No. 4 carrier touts strong porting ratios against rivals
T-Mobile US threw down a strong challenge to its rivals, announcing preliminary fourth-quarter results that showed it added 2.1 million net connections to its network, pushing its 2014 total to 8.3 million net new connections, an 89% increase compared with 2013. T-Mobile US ended the year with 55.018 million connections on its network.
The nation’s No. 4 carrier said its most recent growth included 1 million postpaid “phone” net additions; approximately 300,000 postpaid nonphone net additions; and 266,000 branded prepaid net additions, which includes the carrier’s MetroPCS brand. T-Mobile US’ wholesale operations managed to add 586,000 net connections during Q4. The carrier reported 1.6 million net connection additions for the fourth quarter of 2013, which included 869,000 branded postpaid net additions, with traditional phones accounting for 800,000 net adds and other devices making up the remainder.
As for its rivals, T-Mobile US said during Q4 it held a 1.4 to 1 positive postpaid porting ratio with Verizon Wireless; 1.8 to 1 positive porting ratio with AT&T Mobility; and a 2.2 to 1 positive porting ratio with Sprint. T-Mobile US added that those trends have continued into the new year.
“Porting ratios have been in our favor vs. the competition for seven consecutive quarters, and it looks like we will continue to beat everyone on total postpaid phone adds as well,” said T-Mobile US CEO John Legere in a statement.
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless are scheduled to release Q4 results later this month, with Sprint expected to announce results in early February. Legere had previously predicted that T-Mobile US could surpass Sprint as the nation’s No. 3 operator by the end of 2014, a prediction he has since modified to 2015. Sprint said it ended its most recently reported quarter with 55.037 million customers.
Verizon Wireless recently hinted of increased competitive pressure during the final three months of 2014, which is expected to result in higher churn and an impact on revenue margins.
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