Sprint’s CEO claims to make company top wireless network within two years

During a presentation at the Code Conference Sprint's Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure said that the company will be a top wireless network competitor US in terms of quality within two years.

Claure said that Sprint will have the No. 1 wireless network with vast airwave holdings and current projects, which will improve network coverage in cities and high traffic areas.

The CEO made comments following a meet with SoftBank executives in Tokyo. SoftBank owns about 80% of the Kansas-based company, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Claure had a major challenge some eight months ago when he took the reins at Sprint. The compaby has been struggling to gain new customers and to keep its status as the third- largest US wireless carrier.

Claure has introduced 'cut-your-bill-in-half' promotions and hastened network improvements in several cities in order to stop subscriber defections. Sprint's finances have been questioned due to heavy operating costs and a cash burn.

It reported $914 million in negative free cash flow and $4.2 billion in available cash in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 31.

Claure's most recent and innovative move was to launch Sprint's Direct2You service. It aimed to bring the store experience directly to customer homes. In Direct2You service, a trained technician arrives with customers' new phone, transfers data from their old device, and shows them how to use the new handset.

At the Code conference, Claure said, "The patient (Sprint) is doing well now and stable. Things were tougher than I thought. When you look at last quarter, we added more customers than AT&T and Verizon. We've got a long road ahead of us but we have to celebrate every day".