Sprint Creates Wholesale Position to ‘Strengthen Innovation’

Steven Elfman has been named president of network operations and wholesale for Sprint Nextel Corp.

The position is a new one at Sprint. Starting May 4, Elfman will oversee the network and IT organizations, as well as the wholesale division. That unit is run by Jim Patterson, who recently was appointed president of wholesale.

Elfman will report to Dan Hesse, Sprint’s president and CEO. Hesse said Elfman’s experience will help Sprint “strengthen innovation” in the products and services it sells to subscribers and third parties. He also said Elfman’s knowledge of wireless applications and Internet business models will help Sprint “create a more open environment for applications developers.”

Elfman comes from Motricity Inc., where he has served as president and COO since January of this year. He’s been in the mobile data and technology space for some time, having worked for Infospace Inc., (whose mobile services unit Motricity bought last year), Terabeam Wireless and AT&T Wireless.