subscriber base

T-Mobile USA to merge with Sprint Nextel?

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom is mulling a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel. The acquisition would lead to a combined T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel, which would make for the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. Sprint Nextel boasts a market capitalization of $22 billion after its revenue fell to $40.1 billion in 2007 from $41 billion a year earlier--the operator also booked a net loss of $29.5 billion in the fourth quarter due to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $29.7 billion. At the end of its fourth quarter, Sprint was still the No. 3 carrier with 53.8 million subscribers. With 28.7 million customers at the end of December, T-Mobile USA lags a distant fourth, but a merger with Sprint would roughly triple its subscriber base and vault the company ahead of AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Sprint uses CDMA technology and T-Mobile USA uses GSM, which has led some to predict LTE could be the technology that bridges the two carriers. That, of course, leaves Sprint's WiMAX build out plans in the lurch. Would regulators really allow the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. carriers merge?

For more on the report:
- read the full article at WSJ (sub. req.)

Verizon Wireless adds 1.5M customers

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Verizon Wireless executives said this morning that the operator is weathering the strong economic uncertainty and fails to show any signs of weakness. The company reported that first quarter net adds were 1.5 million, bringing its total subscriber base to 67.2 million. That's down from 2 million net adds in fourth quarter 2007. Revenues totaled $11.7 billion, up 13.2 percent year over year.Ã‚Â Here's a breakdown of the other key metrics:Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

ARPU:Ã‚Â Retail ARPU was $51.40, up 1.3 percent year over year. However, this is slightly down from fourth quarter 2007 when the operator had an ARPU of $51.49.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Data: Data ARPU was $11.94, up from $11.06 in fourth quarter 2007. Data now represents 23 percent of total service revenue up from 17.5 percent a year ago.Ã‚Â Data revenues were $2.3 billion. The company had 48.1 million retain data customers in March, accounting for 74 percent of the retail customer base. Ã‚Â

Churn: Total churn is 1.19 percent, down from 1.2 percent total churn in fourth quarter 2007.Ã‚Â Retail post-paid churn is 0.93 percent, down from 0.94 percent in fourth quarter. Ã‚Â

700 MHz spectrum: Verizon executives say that the company increased its spectrum inventory by 60 percent thanks to its wins in the 700 MHz spectrum auction.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Content: Verizon Wireless customers sent or received more than 58 billion text messages and 1.1 billion picture/video messages. Customers downloaded 34.6 million songs and videos.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

For more,
- see this Verizon press release

Related stories:
Verizon Wireless adds 2M customers. Verizon earnings
Carrier Metrics: Churn, ARPU and subs for 2007. Wireless carrier metrics.

Is there much value in competitive PTT offerings?

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Is there much value in push-to-talk offerings from operators other than Sprint Nextel?

Verizon Wireless, according to The Wall Street Journal, is planning to launch a new, faster version of its PTT service over EV-DO this summer after offering PTT for nearly five years. The news follows MetroPCS' launch of a PTT service that enables users to connect to other subscribers on other networks if they use a specific MetroPCS PTT phone. And others such AT&T and Alltel have been offering PTT services for some time now.

Ever since Nextel, prior to its merger with Sprint, launched PTT and recorded the industry's best churn and ARPU rates, competitors have been trying to replicate its success. In 2003, the first competitive offerings came on the scene, and they had little impact on Nextel's subscriber base or customer growth as they were technically inferior and could not penetrate the vast number of user groups.

Then in 2006, Sprint Nextel began losing iDEN customers, and competitors still could not achieve much market success with PTT offerings.

Fast forward to 2008, and Sprint Nextel is working on wooing back the many disgruntled iDEN users and launching QChat over EV-DO Rev. A. But the country's largest PTT operator may find a diminished market. PTT simply isn't on the top list of requirements for the enterprise market anymore, says Phil Redman, vice president of research with Gartner Research. There are only certain groups where PTT is important, he says.

That also means a diminished market for competitors too. Of course, carriers like MetroPCS are targeting the consumer and family groups, but the entire dynamic of the industry has changed. PTT was originally used to help keep voice prices down. With unlimited mobile plans on the market and features such as free calling to fellow customers of a particular operator, does PTT really offer much of a significant differentiator?

But what's a really interesting play is the idea of pushing voice and data services. For instance, one QChat initiative Qualcomm has undertaken is Yagatta, which is an advanced version of push to talk that includes simultaneous voice and data sessions. Yagatta would allow PTT to be incorporated with other services such as social networking, user-generated content, chat rooms, video text messaging and more.

