Dobson Communications Corp. said it added approximately 7,200 customers during the second quarter of this year, which was a drop from the 19,900 customers the carrier added during the second quarter of 2003. An increase in gross customer additions from 94,500 subscribers last year to 107,000 subscribers this year was not enough to offset an increase in postpaid customer churn from 1.6 percent during the second quarter of 2003 to 1.7 percent this year.
Dobson noted that it added 33,100 customers during the second quarter as part of its acquisition of NPI-Omnipoint Wireless L.L.C. in Michigan, and it ended the second quarter with approximately 1.6 million total subscribers. In addition, Dobson reported that its GSM customer base increased from 11,800 subscribers at the end of the first quarter to 152,600 subscribers at the end of the second quarter, including 39,800 GSM gross subscriber additions, 68,700 TDMA-to-GSM customer migrations and NPI-Omnipoint’s acquired customer base.
Dobson also reported that average revenue per user increased from $39.75 during the second quarter of 2003 to $40 this year, while roaming revenue increased from 353 million minutes of use in 2003 to 360 million MOUs this year and $50 million of total roaming revenues.
Dobson is scheduled to release full second-quarter results Aug. 9.
