Sprint round-up: Board exits; lawsuit; unlimited ad

Sprint Nextel has a handful of announcements and stories swirling around it today: Two board members resigned, MMS users filed a class action lawsuit against it and CEO Dan Hesse appeared in an ad touting the carrier's new unlimited plan.

Sprint board loses two

Two members of the carrier's board have decided not to seek re-election at the next annual shareholders meeting. Sprint disclosed the board members' plans in a filing with the SEC. Linda Koch Lorimer cited "other business commitments and schedule conflicts" as her reason for not seeking re-election, while Keith Bane told Sprint "personal family medical circumstances and the time needed to address them" was his reason.

Class action suit says Sprint's MMS had hidden fees

According to a class action lawsuit, Sprint failed to adequately disclose the data fees associated with sending picture messages (MMS) from their phone. The purpose and intent of these deceptive, false, fraudulent and misleading advertisements was to entice and/or lure Sprint Nextel customers into purchasing the 'Sprint Picture Mail' plan for a $5/month service charge without disclosing the true charges associated with this add-on service, which were exorbitant and in many cases caused the purchaser's bill to double," according to the suit. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama in Birmingham.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse appears in unlimited plan ad

Sprint launched a new television ad featuring CEO Dan Hesse [1] touting the carrier's new flat-rate pricing plan, which Sprint launched at the end of last month. Sprint announced its pricing plan after rivals Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA announced theirs. Sprint's includes unlimited minutes, text messages, email, Internet access and other applications for $99.99-a-month.

For more on the Sprint news:
- read this Triangle Business Journal article [2] about the board exits
- check out this RCR post [3] on the lawsuit
- and watch CEO Dan Hesse's television ad spot [1] for the new plan