Some topics on everyone’s mind as Sprint Nextel (News - Alert) Corporation – the third largest wireless carrier in the U.S. — released its third quarter results this morning were when it will upgrade its wireless network to highly anticipated 4G and how its iPhone (News - Alert) strategy is working. But Sprint had some bigger news it wished to relay this morning – the fact that it experienced its smallest quarterly loss in four years.

Recently, Sprint has been taking great strides in the carrier race, competing with big shots like AT&T and Verizon (News - Alert) wireless, particularly when it comes to the iPhone race. Those moves appear to be paying off, as Sprint added about 1.3 million subscribers in the July to September period, the best result since 2006.  The majority of these new subscribers were from Sprint’s Boost and Virgin Mobile brands, which offer prepaid service for customers that go month-to-month on their wireless service.

While Sprint did lose subscribers from its profitable contract-based plans, it lost them at a very low rate (44,000 in the quarter).

Sprint’s net loss was $301 million, or 10 cents per share, for the third quarter, a number that is down from $911 million, or 28 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters (News - Alert) forecasted a loss of 22 cents per share.

Revenue rose 2.2 percent to $8.3 billion, topping analysts’ forecasts of $8.2 billion. The company also generated Adjusted OIBDA* of $1.4 billion. Adjusted OIBDA* grew sequentially and year-over-year driven primarily by strength in postpaid ARPU and continued growth in the prepaid wireless customer base.

One of the more positive steps that was taken by Sprint this quarter was announcing the availability of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, which went on sale on Sprint’s network for the first time on Oct. 14. The launch of this device resulted in Sprint’s best ever day of sales for a device family in retail, Web and telesales in Sprint history, according to Sprint officials.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse (News - Alert) said during this morning’s call that prior to offering the iPhone, the number one reason people left the Sprint network was because “no iPhone” and the reason prospective customers didn’t come to Sprint was because “no iPhone.”

While two weeks in the market is not enough time to predict growth estimates, according to Hesse, “early estimates are extremely encouraging” that quarter four will see strong numbers for iPhone sales.

According to Hesse, another crowning achievement was that Sprint was able to excel in its three key areas of customer experience, brand and cash.

With regards to customer experience, Sprint moved up in customer satisfaction ratings, going from last to first in a short period of time, according to Hessey. Moreover, in this third quarter, Sprint received three more awards from J.D. Power and Associates.

Additionally, the company reported operating income of $208 million, a net loss of $301 million and a diluted loss of $.10 per share for the quarter, which includes $261 million in equity losses of unconsolidated investments and other. This compares to an operating loss of $213 million, a net loss of $911 million and a diluted loss of $.30 per share, which included $284 million in equity losses of unconsolidated investments and other in the third quarter of 2010.

“Sprint’s focus on creating the best customer experience with simple, unlimited plans and innovative products and services continues to strengthen our brand and drive positive results,” said Hesse. “We are adding to our customer base, our ARPU is increasing, and as a result our wireless revenues are growing.”