BELLEVUE, Wash.—VoiceStream Wireless Corp. reported positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the first time during the first quarter of $75 million, a feat the company attributed to careful cost management.
The carrier added 508,500 net customers during the quarter ending the quarter with approximately 7.5 million subscribers. Contract customers increased from 5.2 million during the fourth quarter of last year to 5.7 million, while prepaid customers dropped from 1.82 million to 1.77 million.
Blended customer churn for the quarter dropped from 4.8 percent during the fourth quarter to 4.4 percent led by contract churn falling from 3.3 percent to 3 percent. Average revenue per user also dropped from $49 during the fourth quarter to $48 during the first quarter of this year.
VoiceStream’s total revenues increased from $1.12 billion during the fourth quarter to $1.17 billion, with service revenues rising from $973 million to $1 billion over the same time frame.
