Profits at Sprint dropped 16 percent in the three months through June, as the company focuses on bolstering its wireless subscribers while its awaits federal approval for a proposed $26 billion merger with T-Mobile.

The telecommunications firm based in Overland Park, Kan., added 57,000 new customers during that period, including 87,000 new postpaid subscribers. But merger fees and other costs pushed net income at the nation’s fourth largest carrier down to $176 million.