Sprint's Stephen Bye has resigned from his CTO position, even as the operator undertakes the latest in a series of wireless network updates.

Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) first told FierceWireless that Bye is leaving, and a spokeswoman confirmed the departure to Light Reading. He had been with the operator since 2011.

Bye was one of the driving forces behind Sprint's "Network Vision" 3G and 4G upgrade. He is now leaving, however, as the operator attempts to make its network coverage and capacity much denser with small cells on the 2.5GHz band. (See Stephen Bye: Sprint's Network Visionary and Sprint Plans to Meld TDD, FDD LTE Spectrum.)

New Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure claimed in May that the new "Next-Generation Network" strategy will make the network ranked first or second in the every US market within the next two years. (See Sprint CEO Claims Next-Gen Network Will Be #1.)

For more on the 4G evolution, visit the dedicated 4G/LTE content section
right here on Light Reading.

There have been a lot of management changes at Sprint since SoftBank Corp. took the helm at the company. In November last year, SoftBank's Junichi Miyakawa come on board as technical chief operating officer, with Bye and Network Chief John Saw reporting to him. (See Sprint Taps Brazilian Mobile Exec to Head Innovation and More Executive Shake-Ups at Sprint .)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading