The turnaround strategy: Nortel's first order of business seems to be selling off its unit, which the company has said is being crowded out of its market by tough competition. If the company is successful in its bid to sell off its Metro Ethernet assets, it will have more money freed up to its carrier and enterprise networks units. Nortel plans on undergoing a major restructuring early next year by giving each of its units more control and autonomy, which the company says will create more accountability for each unit. The company is also looking to more in applications services and in adopting a more software-driven business model.

Bailout candidate #5: Sprint

The numbers: posted a net loss of $326 million for the third quarter of 2008 and has endured net losses totaling nearly $1.2 billion for the year; since the third quarter of 2007, Sprint has shed a total of 3.5 million customers, and the company's wireless segment has lost $645 million so far in 2008. Sprint's stock price has dropped by more than 86% over the past year and currently stands at just above $2 per share.

What's gone wrong: For the past couple of years, Sprint has faced myriad , from continued difficulties in integrating former Nextel users into the Sprint network to challenges in delivering quality customer service to a shrinking subscriber base. The result has been a steady drop in both net earnings and customers for the carrier, which is now the third-largest in the United States with just more than 50 million wireless subscribers.

The turnaround strategy: Sprint CEO , who took over the company late last year, has made improving customer service his top priority, and has also been working to make some improvements in Sprint's voice and data network quality.