ALEXANDRIA, Minn.-Rural Cellular Corp. posted a year-over-year increase in total revenues from $125.7 million during the third quarter of 2002 to $136.6 million this year, bolstered by an increase in local service revenue per customer from $42 last year to $45 this year. Rural Cellular also reported a 6-percent year-over-year increase in roaming revenue, which resulted in a drop from 28.2 percent of total revenues last year to 27.5 percent this year.
Rural Cellular’s net losses increased from $5.1 million during the third quarter of 2002, a loss of 43 cents per share, to $41.1 million this year, a loss of $3.41 per share.
Customer growth increased from a loss of 1,900 subscribers during the third quarter of 2002 to 1,469 net additions this year, which left Rural Cellular with 740,484 total subscribers at the end of the third quarter.
Rural Cellular also reported last week a GSM/GPRS roaming agreement with T-Mobile USA effective through 2007 establishing Rural Cellular as a preferred roaming partner in certain markets. The deal builds on a previously announced roaming extension with AT&T Wireless Services Inc. that included Rural Cellular’s soon-to-be-deployed GSM network.
