Regional telecommunications provider Ntelos continued to squeak out customer gains during the recently completed third quarter, a noteworthy achievement as many operators lacking a nationwide network to call their own continue to bleed subscribers.
Ntelos said it added approximately 2,300 customers during the quarter, ending the period with 457,100 total customers on its network. The growth was all on the back of Ntelos’ prepaid services, which posted 3,000 net customer additions offset by the loss of 700 postpaid customers. The numbers were down a bit sequentially from the second quarter as well as year-over-year, impacted by an increase in churn that offset growth in gross customer additions.
While growth had slowed a bit, Ntelos’ management noted that the most recent quarter was its seventh consecutive in which it had posted a gain in its customer base, dating back to the first quarter of 2012.
Average revenues per user climb year-over-year from $50.93 during the third quarter of 2012 to $54.29 this year, with data APRU surging $2.10 to $22.35. That increased consumer spending along with a larger customer base helped push operating revenues up 14% to $130.9 million for the quarter.
Operating expenses increased only slightly year-over-year, bolstering net income attributed to shareholders from $4.6 million last year to $10.6 million this year. Ntelos said added 38 cell sites over the past 12 months, and said it remains on track to launch LTE services in the coming weeks.
Ntelos’ stock has been on a bit of a roller-coaster ride as of late as concerns in August over a potential overbuild by network partner Sprint might lead to a drop in roaming revenues, was countered in late September as the two operators announced the resolution of a billing issue that began in late 2011. Ntelos has a long history in working with Sprint dating back to 1999, and is the exclusive provider of services running across the 1.9 GHz spectrum band on a wholesale basis to Sprint customers in portions of Virginia and West Virginia.
Ntelos announced late last month plans for a limited commercial launch of fixed wireless broadband services in partnership with Dish Network covering portions of Roanoke, Staunton, Waynesboro and Charlottesville, Va. The commercial launch is expected to begin in early 2014 and reach up to 500,000 homes.
The offering, which was initially announced in June, uses LTE technology in the 2.5 GHz spectrum band to connect to outdoor routers. Those routers are linked using an Ethernet connection to a wireless router in a home to provide broadband Internet access.
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