(Reuters) - Sprint Nextel plans to create a new mobile advertising policy to reassure customers that they have control over whether or not they receive ads on their cellphone, in an effort to improve consumer trust in wireless service providers.

The company's Chief Executive Dan Hesse announced the plan on Tuesday during his keynote presentation at the CTIA annual U.S. wireless showcase in New Orleans.

Hesse said that the new mobile policy would educate consumers on their options and give them "multiple choices for how to opt out or opt in" and that the company is hiring an outside firm to verify that it lives up to its promises.

While today's smartphones can support more and more personal services such as health monitoring, banking and payments, Hesse said that the industry needs to change the fact that consumers have little trust in mobile operators.

"Even cable and oil industries rate higher with consumers than we do," Hesse said. "It's very troubling."