Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was the worst telecom merger in recent memory. The $35 billion merger in 2005 was intended to keep Sprint from becoming a smaller player in the wireless market as competitors were combining and becoming wireless powerhouses.

The only problem was that Sprint and Nextel merged but appeared to keep everything separate. In effect, very little "merged" at all.

Dan Hesse is the right person for the job at Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S). In addition to the new CEO reassuring the market that he means business by announcing more than a few thousand layoffs, Hesse has the skills to understand why the Sprint-Nextel merger was never really completed and take steps to finalize it into one single company, almost three years after the merger officially took place.

Sprint has lost hundreds of thousands of customers in many recent quarters due to the company not giving enough attention to its Nextel radio network. The thinking back in 2005 was that combining Sprint and Nextel into one company would give the single entity a huge customer count and put it on par with other wireless giants like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). However, customer counts are meaningless if you jolt so many of them so badly that they head for the exit doors. That's precisely what has happened.

Here we are in January 2008, and Sprint has two headquarters -- one in Sprint's backyard of Kansas City, Missouri, and the other in Nextel's backyard of Reston, Virginia. Why on earth Sprint operates out of two geographical headquarters is a mystery, but it's symbolic of how the two companies really never merged outside of a single customer billing system (well, that's just my opinion). Sprint owns some massive assets in terms of wireless licenses around the U.S. and has a very capable and cutting-edge network. It should be doing anything but losing customers. Hopefully, Hesse can make that a reality soon. His success in Sprint spin-off Embarq is proof that he's the right person to attack Sprint's problems.

DISCLOSURE: The author holds no long or short positions in Sprint Nextel Corp. at this time.

When Sprint (NYSE: S) merged with Nextel Corp. in 2005, more than a few wireless industry eyebrows were raised. After all, the combination of then-Cingular and BellSouth was sitting on the horizon and Sprint was most likely desperate to not get left behind. At the time, Verizon Wireless was the largest wireless provider in the U.S. and the newly-combined Cingular/BellSouth venture was poised to raise those stakes. What was Sprint to do? Merge with a company itself.

The problem that would become apparently to everyone except boardroom ninnies was the technical incompatibility of the Sprint and Nextel wireless networks. Is it really economically feasible to operate two overlapping national wireless networks, even if the combined company were to see a combined customer (and revenue) count? That was the promise. It failed, and failed miserably.