Simple PTT is passÃƒÂ© now. And Sprint Nextel understands this as it's working to add push-to-x features such as using one button to send email and pictures. With all the talk about how difficult it is for customers to navigate through menus to consume the mobile content they desire, this one-button instantaneous feature should become a powerful tool to generating data revenues. -Lynnette

MetroPCS pre-releases Q1 results

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

MetroPCS announced that it added 960,000 gross subscribers during the first quarter of this year or 452,000 net subs. The additions represent a 15 percent increase over the first quarter of 2007. Churn declined 0.8 percent from the fourth quarter to 4.0 percent, but was unchanged when compared to the first quarter of 2007. The 452,000 new subs brought the carriers total subscriber base up to 4.4 million.

"With over three quarters of a million net subscriber additions in the last six months, consumers continue to see the extraordinary value proposition that MetroPCS provides to those who want unlimited wireless service at a compelling price," said Roger D. Linquist, MetroPCS' Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

For more on MetroPCS' growth:
- read this article from the AP

Sprint's ex-CEO Forsee made $21.4M in 2007

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Sprint's former chairman and CEO Gary Forsee's compensation during 2007 was valued at $21.8 million, which marks a 47 percent increase from the previous year. Last year was a difficult year for Sprint since its subscriber base dropped along with its profits, which led to Forsee's resignation in October. According to an SEC filing, Sprint paid Forsee $1.5 million in salary, $1.5 million in non-equity incentive payments, $59,805 in above-market earnings on deferred compensation and $8.3 million in other compensation.

To compare Forsee's payment to other executives at public wireless companies, check out our recent Executive Pay feature here.

For more on Forsee's 2007 package:
- read this article from the AP

Virgin Mobile's growing troubles

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

Ã‚Â

Virgin Mobile's growing troublesÃ‚Â

I'm looking forward to Virgin Group CEO Richard Branson's keynote at next month's CTIA Wireless 2008 show in Las Vegas. I hope he will address concerns about Virgin Mobile USA's lagging stock price and less-than-stellar financial performance. It's got to be a subject near to his heart. Branson reportedly lost $250 million in Virgin Mobile USA since the firm went public last October.

The company, which announced its earnings earlier this week, was chastised by financial analysts when it reported a net loss of $14.7 million during the fourth quarter last year and reported fewer net new customers adds than expected. Virgin Mobile USA CEO Dan Schulman blamed "economic conditions" for the loss and warned that the conditions will continue to affect the consumer market and wireless industry during 2008. He also said that the company had fewer customer additions in fourth quarter because Virgin decided not to reduce its low-end handset pricing to match that of its competitors.

Schulman said that he was "frustrated" with the company's stock price, which dropped 41 percent yesterday and closed at $2.46 per share. "We understand the unexpected challenges of the economy have affected market sentiment. We think we have the right business proposition to weather this."

But financial analysts aren't so confident in Virgin's proposition. In a research note Walter Piecyk of Pali Capital said that he expects Virgin's subscriber base to decline by 300,000 subscribers in 2008 and he said that the loss will cause the company's CPGA to rise while its ARPU will decline. In addition, he said that he expects Virgin to face increased competition in the prepaid arena from large operators.

Virgin Mobile has always been considered the one success story in the troubled MVNO space, so it's difficult to watch the firm's troubles grow. But it's not really surprising. Although Virgin always touted its key market as young adults and teens, the credit challenged consumers have always made up a good portion of its base. Those subscribers are the most vulnerable to challenging economic conditions and that's probably why Virgin is experiencing the impact of the downtrodden economy more than traditional operators. "In any market, prepaid is difficult," says John Byrne, analyst with Technology Business Research. "But Virgin has always tried to maintain its reputation as being edgy and cool. That's tough to maintain." -Sue

P.S.Ã‚Â FierceWireless will once again host a networking party at CTIA.Ã‚Â Come join us on April 1 at Rain in The Palms. Party starts at 7 p.m.Ã‚Â RSVP here.

Clearwire adds 47,000 subscribers

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Clearwire's fourth quarter results show that the carrier has increased revenue to $45.4 million, up from $23.7 million a year ago. During the quarter Clearwire's net subscriber additions totaled 47,000, bringing its total subscriber base to 394,000. During the fourth quarter of 2006 Clearwire had 206,000 total subscribers. Despite the subscriber growth, however, ARPU fell 30 cents year-over-year: It was $36.09 for the fourth quarter in 2007, down from $36.39 in Q4 2006. Clearewire's churn rate increased to 2.4 percent, up from 1.9 percent in the year ago period.

Pali Research's Walter Piecyk wrote in a research note today that the carrier "is essentially in a holding pattern as it negotiates a transaction with Sprint of the potential combination of their WiMAX assets and seeks an investment to fund the buildout of a nationwide WiMAX network." Piecyk noted that the near term results are weak but irrelevant since the carrier is in "cash conservation mode."

