MetroPCS posts 20% revenue increase, but ARPU falls

MetroPCS reported a 20 percent increase in revenue in the first quarter, with revenue of $795 million, up from $622 million in the year-ago quarter. However, ARPU in the quarter fell to $40.40, down from $42.51 in first quarter of 2008. The carrier blamed the decline in ARPU on a decrease in MetroFlash (MetroPCS's CDMA flash service [1]) revenue, because fewer consumers bought $49 handsets as opposed to re-flashing their existing handsets. Churn also increased to 5 percent, up from 4 percent in the year-ago quarter. However, MetroPCS had record quarterly net subscriber additions of 684,000, which it previously reported. That represents a 37 percent year-on-year net subscriber growth. Release [2]