Sprint signs $2 billion outsourcing deal with Ericsson?

The expectation that thousands of additional Sprint workers could be affected by a new outsourcing contract took a new twist today. Citing a Swedish business weekly publication, Reuters is reporting that Ericsson has signed a service contract with Sprint worth more than $2 billion.

Sprint declined to elaborate on the report. "We don't comment on rumors or speculation," James Fisher, a Sprint spokesman told me.

SprintConnection began reporting last November about the possibility of outsourcing moves that could shift thousands of workers in a so-called re-badging move.

This was before Sprint announced plans to cut 8,000 jobs in actions that are expected to be completed largely in the next few weeks.

Still, speculation has persisted about the outsourcing actions on top of the other job cuts.