Sprint Still Looks Winded

Sprint's (S Quote) downhill run is still picking up speed.

The Reston, Va., wireless shop has just closed books on what analysts predict could be the worst quarter of a largely dismal 2006. Sputtering on all cylinders, Sprint appears poised to keep losing ground until the second half of this year.

Sprint's list of woes, which earned it the coveted No. 3 spot in TheStreet.com's Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Year, grows larger by the month. The integration of Nextel has gone from challenging to a disaster by some estimates as once-loyal high-paying customers go elsewhere. Sprint's monthly defection rate stands at 2.4% as of the third quarter, up from 2.1% from the second quarter.

That industry-worst churn rate is likely to grow when the company releases its fourth quarter results. It seems that in addition to the cancellations and the cleanout of nonpaying customers, Sprint's wholesale business is also dragging down the results. ...