The announcement about the Sprint and Ericsson partnership has been well received in the marketplace and integration plans are well underway. One question we've heard from customers and employees alike is how does the partnership affect Sprint's own managed services strategy for businesses? If Ericsson is managing the day-to-day operations of Sprint's network, then which company is managing the networks of Sprint customers?

The bottom line is that nothing changes . . . Sprint continues to offer a wide array of managed network and security solutions for businesses, and Sprint personnel and staff remains the primary point of contact with customers for these services. Sprint also continues to seek ways to enhance the portfolio to deliver more robust managed services to meet the evolving needs of businesses.

I invite you to read a guest blog I recently posted on Telecom Ramblings, where I take a close look at two other important questions related to Sprint's partnership with Ericsson --

• What is a carrier’s (wireless or wireline) main business mission?
• What is the core competency that a carrier must have to fulfill this mission?

After you read it, please feel free to comment here or at Telecom Ramblings.

-Steve