T-Mobile USA Inc. ended 2007 with 28.7 million customers after adding 951,000 customers and posting a net income of $383 million during the fourth quarter.
The carrier netted more than 3.6 million new customers during 2007, with 83% of its total customer base coming from postpaid subscribers at the year’s close.
Customer churn dropped to 2.8% overall in the fourth quarter, from 2.9% in the third quarter and the year-ago period. Average revenue per user remained unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2006 at $52, but was down from the $53 it reported in the previous quarter.
Leap’s stock jumps
Separately, Leap Wireless International Inc.’s stock surged after it reported a net loss of $18.1 million in the fourth quarter, bringing its total annual losses to $75.9 million. The flat-rate, all-you-can-eat carrier ended the year with 2.86 million customers after netting 152,000 new customers during the quarter.
The company’s loss on the quarter was down more than 60% from the year-ago loss of $45.6 million. Meanwhile, overall annual losses were up more than 211% from $24.4 million.
Net customer additions were down 42% in the quarter from 262,457 during the final three months of 2006 to 152,072 in 2007, while annual net customer adds were up 7% from 592,237 in 2006 to 633,693 last year.
Churn jumped to 4.2% in the quarter from 4.1% in the previous quarter while the carrier ended the year with an average churn rate of 4.3%, up from 3.9% in 2006. ARPU was up to $45.57 in the quarter from $43.63 in the year-ago period.
“We expect to add our 3 millionth customer today and believe the business is well positioned for the future,” President, CEO and acting CFO Doug Hutcheson said when the company announced results.
