Sprint appoints industry veteran Michel Combes as president and CFO

• Sprint has appointed Michel Combes as its new president and CFO
• Combes will replace Tarek Robbiati in the role, who will leave at the end of the month
• Combes is expected to cut costs as Sprint battles against $68 billion debt

Sprint has a new president. Michel Combes, a telecom and cable industry veteran, will assume the role — and that of Chief Financial Officer — from tomorrow (January 6).

The news arrived in a press release yesterday, where Sprint said Combes would “be responsible for leading the company’s financial operations, strategy and continued cost transformation,” reporting to Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Claure (whom he inherited the president role from).

Combes, 55, has more than 30 years experience in the telecoms industry and will replace previous CFO Tarek Robbiati, who is set to leave the company on January 31.

Analysts cited by Business Insider suggest that Sprint is currently focusing on “cutting costs and mortgaging a portion of its airwaves and equipment” as it seeks to reduce its $38 billion debt.

The appointment comes shortly after negotiations between Sprint and T-Mobile broke down leading to the cancellation (for now) of a possible merger. The unification of the two companies had been expected to give them a greater chance of taking on leading carriers AT&T and Verizon. To what extent this relates to the new appointment is unclear, but Combes and Sprint must face the daunting task of taking on the market leaders — who are each estimated to have more than twice as many subscribers as Sprint — without T-Mobile.

Combes will also be appointed to Sprint’s Board of Directors sometime in the future.