Sprint said Monday it is releasing a software update for its HTC Mogul phone. The new firmware will enable the high-end phone to connect at Rev. A speeds to Sprint's network. The feature-packed PDA phone runs Windows Mobile 5 and sports a slide-out text keyboard, and triple radios: CDMA EV-DO, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

This is the first phone enabled to connect to Sprint's high speed network. Previously, only notebook wireless datacards could access the broadband EV-DO Rev. A networks. With the new update, the HTC Mogul should have download speeds of 600 kilobits to 1,400 Kbytes per second with uploads of 350 to 500 Kbytes per second. Previously, the EV-DO Rev. 0 access mode only provided downloading at 400-700 kbps and uploading at 50-70 kbps.

The company claims that the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network is available in 13,453 cities and 1,321 airports with most of it upgraded to EV-DO Rev. A.

Sprint Nextel Corporation has announced at the end of last month a stunning loss of $29.45 billion, or $ 10.36 a share, compared with net income $261 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. The sum includes a $29.7 billion goodwill write-down, the remaining value of its $35 billion 2005 purchase of Nextel Communications Inc.

Sprint Nextel, the nation's third largest wireless carrier, has more than 50 million customers. By comparison, AT&T and Verizon have widened their lead and now serve more than 60 million customers each.

The wireless heavyweight also announced last month a $100 rate for "everything" and $90 plan for voice, more pricey than most people have expected. Analysts expected that Sprint would ask significantly less than its competitors for the unlimited voice plan to regain market share, which the company apparently found not feasible. Similar plans from its competitors cost around $100.