ONSHOHOCKEN, Pa.-Sprint Corp. wireless affiliate UbiquiTel Inc. said it added 14,400 customers during the first quarter of this year compared with 21,400 net customer additions during the first quarter of 2004. UbiquiTel ended the quarter with 412,900 total subscribers.
The carrier downplayed the year-over-year drop in net additions, noting that the percentage of prime credit customers added during the first quarter improved from 61 percent during the first quarter of last year to 68 percent this year. UbiquiTel’s also posted improved customer churn from 3.1 percent last year to 2.6 percent this year.
Average revenue per user dropped from $56 during the first quarter of 2004 to $55 this year, while the cost per gross addition surged from $425 last year to $497 during the first quarter of this year.
Total revenues increased 23 percent year-over-year from $81.3 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $99.9 million this year. The increase was spread evenly between the carrier’s subscriber revenues and its roaming and wholesale revenues.
Net income also improved from a loss of $8.6 million during the first quarter of last year, a loss of 9 cents per share, to a return of $2.5 million this year, or 2 cents per share.
