Sprint reported record wireless service revenue for the first quarter of 2013, which helped the US number-three operator narrow its loss for the period.

The company reported a $643 million net loss compared to a loss of $863 million a year before, on operating revenue of $8.8 billion, up from $8.7 billion.

Its Sprint wireless network generated $7.1 billion in service revenue, a year-on-year increase of nearly 9 per cent. Total wireless revenue increased to $8.1 billion from $8 billion, despite a drop in sales from the former Nextel business.

The company added 356,000 subscribers to its Sprint network to hit the highest ever total of 53.9 million. However, it lost 771,000 subscribers from its Nextel iDEN network, which is on track to shut down at the end of the second quarter of 2013.

The $1.5 billion adjusted OIBDA was the highest for four years and was driven by increased revenue and lower cost of services.

Operating income for the period, including accelerated depreciation of around $360 million, was $29 million. This compared to a $255 million operating loss in the same quarter a year ago.

The operator sold five million smartphones during the period, 1.5 million of which were iPhones. Around 43 per cent of iPhone sales were to new customers.

The company said its Network Vision modernisation project is continuing to gain momentum, with the 13,500 live sites having exceeding its aimed goal of 12,000 on air sites.

“We achieved significant Adjusted OIBDA growth while investing heavily to improve our network, expanding our 4G LTE footprint and offering customers the best smartphones with truly unlimited data plans,” said Dan Hesse, its CEO.

Sprint is currently in the middle of a bidding war between Japanese operator Softbank and US satellite TV network Dish. The latter tabled a $25.5 billion merger offer last week after Softbank had agreed a $20 billion deal to acquire 70 per cent of Sprint in October 2012.