Wireless Carrier, Sprint | featured news

The flow of new customers to Sprint stopped in the latest quarter, the company reported Wednesday as it weighed the offers of two corporate suitors. Sprint Nextel Corp., the country's third-largest cellphone carrier, said it added a net of just 12,000 customers to its Sprint brand in the quarter, and it would have lost 252,000 if it wasn't for Nextel customers moving over now that their network is being shut down.

Japanese mobile operator Softbank Corp is near a $20 billion deal to acquire control of U.S. carrier Sprint Nextel Corp, sources familiar with the matter said, as the firm led by billionaire Masayoshi Son seeks a foothold in the U.S. market.

The iPhone helped Sprint gain customers in the latest quarter, but also forced the carrier to post its largest loss in three years because of the high cost of the phone and a network upgrade.

Sprint Nextel abandoned plans to sell a 4G version of the BlackBerry's PlayBook, meaning the 4G tablet currently isn't supported by any of the three largest U.S. wireless carriers.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, speaking at the CTIA trade show, said he's concerned AT&T's plan to take over rival T-Mobile USA would stifle innovation and hurt consumers. The chief of Verizon Wireless said he isn't interested in buying Sprint.