CHILLICOTHE, Ohio-Sprint Corp. wireless affiliate Horizon PCS Inc. said it added 800 customers during the first quarter of this year, which included 2,400 net customer additions and 1,600 customers it sold to Sprint. The growth surpassed the loss of 3,700 customers the carrier posted during the first quarter of last year, which included markets it operated for Ntelos Inc. in Virginia and West Virginia that Horizon has subsequently handed over to Sprint to operate. Horizon ended the first quarter of this year with 183,900 total subscribers.
Customer churn remained steady at 2.9 percent during the first quarter, while average revenue per user dropped from $53 during the first quarter of 2004 to $51 this year. The cost per gross customer addition increased from $299 last year to $337 this year, while the cash cost per user fell from $48 to $42.
Total revenues dropped 30 percent year-over-year from $63.2 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $44 million this year. The first-quarter 2004 results include $20.6 million in subscriber and roaming revenue generated by the Ntelos operations that Horizon handed back to Sprint.
Net losses increased more than 47 percent from $16.3 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $24.1 million this year. Horizon noted the 2005 results included a $17.4 million increase in depreciation and amortization expenses related to the accelerated depreciation on network switching equipment being retired and replaced with new equipment being supplied by Nortel Networks Ltd.
Horizon, which emerged from bankruptcy protection last fall, is currently in the process of being acquired by fellow affiliate iPCS Inc.
