Sprint is reportedly cutting 2,500 jobs, including 2,000 in customer service, but the company told Ars that subscribers won't actually see any decline in customer service quality. "These changes will not impact the level of service we provide to our customers," a Sprint spokesperson told Ars today.

Sprint said it has already boosted "self-service and digital care tools," helping to lower its churn rate (the percentage of subscribers who leave). "In addition, we have made changes in service assurance that have now resulted in our lowest ticket levels and fastest repair times in the last three years," Sprint said.

Still, Sprint is heading in the wrong direction overall. The wireless company reported a quarterly operating loss of $197 million on $8.1 billion of revenue today and said it's continuing a plan to shed more than $2 billion in costs. In September, Sprint said it planned to skip a major auction of low-band spectrum, potentially making it harder to compete against the bigger wireless carriers.

Specifics about job cuts were reported today by The Kansas City Star, Reuters, and other news outlets. The 2,500 job cuts represent about seven percent of the company's total workforce; Sprint's number of employees generally ranges between 32,000 and 35,000, the company told Ars. Five vice presidents were reportedly laid off.

The 2,000 customer service job cuts target call centers in Kansas, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Colorado. Some call centers will continue to operate with less staff while others will close, including ones in New Mexico and Tennessee.

"With fewer call centers operating, Sprint is urging customers to handle routine inquiries—such as checking bill balances and making payments, checking on device upgrade status, and checking on phone lease status—online or through the Sprint Zone app," The Kansas City Star wrote. "Sprint also will rely on customer care sites run by vendors in addition to its own centers."

Sprint's "multiyear turnaround strategy" means that "we must change our cost structure so we can fuel our growth and operate more efficiently," Sprint told Ars. "We are leaving no stone unturned as we work to eliminate up to $2.5 billion of costs from our business. Unfortunately, as we’ve said over the past several months, the effort to reduce our costs would impact all areas of our business, including jobs."

T-Mobile USA passed Sprint to become the nation's third-largest carrier last year, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Sprint has been offering lower prices than its rivals in an attempt to boost subscriber numbers. The company gained 366,000 postpaid phone customers in the most recent quarter, the highest net additions in three years, the company said. Sprint lost 491,000 prepaid customers but also gained 481,000 wireless connections through wholesale and affiliate deals.

Sprint ended the quarter with 58.4 million total wireless connections.