Sprint Fights Back With No-Contract Plans

Some business practices are so common, they're taken for granted, such as money-back returns, end-of-season sales and toll-free numbers for customer service.

But all of them were once game-changing risks. It's only by reinventing the rules that businesses expand and improve.

That lesson came to the forefront this week, thanks to Sprint Nextel(S Quote). The country's third-largest provider of cell phone service said it lost $594 million in the first quarter, when a record number of contract subscribers defected. These customers have been the backbone of the cellular service business. ...