Sprint and T-Mobile US quarterly results could alter domestic ranking
With the first quarter now solidly in the past, mobile operators are preparing to announce just how the first three months of the year went. The most compelling announcement is likely to come from the market’s No. 3 and No. 4 operators, which will be Sprint and T-Mobile US, though in what order is yet to be seen.
Sprint entered 2015 as the nation’s No. 3 operator in terms of the number of connections hosted on its network with a reported 55.9 million. That was fewer than 1 million more than T-Mobile US reported for the end of 2014.
During the past three months, speculation has raged over how legitimate those numbers are, with some published reports indicating up to 1.7 million of Sprint’s connections through wholesale partners had been inactive for at least six months. T-Mobile US CEO John Legere took that situation to bolster his previous forecast that T-Mobile US would be the No. 3 operator by the end of last year, a prediction he was forced to admit may have been a bit off following the numbers released from Sprint.
However, momentum is clearly on T-Mobile US’ side as the carrier has managed to make significant strides in closing the gap, having added more than 8 million net connections in 2014 and routinely beating out all of its larger rivals in terms of net connection additions. Some analysts are predicting T-Mobile US added more than 2 million net connections during the first three months of this year, with Sprint coming in at anywhere between 500,000 and 1 million net connections.
It should also be noted that both Sprint and T-Mobile US will continue to trail industry heavyweights AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, which both claim well over 100 million customers each.
For its part, Sprint is downplaying the potential of the carrier becoming the nation’s No. 4 carrier, with a Sprint executive earlier this week telling The Kansas City Star the ranking was “immaterial” to the carrier’s overall turnaround plans instituted under current CEO Marcelo Claure.
Jamie Jones told the news outlet that Sprint was focused on “winning in the long-term and not really worrying or being concerned about whether we’re No. 3 or 4 in the short-term.”
While not looking to get caught up in the rankings, Sprint has remained aggressive in its marketing efforts. The carrier earlier this year moved to reimburse all costs associated with a customer leaving a rival; partnered with big-box retailer Best Buy on a new all-inclusive offer that could pad wholesale growth; and rolled out new alterations to its Family Share Pack rate plans targeting new customers that, at least for a limited time, undercut similar offerings from rivals.
T-Mobile US, for its part, unveiled its Un-carrier 9.0 initiative, which targeted the enterprise market, discounted multiline plans and updated its wildly disruptive early termination fee payment offer to now include device payment plans, and made some changes to its MetroPCS branded services in an attempt to curtail potential churn opportunities.
How those moves officially play out in terms of attracting new connections remains to be seen. Sprint has yet to schedule its next earnings release, which will be for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended March 31. T-Mobile US has also yet to schedule its fiscal Q1 release, though both are expected to be reported by mid-May.
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