call to sit out of the upcoming Federal Communications Commission-run wireless spectrum auction.
