Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel has named Dan Hesse, the CEO of Embarq, as its new President and CEO effective immediately. The announcement fills an opening created in early October when former CEO Gary Forsee resigned amid investor and board unrest. Hesse has served as CEO of Embarq since it was spun off in 2006. He also spent three years as the CEO of AT&T (NYSE: T) Wireless Services, as part of a 23-year stint at AT&T. Among Hesse’s immediate challenges: figuring out the direction of the company’s WiMAX strategy and picking up the pieces at Nextel.

The company also said that James Hance, who had been named non-executive chairman following Forsee’s departure, will remain in that post. Release.

Carlo adds: There’s not a lot to read into this appointment, other than that Sprint’s board went for a familiar choice: Hesse has been head of Embarq since it was spun out of Sprint in 2006, and he worked for the company prior to that. A WSJ blog wonders if some shareholders would like to see some of the company’s directors make an exit, since half of them were with Sprint or Nextel before the merger. This includes Irvine Hockaday, who headed up the CEO search committee, and who was on Sprint’s board when it forced out Forsee’s predecessor.

While Hesse, as mentioned above, has previous wireless experience, a lot has changed in the industry since his last job at AT&T Wireless ended in 2000. He faces a monumental task of finally integrating Sprint and Nextel’s disparate corporate cultures, and resurrecting the Sprint brand, which, as InfoWorld notes, is associated with little more than bad customer service at this point.

And what does Hesse’s appointment mean for Sprint’s WiMax network? That’s still anybody’s guess, but what’s needed is a clear and decisive strategy. The WiMax network’s apparent lack of direction and clear strategy could be seen as representative of Sprint itself. The integration of Nextel has dragged on for far too long, and dragged the companies down with it; it’s going to take a significant strategic and operational effort on Hesse’s part to correct things.

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• @ UBS Media Week: Sprint Emphasizes Customer Retention And New WiMax/XOHM Focus In ‘08