Sprint Nextel Corp. announced five board members to oversee the new company that will own and operate Sprint Nextel’s local phone business, which will be expected to spin off from the company in the second quarter: Peter Brown, chairman, president and chief executive officer of AMC Entertainment Inc.; William Owens, former CEO of Nortel Networks Corp. and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Dinesh Paliwal, chairman and CEO of ABB Inc.; Stephanie Shern, a Sprint Nextel board member and a former executive with Ernst & Young LLP; and Daniel Hesse, CEO for Sprint Nextel’s Local Telecommunications Division.

Hesse will serve as president and CEO of the new company, which will be expected to have annual revenues of $6 billion.