Sprint soon to respond to earnings declines

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Answers about how Sprint Corp. will deal with its continuing earnings decline could come next week when the Kansas City-based company makes public its third-quarter performance.

Sprint has also promised an announcement soon on the fate of its troubled high-speed Internet and telephone business, ION.

Industry analysts expect cost-cutting measures to follow Thursday's earnings release, but Sprint officials would not comment on their plans.

Other telecommunications companies have laid off about 225,000 workers this year, while Sprint has held out despite the slowing national economy. The company employs 84,000 worldwide.

"The telecommunications industry really is a great reflector of the larger economy," said Blake Bath, an analyst with Lehman Bros. "Clearly, there's been a significant industry slowdown throughout the economy, and specifically throughout the greater data economy. Sprint and the rest of the players are going to clearly feel the impact of that in their numbers."