Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday said it wasn’t commenting on a published report that its board of directors has begun looking to replace Gary Forsee, the company’s chairman and chief executive.

The Wall Street Journal, quoting unidentified sources, said in its online editions Thursday afternoon that Sprint Nextel’s board quietly had begun talking to industry leaders for a successor and hoped to announce a selection by early December.

Forsee, who took over at the nation’s third-largest wireless provider in 2003, has overseen a rocky integration of Nextel Communications Inc., which Sprint bought in August 2005.

Sprint Nextel has its operational headquarters in Overland Park.

Sprint Nextel has steadily lost ground to competitors AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless in attracting and retaining customers. The company’s stock is down 19 percent from where it was before the purchase.