For more on Clearwire's Q4:
- read this article from the AP

U.S. Cellular beefs up ARPU but net adds slow

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:56 -0500

U.S. Cellular reported that its net subscribers additions slowed down during the fourth quarter last year, but ARPU continues to climb. The carrier added 55,000 net new subscribers during the quarter for a total subscriber base of 6.1 million. The additions mark a 36 percent drop, however, from the fourth quarter in 2006. The quarter brought in 70,000 postpaid subscribers and saw the departure of 6,000 prepaid customers and 9,000 customers from resellers. U.S. Cellular's revenues increased by more than 13 percent up to $1 billion thanks to an increased ARPU of $52.46, up from $48.15 during the fourth quarter of 2006.

For more on the carrier's quarter:
- read this article from TeleGeography
- and see this table to compare U.S. Cellular's metrics to its rivals

Hesse: Sprint's issues more difficult than expected

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

In his first conference call with investors since he took the helm two months ago, Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse admitted that the problems at the third largest U.S. wireless operator are more difficult than he expected, adding that 2008 will continue to be difficult even though he expects more promising results long term. He emphasized the changes he has made so far: eliminating 4,000 employees, reducing the number of distribution points, including 125 company-owned stores and consolidating Sprint's headquarters to Overland Park, Kan. "I see great assets: people, technology, customer base and spectrum position," Hesse said.

The company is jumping on the unlimited rate plan bandwagon but with a slight twist. Sprint's "Simply Everything" plan provides unlimited voice, data, text, email, Web-surfing, Sprint TV, Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect for $99.99 a month. The company also has an unlimited voice only plan for $89.99 per month. Carriers Verizon Wireless and AT&T have unlimited voice plans for $99.99. T-Mobile USA has an unlimited voice and text message plan for $99.99.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Here are the highlights of the firm's fourth quarter and year-end 2007 results: Ã‚Â

Wireless revenues: Fourth quarter revenues were $8.5 billion, a 2 percent decline over the previous quarter and a 6 percent decline over fourth quarter 2006.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Subscribers: Sprint's wireless subscriber base declined 108,000 in fourth quarter. The carrier's total subscriber base at year-end was 53.8 million. This compares with 53.1 million at year-end 2006. At fourth quarter Sprint had about 35 million CDMA subscribers, 17.3 million iDEN subscribers and 1.4 million PowerSource subscribers who access both platforms.Ã‚Â

Churn: Fourth-quarter post-paid churn was 2.3 percent, the same as third quarter for both iDEN and CDMA. Boost prepaid churn was 7.5 percent compared with 6.2 percent in third quarter 2007.Ã‚Â

ARPU: Post-paid ARPU was $58, down from $59 in third quarter. iDEN postpaid ARPU dropped 7 percent. Prepaid ARPU was slightly under $28 in the fourth quarter, down from $30 in third quarter.Ã‚Â

Data: Data contributed more than $11 to postpaid ARPU. On the CDMA base, data ARPU was $14, an increase of 21 percent. Data now accounts for 20 percent of total ARPU.

For more on Sprint's unlimited plans:
- read this release

For more on Sprint's Q4:
- read this release

Related:
See what wireless industry experts have to say about unlimited rate plans. Sound Off

Verizon Wireless adds 2M customers

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Verizon Wireless reported a strong fourth quarter 2007 with 2 million net customer additions, bringing its total subscriber base to 65.7 million. Of those, 63.7 million are retail customers. On the revenue front, Verizon Wireless fourth quarter revenue was $11.4 billion, a 13.3 percent increase year over year.Ã‚Â Here's a breakdown of other key metrics:

Churn: Verizon has 1.2 percent total churn, down from 1.27 percent churn in third quarter 2007. The carrier had just 0.94 percent retail post-paid churn, down from 0.96 percent postpaid churn in third quarter. Ã‚Â

ARPU:Ã‚Â Retail ARPU was $51.49, up 1.4 percent over third quarter.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Data:Ã‚Â Total data revenue for fourth quarter was $2.1 billion. Data ARPU was $11.06, up from $10.59 in third quarter. The company had 47.2 million retail data customers in December, which is 74 percent of the retail customer base.Ã‚Â In addition, the company says that more than half of its customer base, 35 million, have a broadband-capable device.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Content: During fourth quarter Verizon customers sent or received nearly 45 billion text messages and 927 million picture/video messages. Customers also completed 30 million music and video downloads.Ã‚Â

