LAKE CHARLES, La.-Sprint PCS affiliate US Unwired Inc. said it added 22,089 net subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2003, which was slightly ahead of the 19,881 customers the carrier added during the fourth quarter of 2002. For the year, US Unwired said it added 59,246 subscribers, which was short of the 73,799 customers added in 2002.
Customer churn improved from 4.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2002 to 3.4 percent last year, while full-year churn dropped from 4.2 percent in 2002 to 3.4 percent in 2003.
Total revenues decreased during the fourth quarter from $144.5 million in 2002 to $138 million in 2003, while full-year revenues increased from $511.6 million in 2002 to $535.8 million last year. Roaming revenues dropped from $50.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2002 to $35.7 million last year and from $175.9 million during all of 2002 to $128.6 million in 2003.
Despite the mixed revenue results, net losses improved during the fourth quarter from $450.6 million in 2002, a loss of $3.79 per share, to $33.2 million last year, a loss of 25 cents per shares, and from $582.5 million during all of 2002, a loss of $4.93 per share, to $157 million last year, a loss of $1.22 per share.