T-Mobile USA adds 668,000 customers in Q2

T-Mobile USA Inc.’s second-quarter results showed increases in the two Cs, customers and churn. The nation’s No. 4 carrier added 668,000 customers, pushing its customer base to 31.5 million at the end of the quarter, but T-Mobile USA’s churn reached 2.7%, up from 2.6% in the first quarter of this year. The carriers Q2 growth, which was well short of the 857,000 customers it added during the second quarter of 2007, did not include the roughly 1.1 million customers T-Mobile USA added to its network following the acquisition of SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc.
T-Mobile USA added 143,000 prepaid subscribers during second quarter, notably down from the 248,000 prepaid additions it recorded in the previous quarter. On the postpaid side, T-Mobile USA said 80% of its new customers signed a contract, a number similar to the carrier’s first quarter results.
The slight uptick in customer churn was attributed to the anniversary of the introduction of two-year contacts during the second quarter of 2006.
T-Mobile USA reported $5.47 billion in revenue, slightly up from the $5.19 billion it scored in the previous quarter and a notable improvement over the $4.78 billion in revenue the carrier reported during the same quarter a year ago.
Average revenue per user rose during the second quarter over the first by one buck, to $52. Data services revenue grew significantly to $810 million, representing a 31.5% growth year-over-year.
The carrier said messaging is behind the pleasing data revenue numbers, as customers continue to move toward messaging plans. The carrier said 41 billion messages were sent and received on its network during the second quarter.
Stock of Deutsche Telekom AG, parent company of T-Mobile USA, remained relatively stable at $17.35 per share on the news.