China’s No. 2 mobile operator China Unicom reported a slowdown in customer growth for its third quarter, a trend echoed by rivals China Mobile and China Telecom.
China Unicom said it added 2.1 million new customers during Q3, which was a fraction of the 10.6 million subscribers the carrier added last year. The most recent growth was all on the back of its 3G and LTE offering, which managed to attract 4.9 million net new customers during the quarter that was offset by a significant drop in legacy 2G subscribers. China Unicom said it ended the quarter with just over 297 million customers on its network.
The carrier reported that at midyear it had 491,000 “base stations” deployed supporting its W-CDMA-based 3G and TDD/FDD-LTE network, which was a nearly 35% increase compared with the previous year. Network, operations and support costs had also increased 12.8% year-over-year to $2.9 billion through the first half of the year, with capital expenditures decreasing just slightly to $3.5 billion for the first six months of 2014.
–Japan’s Softbank posted a steep decline in operating profits due to continued operational issues at its recently acquired Sprint subsidiary and decreased value of the Japanese yen.
For its latest quarter, Softbank reported $2.28 billion in operating profits, down from nearly $3 billion the previous year. The company’s net profits, however, surged to $4.4 billion thanks to a nearly $5 billion boost tied to the company’s stake in Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba.
Softbank said it plans to significantly reduce capex over the next several years from a high of $6.3 billion in 2013, to around $4.5 billion this year, $3.7 billion in 2015, and $3.3 billion in 2016.
–Regional telecommunications provider Ntelos showed competitive strain duringQ3, posting a net loss in customers impacted by a drop in gross additions.
The carrier said it lost 900 net customers during Q3 compared with a gain of 2,300 during the same period last year. The drop was due to a loss of 2,800 prepaid subscribers that offset gaining 1,900 postpaid net additions. Ntelos ended the latest quarter with 457,200 total customers on its network, which was flat year-over-year.
Customer losses were due to lower gross additions, which dipped from 44,500 customers last year to 41,400 subscribers this year. Overall churn remained flat at 3.1%, in which an increase in prepaid churn was offset by a drop in postpaid churn.
Average revenue per account dropped 2% year-over-year to $134.18, with each account averaging 2.2 connections. That dip along with a flat customer base and an impact from a renegotiated roaming deal with Sprint resulted in a 9% drop in revenue to $119.6 million for the quarter.
Going forward, Ntelos said it was trimming full-year capital expense guidance from its previous $110 million to $120 million down to approximately $105 million. The carrier had spent $68 million through the first nine months of the year.
–AT&T Mobility said that beginning Nov. 9, customers will be able to select a 24-month term for the carrier’s Next device financing plan. The offering will allow customers to make monthly payments on their mobile device over a two-year period, at which point a customer can trade in that device on an upgraded model.
AT&T Mobility currently offers installment plans spaced out over 20 and 30 months. Customers that select the Next program receive a lower monthly access charge connected to the carrier’s Mobile Share Value plans.
AT&T Mobility also announced that beginning this week it would provide a $150 service credit for customers porting in a line of service from a competitor and signing up for the Next program. Verizon Wireless began offering a similar incentive last week.
–Sprint expanded its device-leasing program to Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and S5 Sport smartphones, allowing customers to make monthly payments as low as $5 per month on qualified rate plans.
The program, which was started as part of its iPhone for Life plan, allows customers to pay $20 per month over a two-year period for either device at which point they can lease another phone with zero down at signing; purchase the leased phone by paying the remaining balance; continue leasing the device on a month-to-month basis; or return the device in good working condition and terminate service.
Sprint last month rolled out a limited-time promotion that provide a $15-per-month credit to existing customers that sign up to lease a device.
–Sprint’s Boost Mobile subsidiary this week cut $5 from its monthly rate plan options and doubled the amount of unthrottled data included on those plans. The plans, which include unlimited domestic calling and messaging, now begin at $35 per month for one gigabyte of data, ramp up to $45 per month for 5 GB of data and top out at $55 per month for 10 GB of data.
Additional carrier news can be found on the RCR Wireless News “Carriers” page.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter
