Sprint Nextel reported a Q1 net loss of $863 million, up from a loss of $439 million in the year-ago period. Despite subscriber growth on the Sprint network, which includes CDMA, WiMAX and LTE, the carrier lost 455,000 postpaid customers on a net basis on its Nextel network iDEN from Q4, leading to a total postpaid subscriber loss of 192,000. The carrier’s prepaid brands, Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile, will gain access to WiMAX in Q2, executives said during an earnings call Wednesday.

Sprint Nextel won’t introduce any new WiMAX 4G smartphones this year as it shifts focus to LTE, the deployment of which will ramp up quickly after the initial six markets launch mid-year, Development Director Ryan Sullivan told us following a New York news conference for HTC’s new Evo 4G LTE model. Sprint’s Network Vision 4G LTE network, expected to be nationwide with 38,000 cell sites by late 2013, will debut in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Kansas City, Mo. In each of the markets, Sprint will install new multi-mode base stations supplied by Alcatel, Harris and Samsung. Field testing is being conducted in the first six markets consisting of internal Sprint trials and those with third-party companies, Sullivan said. The first multi-mode base station went on line in December.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is questioning whether the time frame for a voluntary incentive auction of broadcast spectrum laid out by a top FCC official last week is realistic. Amy Levine, a senior aide to Chairman Julius Genachowski, predicted an auction would occur in the next 18-24 months (CD March 7 p3). McDowell suspects it could take at least twice as long, given the complexities involved.

Verizon Wireless and cable companies shot back at critics of Verizon’s proposed buy of AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox in a reply filed at the FCC. The companies said that by their calculations, in 98 percent of the counties covered the combinations will not push Verizon Wireless above the FCC’s spectrum screen, or the level at which the FCC would consider divestitures as part of any order approving the deals. Critics led by T-Mobile, small carriers, and public interest groups, took aim at the transaction last month, in various petitions to deny (CD Feb 23 p1). SpectrumCo is a joint venture of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks.

CTIA’s top priority is getting Congress to pass spectrum legislation, and the association thinks it’s not a question of if, but when a bill will be approved, CTIA President Steve Largent said during a press conference Wednesday. CTIA officials also said Universal Service Fund reform remains a significant issue for wireless carriers, with the FCC poised to take up an order at its Oct. 27 meeting. Largent said he’s confident the 1755-1780 MHz band will be reallocated for wireless broadband.

A fresh House bill to reallocate the 700 MHz D-block to public safety has the support of House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y. Rep. Steve Rothman, D-N.J., who serves on the Appropriations Committees, on Tuesday introduced the Help Emergency Responders Operate Emergency Systems (HEROES) Act. Using proceeds from spectrum auctions, the bill would provide $5.5 billion for construction, maintenance and operation of the national public safety network and $400 million to set up a grant program to help first responders upgrade their radios to comply with the FCC’s 2004 narrowband mandate.

Analog broadcast TV in the U.S. will be a thing of the past in late 2015 if the FCC succeeds in setting a low-power station digital deadline akin to the full-power DTV switch two years ago, commission officials said. They said a draft order would require all remaining low-power stations that haven’t already made the digital switch to do so by September 2015. That’s three years later than the commission last proposed (CD Sept 21 p2).

Sprint Nextel added Motorola to its roster of Google Android 4G smartphone suppliers, introducing the Photon as it continues to build its base of WiMAX-compatible products. Sprint’s lineup of 4G products now totals nearly 25 models including a half-dozen Android-based smartphones as well as modems and other devices. Also on the horizon is HTC’s 4G-based View tablet that is scheduled to launch June 24, featuring a seven-inch LCD with 1,024x600 resolution and a “Scribe” technology that allows user to take notes in their own handwriting with a stylus pen. Sprint also carries Samsung and LG Electronics 4G smartphones.

Deutsche Telekom last week launched a 20 x 20 LTE network in Cologne, Germany, showing growing interest in “fat channels” and this higher speed version of LTE, BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said Tuesday in a research note. “Is 20x20 the future?” Piecyk asks. “The fatter channels, not surprisingly, deliver much faster download speeds than a 10x10 or 5x5 version of LTE. And by faster speeds, we mean 30 Mbps, which many people do not achieve with their wire-based broadband connections. Clearly, not all LTE is created equal.” DT uses the 1.8-GHz band for the service in Cologne, but is expected to use the 2.6-GHz band as it rolls out service in other German cities and fills the 1.8 GHz spectrum, he said. DT will offer 10 X 10 LTE in the 800 MHz band outside urban areas. Piecyk asks if U.S. carriers will follow. AT&T, for example, could use its 1.9 GHz holdings, he wrote. “In addition, AT&T’s 10 MHz of AWS (2.1 GHz) spectrum will become more useful when combined with the 25 MHz of AWS spectrum that T-Mobile controls,” if the merger is allowed to move forward. Clearwire is the only U.S. operator with a “meaningful spectrum position” in the 2.5/2.6 GHz band, where it controls some 150 MHz of spectrum, he noted. “We believe it would cost Clearwire $600 million to convert its existing WiMax markets to a 20x20 LTE system,” Piecyk said. “We believe Clearwire could start to launch most markets with LTE within six months and could convert all of the pops within a year."

Public safety spending on 700 MHz D-block lobbying more than quadrupled in Q1 2011 compared to the same quarter last year, according to Q1 lobbying reports. The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials spent $80,563, 303 percent more than what the group spent in Q1 2010 and 66 percent more than Q4 2010. Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association spent nearly five times what it did last year, and NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield said she expects the association of small rural telcos to continue spending at that level.