Sprint Nextel ( ) reported its second quarter earnings today, with a net loss exceeding consensus and our forecasts while reported revenue came in line with the average estimate.

The company posted a second quarter net loss of $384 million or $0.13 per share, which is 12% higher than the net loss of $344 million or $0.12 per share reported a year ago. Operating revenue fell 10% year over year and 1% sequentially to $8.1 billion due to lower contribution from its wireless business.

The total reported revenue from the wireless segment was approximately $7 billion, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 9%. Wireless service revenue registered $6.4 billion, down 9% year over year while flat sequentially, as revenue growth from Boost Monthly prepaid subscribers was offset by declines in the post-paid segment.

Sprint lost a net of 257,000 subscribers in the second quarter compared to 182,000 in the previous quarter. A net loss of 991,000 customers in the postpaid segment reflects a sequential decline, which was partially offset by a net gain of 777,000 customers in the prepaid segment.

At the end of the second quarter, Sprint had 48.8 million customers compared to 49.1 million and 51.9 million customers reported in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.

Wireless post-paid ARPU (average revenue per user) of $56 remained stable both sequentially and on a year-over-year basis, as growth in fixed-rate bundled plans was offset by declines in usage. Prepaid ARPU in the quarter was $34, compared to $31 and $30 in the previous and year-ago quarter respectively -- largely favored by the Boost monthly unlimited plan.

Postpaid churn was 2.05%, down sequentially while increasing on a year over year basis. Prepaid (Boost) churn declined both sequentially and year over year to 6.38% with the improvement reflecting fewer deactivations.

Reported revenues from the wireline segment was $1.4 billion, down 11% year over year and 3% sequentially. Wireline revenues reflect growth in Internet Protocol (IP) services (up 10% year over year), offset by declines in voice (down 18%) and legacy data (down 32%) services.

Sprint has updated its 2009 outlook as it continues to expect improvement in both postpaid and total subscriber losses for the year compared to 2008. Capital expenditure (excluding WiMax) for the full-year is expected to be lower than 2008.

The company also expects to continue generating positive free cash flow in 2009 driven by its ongoing cost-cutting initiatives.