Sprint posts Q1 subscriber losses

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel <S.N> lost wireless subscribers in the first quarter as it faced new competition from Verizon Wireless, which started selling the Apple Inc <AAPL.O> iPhone in February.

Sprint lost 114,000 subscribers in the quarter, compared with the average estimate for losses approaching 40,000 from seven analysts contacted by Reuters.

Its net loss narrowed to $439 million, or 15 cents per share, from a loss of $865 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $8.3 billion from $8.09 billion.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Derek Caney)