Sprint chairman to retire; SMS pricetag goes up

The executive chairman of Sprint Nextel, Tim Donahue, the former CEO of Nextel, has announced he will retire at the end of the year. Donahue was instrumental in engineering the $35 billion merger between Sprint and Nextel last year. Donahue said, "I have poured my heart and soul into Sprint Nextel and I am confident that the promise of the merger will be realized." The company announced that Robert Bennett, president of Discovery Holdings will join the board immediately.

Since the merger late last year, Sprint has had trouble adding subscribers. Rivals Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless have blown past the third largest carrier with large new subscriber wins in recent months. Analysts say the news of Donahue's departure is disappointing, since many had greater faith in Donahue because he grew the tiny Nextel operation into the nation's fifth largest mobile operator.

For more on Donahue's decision to retire:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)

ALSO: Sprint changed the price of sending an SMS for its subscribers from 10 cents to 15 cents! Article