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Grading the top 10 U.S. carriers in the third quarter of 2009

The following charts the top 10 U.S. wireless carriers in the third quarter of 2009 by subscriber base, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, and includes major metrics--such as churn, ARPU and revenue--of each carrier.

This list does not include resellers or MVNOs, such as Virgin Mobile USA or TracFone Wireless.

And don't forget to see how these figures stack up against first quarter 2009 figures and second quarter 2009 figures.

Rank (# of subscribers) Carrier Subscribers (millions) Net Adds (millions) Churn                  (Avg Monthly) Service Revenue      (US$ millions) Data % of Service Revenue ARPU
1 Verizon Wireless 89.013 1.238 1.49% $13,525 30.5%  $51.04
2 AT&T 81.596 2.026 1.43% $12,399 29.4%  $51.21
3 Sprint Nextel* 47.318 -0.565 2.78% $6,261 30.7%  $52.95
4 T-Mobile USA 33.420 -0.077 3.40% $4,733 21.1%  $47.15
5 MetroPCS 6.322 0.066 5.80% $812    $41.08
6 US Cellular 6.131 -0.024 2.22% $985 17.7%  $53.49
7 Leap Wireless 4.655 0.115 5.4% $541    $39.60
8 iPCS 0.720 0.010 2.4% $136 34.0%  $50.45
9 Cincinnati Bell 0.536 -0.008 2.3% $72 22.8%  $43.46
10 Ntelos 0.438 -0.004 3.6% $98 17.5%  $53.22
*Sprint Nextel subscribers and net adds excluding estimated number of affiliate subscribers (including iPCS), but including wholesale; service revenues excluding wholesale and affiliate
Source: Strategy Analytics, based on carrier reports