Sponsored by Sprint

Wireless carrier Sprint has called off its spectrum-hosting deal with would-be LTE operator LightSquared, following unresolved issues the latter had with the FCC. The satellite portion of LightSquared’s operations has been nearly wiped out by government regulators, because it interfered with GPS signals. As part of the termination process, Sprint is returning $65 million it received as prepayments, to LightSquared.

Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone's LightSquared lost its main business partner, Sprint Nextel Corp , but gained $65 million from the breakup that may help its last-ditch effort to get regulatory approval to establish a high-speed wireless network.

Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone's LightSquared has lost its main business partner, Sprint Nextel Corp , which returned $65 million in payments to the telecommunications startup.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) said Friday it terminated its $9 billion spectrum sharing partnership with telecommunications startup LightSquared.

Shopping for mobile broadband data plans just got a bit more interesting because the new iPad is 4G LTE enabled, so you can pull down super-fast speeds from AT&T or Verizon. But, iPad will not run on the Sprint network, at least not until summer when Sprint begins powering up its own LTE antenna network.

Sprint Nextel Corp. may end its $9 billion, 11-year spectrum-sharing agreement with LightSquared Inc. as soon as next week, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

If Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad upgrade indeed comes with a boost to the long-term evolution (LTE) mode, wireless carriers whose systems are ready for it could benefit.

AT&T has ended its unlimited data plans, but U.S. mobile phone users on Sprint now must be asking if their carrier will hold out much longer. Sprint offers unlimited data plans to new and existing customers, and AT&T customers who use more than three gigabytes of data may now be asking if it's worth it to switch. That's because AT&T has put a speed cap on heavy data users, claiming its network is too crowded.

AT&T has advised its mobile-device customers that those among the top 5 percent of data users will have to start paying more for monthly service . Smartphone customers who download 3 gigabytes of data monthly qualify and will be subjected to slower service.

Danica Patrick has been such a controversial figure in NASCAR that even Fox 5 sports anchor Ross Shimabuku had his own opinion, controversial in itself, of the GoDaddy driver during a recent news segment before Monday's Daytona 500.

The Daytona 500 begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Motorola will update the Photon 4G with Ice Cream Sandwich starting in September, but you may want to wait and buy an iPhone 5 instead. So far, only two smartphones are running the new Google Android 4.0 system, and only two others have a date given for when they might get it.

Sprint customers waiting for higher network speeds have big choice to make when the new LTE network debuts this summer. The question will be whether to buy the Samsung Galaxy Nexus or the Motorola Photon 4G with Ice Cream Sandwich. It's all very preliminary, starting with the fact there are no dates given for the Galaxy Nexus releas, LTE opening or Photon 4G updating.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Delaware, accused each company of violating 15 different patents related to wireless network services, both individually and through interoperability agreements among the wireless carriers.

If you're a Sprint customer and you're torn between the HTC Evo View 4G and the ZTE Optik, here's what you need to know. We generally don't recommend data plans for tablets, but some people do find them necessary, and because Sprint offers both of these tablets on their network, you get them at a subsidized price. Their on-contract prices standout because the Optik is $100 with a new two-year contract compared to the $250 for the View 4G.

The companies argue that the shareholder votes would meddle into routine company business.

LightSquared, a closely held firm based in Reston, Va., had invested $4 billion in airwaves in order to offer wireless Internet service at higher speeds to as many as 260 million customers. The company received conditional approval from the FCC in early 2011.

The effects of a network-sharing deal with LightSquared are also excluded, Sprint said in an SEC filing.

The Dallas-based company will now charge $36 to upgrade a phone compared to $18 previously.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said his company might benefit from the collapse of the AT&T bid for T-Mobile USA.

Sprint Nextel posted a wider quarterly loss because of the higher costs of selling Apple Inc's iPhone and the popular device delivered a smaller-than-expected boost to subscriber numbers, sending the company's shares down 2 percent.

Sprint Nextel , like its bigger rivals, is expected to report a steep decline in fourth-quarter profit margins due to its launch of the costly Apple Inc iPhone.

Rumors are swirling that Sprint would launch its new affordable tablet, ZTE Optik, for online buyers Feb 5. ZTE Optik, priced at $100, is designed to tap the budget-minded tablet lovers.

Beginning in March, devices of Sprint customers will roam on other wireless networks in many parts of Kansas and all but the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma. AT&T is calling a foul on the plan.

Verizon Wireless and its cable partners are willing to give U.S. communication regulators confidential details of their agreement but objected to a request for information from Sprint Nextel (S.N), DirecTV (DTV.O), T-Mobile USA and others.

The move underscores the company's need to provide wireless bandwidth to a customer base increasingly using data-heavy smartphones.

A Droid-life report points out that a CDMA/LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy Note currently does not exist, while the HSPA+/LTE model is globally available. AT&T's version of the Galaxy Note is expected in the coming weeks; however the network operator stopped short of announcements regarding the release date.

Four Sprint Nextel executives are leaving in a corporate reshuffle at the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider involving the merger of sales and marketing for its business and consumer services operations, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said.

Sprint Nextel , the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, is merging sales and marketing for its business and consumer operations as part of a streamlining that includes the departures of four top executives, according to Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.