MetroPCS adds 249K subs in Q3

MetroPCS saw a drop in third quarter net profits, despite a 23 percent rise in revenues, mostly because of higher costs that the regional carrier took on from adding subscribers as well as a drop in ARPU. The company saw its net profits drop nearly 16 percent to $44.88 million, down from $53.11 million in the year-ago period.

Net adds: There were 249,000 net adds in the quarter, up from just over 114,000 net adds in the year ago quarter, and closed out the quarter with 4.84 million consolidated subscribers.

ARPU: The company's ARPU declined to $40.42, down from $42.77 in the year-ago quarter. MetroPCS attributed this to higher participation in family plans and services that are now bundled into plans that were once a la carte.

Churn: Churn declined to 4.8 percent, down from 5.2 percent in the third quarter last year, and, in the earnings statement, CEO Roger Linquist cited the decline in churn in both the carrier's core and expanding markets as one of the key highlights for the quarter.

Expanding service: At the beginning of the third quarter the carrier launched its first market in the Northeast, in Philadelphia. Linquist said the carrier expects to launch in the New York and Boston metropolitan areas in the near future. "We expect our Northeast markets will represent a significant opportunity for the future growth of MetroPCS," he said. "The Northeast includes some of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the country that we believe are ideal for MetroPCS' predictable, affordable and flexible service."

For more:
- see this article [1]
- see this release [2]

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