Shortages of Phone Hindering Sprint 4G

Sprint Nextel Corp.’s big bet on its super-fast 4G network is running into stronger-than-expected head winds, Chief Executive Dan Hesse said in an interview.

Sprint is still the only U.S. carrier with a 4G network, which offers users faster speeds for data and video. The carrier, the nation’s third-largest by subscribers, hopes the network will give it an advantage in attracting customers from rivals. But shortages of its maiden 4G phone are limiting potential sales, and rival carriers are getting closer to launching their own 4G networks.

“We thought we would have more of a head start than we’ll end up having,” Mr. Hesse told The Wall Street Journal last week.

In a sign of the network’s importance, Sprint recently moved to tie executive compensation more closely to the company’s success with 4G. The weight Sprint gives to 4G subscriptions when calculating executives’ bonuses was boosted to 20 percent from 10 percent, the company disclosed in a filing last week.

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