OKLAHOMA CITY—Dobson Communications Corp. said its subscriber additions improved significantly during the third quarter.
In a preliminary quarterly report, the company said it added about 23,500 net subscribers, including 11,300 postpaid customers and 14,500 prepaid customers. During the third quarter of last year the company reported it lost 24,100 subscribers.
Churn for the quarter was 1.95 percent, down almost a full percentage point from churn of 2.82 percent for the third quarter last year. And average revenue per user is expected to come in higher for the quarter, at $49.10, up from $46.77 during the same period last year.
Dobson said it expects to report higher roaming traffic during the quarter at 845 million minutes of use compared with 699 million roaming MOUs last year. However, average roaming yield for the quarter was about 10.3 cents, down from 12 cents during the same period last year.
The company is scheduled to release its full report Nov. 6.
Dobson also reported that its American Cellular Corp. subsidiary closed on its $95 million acquisition of rural operator Highland Cellular L.L.C. The deal included 850 MHz and 1.9 GHz spectrum in parts of West Virginia and Virginia covering 352,000 potential customers and approximately 50,000 wireless customers.
