Sprint, the third-largest wireless service provider in the United States, shed a number of jobs and shut down a number of stores as part of a larger plan to cut costs and turn the company's financial prospects around.

CNET was able to confirm that the Kansas-based carrier laid off 330 technical consultants and closed 150 service and repair centers across the country. Sprint also shut down 55 of its retail stores with the worst performance and confirmed that it would retain around 85 percent of employees affected by the closings.

The layoffs and closings aren't the first ones to hit Sprint. The company announced in January that it would be slashing jobs in its customer care centers and less-profitable retail stores. It was just earlier this week that Sprint said it would let go of 1,500 customer service employees, including half of its 900-person staff at a call center north of Forth Worth.

"We are seeing fewer calls coming into customer care," company spokeswoman Melinda Tiemeyer said. "That's the result, for example, that many customers are on their second or third smartphone so they are well past the learning curve of using their phones."

"Also, our technology is improving, our customers can use more self-service options to make changes to their account. That's something we've tried to do more as an organization to help customers do more online themselves," she said.

Japan-based SoftBank Corp. purchased Sprint last year and has since aggressively tried to change the way things are done at Sprint, especially amid declining revenue and a debts of over $1 billion. SoftBank chief executive and president Masayoshi Son in particular has been adamant at reversing the "loser mentality" at Sprint.

"Sprint is a daimyo in Kansas," Son said recently, referring to Japanese feudal lords that wielded little influence and power outside of their home turf. "That's not enough."

"We need to change Sprint's culture," Son told The Wall Street Journal after a news conference in February.

One way to make Sprint more competitive in the market in Son's eyes is to merge with T-Mobile, the fourth-largest carrier in the United States.

"Without industry consolidation, for Sprint alone to become No. 1 in the U.S. is literally just a dream. I'm not content for Sprint to remain No. 3 because if we could grow bigger, we will offer aggressive discounts and services, just like we did in Japan," Son said during the Sprint's quarterly earnings report earlier this year.

"There is a huge gap between the bigger two and the smaller two, thus the level of competition isn't sound or strong."

Even if Sprint and T-Mobile were to consolidate, their combined subscriber base would still be smaller than AT&T's. A merger, however, doesn't look likely at the moment due to opposition from the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division and the FCC. Regulators are wary of trimming the U.S. mobile market from four to three nationwide carriers, and approval from both institutions is needed for the deal to go through.