Sprint PCS affiliate US Unwired Inc. reported 26,729 net customer additions during the fourth quarter of last year, which was a 21-percent improvement compared with the 22,089 subscribers the carrier added during the final three months of 2003. Full-year customer growth increased 58 percent from 59,246 net subscriber additions in 2003 to 93,382 net subscriber additions last year. US Unwired said it ended last year with 706,942 total subscribers.
Boosting the carrier’s fourth-quarter subscriber growth was a 13-percent increase in gross subscriber additions and a reduction in churn from 3.4 percent during the fourth quarter of 2003 to 3.2 percent last year. Full-year gross subscriber additions increased 15 percent, while full-year churn dropped from 3.4 percent in 2003 to 3.1 percent last year.
Average revenue per user also improved during the fourth quarter from $52.33 in 2003 to $53.19 last year, while full-year ARPU increased from $54.06 in 2003 to $54.23 last year.
Total revenues jumped more than 10 percent during the fourth quarter from $138 million in 2003 to $152.6 million last year. Full-year revenues increased 11 percent from $535.8 million in 2003 to $594.8 million last year.
Net losses also improved from a loss of $33.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2003, or a loss of 26 cents per share, to a loss of $29.3 million last year, or a loss of 18 cents per share. Full-year net losses improved from a loss of $157 million in 2003, or a loss of $1.22 per share, to a loss of $130.2 million last year, or a loss of 87 cents per share.
US Unwired’s management also noted that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the carrier’s subsidiary IWO Holdings Inc.’s reorganization plan this week. The plan, which was filed Jan. 4, will eliminate US Unwired’s ownership of IWO and remove $355 million of IWO’s debt from US Unwired’s financial statements.