Sprint To Lay Off 1,600 In PCS Division

The layoffs will center on PCS' marketing, IT, network and finance divisions and not employees working directly with customers, said Len Lauer, president of the PCS division, in a statement.

"Decisions like this are never easy to make, and believe me, this one was not taken lightly," he said.

PCS also is cutting out management layers and is reviewing its products and services to reduce costs, the statement said.

Associated severance-related costs are expected to result in a pretax charge of about $31 million in the fourth quarter of 2002. Sprint PCS is working with other Sprint divisions and outside employment agencies to attempt to place laid-off employees.

For the third quarter, PCS lost $7 million, or 1 cent per share, compared with a year-ago loss of $288 million, or 29 cents per share. PCS also reported a loss of 78,000 subscribers during the third quarter.

In August, PCS completed its next-generation wireless network. The new network, based on Qualcomm's CDMA technology, promises average data speeds of 50 Kbps to 70 Kbps, with peak speeds of up to 144 Kbps, in addition to improved voice capabilities.