Sprint's Hesse Launches 'Nukes' in 18-State Push to Stop AT&T Acquisition

Dan Hesse ’s White Room is closely guarded even within Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) The chief executive officer carries the only key and draws black curtains over his scribblings before leaving. This is where Hesse retreats to map out “nukes” in red, blue and green ink, lately his tactics for stopping AT&T Inc. (T) ’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile USA .

“Clearly, purely, we want to win and block the merger,” said Hesse, during an interview at the company’s Overland Park , Kansas headquarters. “This one poses real risks.”

Hesse has already thrown personal and corporate resources at blocking AT&T. He tripled the amount of time he’s spending on government affairs, testifying before Congress and making regular trips to Washington. Sprint is organizing industry opposition and filed a 377-page dissent with the Federal Communications Commission. The company even tapped its own engineers to show AT&T how to get more capacity from its wireless network so it wouldn’t need to buy T-Mobile.

Hesse is just getting started. He’s courting top technology CEOs to come out against the deal and sway public opinion. He’s working to get as many as 18 state regulators to scrutinize the purchase, which may slow down approval or prompt divestitures. He’s working on other tactics he’s not ready to disclose.

Hesse’s company stands to lose if the deal goes through because, with less than half the revenue of AT&T or Verizon Wireless , Sprint would struggle to offer competitive pricing and the most cutting-edge phones. Sprint’s very survival as an independent company would be in doubt, he said.

What has Hesse so fired up is the conviction that he’s fighting for more than his company, that consumers and business customers will lose too. The U.S. telecommunications industry, the world’s leader from Alexander Graham Bell to the cellular phone, is at risk of stagnation if it’s controlled by two companies, he said.

“The industry just won’t be as innovative and as dynamic as it has been,” said Hesse, 57. “It’ll gum up the works when everything has to go through these two big tollbooths, one that’s called AT&T and one that’s called Verizon.”

AT&T makes the case its deal will actually benefit consumers. The Dallas-based company’s acquisition of T-Mobile will make it the largest wireless operator in the U.S., surpassing Verizon Wireless. Because of that scale, the company will be able to invest in more advanced networks and offer more wireless broadband, according to CEO Randall Stephenson.

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