Sprint Nextel will finish shutting down its narrowband iDEN network as early as June 30, 2013, the company disclosed on Tuesday.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved a rule change for part of the 800MHz band at a meeting on Thursday, opening the door for Sprint Nextel to use the band for its 4G LTE network.

Traditional mobile phone plans are now on the wane in the U.S., but the country's biggest carriers are still bringing in more money and leading the world in revenue, according to a report based on first-quarter results.

A proposed sale of mobile spectrum from a group of cable providers to Verizon Wireless, along with accompanying marketing and research agreements, will lead to higher prices for broadband and mobile customers, a coalition of groups opposing the deal said Monday.

Amid growing interest in small cells, widely seen as an inevitable tool for carriers to deal with booming mobile data demand, there are now signs that it may be hard to derive the expected benefits from them in some cases.

Sprint Nextel's methodical rollout of new cell sites with LTE may not win the deployment race, but each market that gets the upgrade will see competitive speeds and more complete coverage than other carriers may offer, executives said Wednesday.

Trust is central to mobile operators' relationships with consumers, and carriers may have their work cut out for them in restoring that trust, based on executives' comments during a keynote session on Tuesday at CTIA Wireless.

About 5.9 percent of AT&T shareholders have voted for a proposal calling on the company to commit to net neutrality principles on its wireless networks, but supporters of the measure called the vote a success.

Froyo is coming.