Sprint faced continued pressure from the financial community following last week’s company update, leading to a promise that it will this month provide detail on the cost of launching Apple’s iPhone on its network.

Investors have already expressed criticism that the company has not provided sufficient detail about the cost of its planned LTE network rollout, which will see it burn through cash for at least the next two years. Coupled with iPhone-related subsidies, this has caused concern that the company has committed to a prolonged period of spending more than it earns.

According to Bloomberg, James Hance, chairman of the operator, acknowledged that not providing guidance on the iPhone launch was a “mistake,” which will be rectified when the company announces its third quarter results. “What we should have done is a better job of disclosing everything financially – iPhone, Clearwire, all the questions hanging out there,” he said.

Some reports have said that Sprint will subsidise each iPhone sold to the tune of US$500, meaning it will make no profit from this device until 2014. The LTE rollout is expected to be completed at the end of 2013.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Sprint has “picked a bad time to declare itself in need of fresh funds,” with it likely to face high interest costs and the need to further mortgage its assets. Some analysts have suggested it may need to find up to US$4.9 billion in order to pay for the network upgrade, support the iPhone launch, and provide a “cushion” for other costs.

The report also said that while Sprint has US$4.3 billion of cash at hand, it has US$2.3 billion of debt which is due in March 2012, which will need to be either paid or refinanced.