KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sprint Nextel Corp. is eliminating about 8,000 positions in the first quarter as it seeks to cut annual costs by $1.2 billion.

The nation's third-largest wireless provider said Monday it will complete the layoffs, which comprise about 14 percent of its 56,000 employees, largely by March 31. About 850 of the reductions are voluntary and the company said it expected a first quarter charge of more than $300 million for severance and other costs.

The company said it is also suspending its 401(k) match for the year, extending a freeze on salary increases and is suspending a tuition reimbursement program.

"Labor reductions are always the most difficult action to take, but many companies are finding it necessary in this environment," Chief Executive Office Dan Hesse said in a news release. "Our commitment to quality will not change."

The Overland Park, Kan.-based company has struggled since acquiring Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005 as technical problems, poor efforts to consolidate the two companies and stiff competition for feature-rich phones has led many subscribers to switch to competing services.

It lost a net of more than 3 million subscribers in the previous four quarters, most of them valuable customers who pay a monthly bill.

Sprint spokesman James Fisher said the company is still deciding where the job cuts will come from but said officials will likely avoid significant reductions in its customer service and network quality divisions, where the company has focused on improvement in recent years.

"Customer care is a priority," Fisher said. "We're doing so well and we've made so much progress (with that) that we want to continue that."

Fisher also said the company will continue reviewing its internal operations to see if there are functions it would consider jettisoning in the future. Whether that leads to outsourcing, which some industry analysts have expected for months, is unknown.

"We haven't made any decisions or announced anything beyond what we said today," Fisher said.

Sprint also announced Monday it will release its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 19, more than a week earlier than originally scheduled.