Kansas City, Mo. ? The chief of Sprint Corp.’s wireless division is taking over as the president and chief operating officer of the telecommunications firm, a move that Sprint called a major step in its restructuring effort.

Overland Park-based Sprint is in the process of reorganizing its operations around two market segments: business and residential customers. The company currently is organized according to products: local telephone services, long-distance voice and data services, and wireless.

As president and chief operating officer, Len Lauer, 46, will lead Sprint’s sales, marketing and customer care operations, directing their transformation to serve the two market segments. Lauer will continue to serve as head of Sprint PCS.

Independent telecom analyst Jeff Kagan said Lauer was “the obvious choice” for the job.

“I think if you have to describe what Len is doing it would be chief integration officer,” Kagan said.