Dobson Communications Corp. said it expects to report a loss of 18,800 subscribers for the first quarter of this year, which would be less than the 25,600 customers the carrier lost during the fourth quarter of last year, but more than triple the 5,400 subscribers Dobson said it lost during the first quarter of 2004. Dobson noted that the decline included the loss of 28,500 postpaid subscribers during the first quarter of this year.
The subscriber loss was attributed to an increase in customer churn from 1.9 percent during the first quarter of 2004 to 2.4 percent this year, which more than offset an increase in gross subscriber additions from 99,600 customers during the first quarter of 2004 to 122,000 gross subscriber additions this year.
Despite the loss of subscribers, Dobson reported that average revenue per user increased year-over-year from $38.83 during the first quarter of 2004 to $42.90 this year. The carrier also reported that it expects to post $53 million in roaming revenues for the first quarter of this year, and roaming minutes of use increased 23 percent year-over-year from 322 million minutes in 2004 to 395 million minutes this year.
Dobson reported earlier this year that it was focusing its efforts on increasing ARPU and gross subscriber additions while attempting to mitigate its churn results. The carrier added that the ongoing transition of customers from its legacy TDMA network to its recently launched GSM-based network could result in flat to a slight decline in its customer base during 2005.
Investors seemed to focus more on Dobson’s gross subscriber and ARPU results than its net customer losses as the carrier’s stock price was trading up more than 18 percent early Wednesday at $2.18 per share.
Dobson is scheduled to release full operating and fiscal results for the first quarter early next month.
