T-Mobile US said it added 2.1M net adds during Q2, setting the bar for rivals and staking its claim for No. 3 ahead of Sprint
T-Mobile US set the bar for second-quarter results announcing it added nearly 2.1 million connections to its network during the quarter, pushing its total base to 58.9 million connections and perhaps officially taking over the No. 3 position in the domestic wireless market.
Branded postpaid net additions topped the growth, with T-Mobile US stating it added just over 1 million connections to its network tied to a device financing plan. The postpaid growth was dominated by “phone” connections, which accounted for 760,000 net additions, with mobile broadband devices, which includes tablets and mobile hot spots, accounting for 248,000 net additions. Total branded postpaid growth increased 11% year-over-year.
Branded prepaid net additions surged 75% year-over-year, with T-Mobile US posting 178,000 net additions during the last quarter. T-Mobile US also noted 175,000 branded prepaid connections migrated to postpaid options, which was down sequentially.
Branded postpaid and prepaid churn was mixed bag for the carrier. Postpaid churn dropped year-over-year from 1.48% to 1.32%, though ticked up from 1.3% sequentially. On the prepaid side, churn increased from 4.5% last year to 4.93%, which was also an increase from 4.62% during the first quarter of this year.
T-Mobile US’ wholesale business showed a 93% year-over-year increase in net connections, with the carrier reporting 886,000 new connections through the segment. That growth was all on the backs of mobile virtual network operator partners, with T-Mobile US’ machine-to-machine business actually losing a few connections during Q2.
T-Mobile US did not break out MVNO partners, but noted its recently announced partnership with Google on its Project Fi initiative was showing some significant backlog.
Rivals are sure to be tested in trying to match T-Mobile US’ postpaid growth during Q2, with T-Mobile US management noting overall porting ratios remained at around 1.8 for the quarter. T-Mobile US CEO John Legere explained the carrier’s porting ratio with AT&T Mobility increased sequentially from 1.8 to 1.9, dipped slightly with Verizon Wireless from 1.6 to 1.5; and remained flat with Sprint at 2.45.
T-Mobile US officially entered Q2 as the market’s No. 4 carrier just behind Sprint, though those numbers have been called into question. Mike Sievert, COO at T-Mobile US, claimed that T-Mobile US has been the market’s No. 3 carrier in terms of “paying customers” since late last year.
Strategy Analytics recently wrote in a report that T-Mobile US had indeed surpassed Sprint in terms of total customers during Q2, though Legere again downplayed the significance of any change in positioning tied to subscriber numbers.
T-Mobile US is scheduled to post full Q2 results on July 30.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter
