T-Mobile USA Inc. reported 606,000 net customer additions during the second quarter of this year, including 652,000 postpaid subscriber additions and the loss of 46,000 prepaid customers. The results were well below the 921,000 subscribers T-Mobile USA added during the first quarter of this year but ahead of the 525,900 customers the carrier added during the second quarter of 2002.
Analysts noted the customer growth drop compared with the first quarter of this year was due to a loss of market share, and T-Mobile USA’s shift away from prepaid subscribers.
Customer churn during the second quarter dropped from 4.4 percent last year to 2.96 percent this year, which T-Mobile USA said was the first time customer churn fell below 3 percent. Average revenue per user also improved from $49 during the second quarter of 2002 to $53 this year.
“We are the only national carrier that has meaningfully grown ARPU in the last year, which we have done through higher customer usage and greater data contribution,” said Robert Dotson, president and chief executive officer of T-Mobile USA.
Total revenues increased from $1.8 billion during the first quarter of 2003 to $2 billion during the second quarter, while operating income increased from a loss of $24 million during the first quarter to a return of $139 million in the second quarter.
