Prepaid wireless provider Tracfone Wireless inched closer to the 20 million customer mark during the final three months of 2011, as the carrier said it finished the year with 19.8 million total customers. The carrier is owned by America Movil (AMX) and operates in the United States under a variety of names, including Tracfone, Net10 and Straight Talk.
The carrier, which wholesales prepaid services across the networks of a variety of domestic wireless operators, said it added 493,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2011 and more than 2 million customers of the year.
That growth helped push company revenues up nearly 31% year-over-year during the quarter to just over $1 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization also surged more than 126% year-over-year to $77 million during the quarter.
America Movil noted that its Tracfone operations also posted a 32% increase in minutes of use each month to 396 minutes per customer, which it attributed to contributions from its unlimited Straight Talk offering.
Tracfone’s average revenue per user increased $2 per month to $16 and customer churn remained stable at 4.1% per month.
The prepaid segment continues to be a strong growth segment of the U.S. market, as a number of players have moved into the space to counter flat growth in the more lucrative postpaid segment.
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