During this morning's earnings call, analysts questioned the firm about what impact the current economic slowdown is having on the operator. Verizon executives said that they have not seen a change in sales expectations but they are monitoring the situation carefully. -Sue

For more on Verizon's Q4:
- check out our complete wireless, wireline, mobile content and telcoTV coverage
- also read Verizon's press release

AT&T adds 2.7M subs

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

The largest U.S. wireless operator reported strong subscriber and revenue growth in fourth quarter 2007. Wireless revenues totaled $11.4 billion, up 16.3 percent over the year-ago quarter. Service revenues were $10.2 billion. Here's a rundown of other key metrics:

Growth: AT&T added 2.7 million net wireless subscribers, up 13.5 percent from fourth quarter 2006. In addition, gross adds totaled 6 million, up 9.6 percent from the year-earlier fourth quarter. At year-end AT&T's total wireless subscriber base was 70.1 million.

ARPU: ARPU was up 2 percent to $50.28. AT&T said this was the sixth consecutive quarter that it has reported ARPU growth.

Data: Data revenues increased 57.5 percent over the year-ago quarter. The total data revenue is now $2 billion, up from $1.3 billion a year ago. Data now accounts for $12 of postpaid ARPU and it makes up 19.9 percent of AT&T's total wireless service revenue. During the quarter, AT&T customers sent 496 million MMS and 32 billion text messages.

iPhone: At year-end AT&T had 2 million iPhone customers on its network and 40 percent of those customers were new to AT&T. In December, the company doubled its iPhone sales as compared to sales in October and November.

TDMA: AT&T will shut down its TDMA network at the end of February. The operator moved 390,000 subscribers off the network in fourth quarter and there are about 390,000 subscribers that remain on the TDMA network. AT&T says most of those are wholesale customers. -Sue

For more on AT&T's quarter:
- read this press release

DEALS: Leap buys Hargray's wireless assets

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:59:52 -0500

DEALS
WHO	WITH	WHAT	SCOOP
MetroPCS	Alcatel-Lucent	MetroPCS has inked a deal with Alcatel-Lucent to build-out its network in major metropolitan areas with CDMA2000 technology.	The network will run on MetroPCS' AWS spectrum.
Leap Wireless	Hargray	Leap agreed to buy Hargray's wireless assets for $30 million.	The deal includes its 15 MHz wireless spectrum license, its network and most of its subscriber base.
Smith Micro	PCTEL	Smith Micro has acquired PCTEL's mobility division for $59.7 million.	The acquisition brings some high profile customers over to Smith Micro: AT&T, Sprint, Vodafone, Orange, NTT DoCoMo and T-Mobile.
Virgin Mobile USA	Telspree	Virgin Mobile USA inked a deal with Telspree for its over-the-air self-service activation application.	The service programs the phones and delivers secure authentication to any non-active, wireless device without the need for customer care inputs.

Leap to buy Hargray's wireless assets

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

Leap Wireless agreed to pay $30 million for the wireless assets of Hargray Wireless, including its 15 MHz wireless spectrum license, its network and most of its subscriber base. The acquisition will help Leap subsidiary Cricket expand to parts of Georgia and South Carolina.

The deal will help the company "avoid much of the cost associated with building a market from the ground up," Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson stated.

For more on the deal:
- read this AP article

MetroPCS adds 114K subs in Q3

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:59:57 -0500

Prepaid carrier MetroPCS reported an addition of about 114,000 subscribers during its Q3. The carrier also posted a 70 percent increase in its EBITA year-on-year on total revenues of $557 million. Revenues increased 41 percent year-on-year. Income from operations totaled $133 million, a 92 percent increase, while net income was up 81 percent at $53 million.

"It is noteworthy to point out that we've added these subscribers during our third quarter, which historically has been one of our seasonally slowest quarters characterized by lower net additions and higher churn," CEO Roger Linquist said. "In the past twelve months, we have grown our subscriber base by over one million subscribers."

For more on MetroPCS' Q3:
- read this press release

U.S. Cellular subscriber adds increase 6%

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:59:58 -0500

U.S. Cellular posted a strong third quarter as subscriber adds increased nearly 6 percent giving the carrier a subscriber base of 6.7 million. Service revenues were up 16.1 percent to $954.5 million from $821.8 million during the quarter last year. Operating income was also up 30.5 percent to $100.9 million. Net income was $63.1 million, up from $35.9 million this time last year. U.S. Cellular's ARPU figure was $52.71 after a 10 percent increase year-over-year. Data revenues also grew a whopping 66 percent to $96.8 million, or 10.1 percent of service revenues.

For more on U.S. Cellular's Q3:
- read this press release

Verizon Wireless adds 1.6M net customers

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 07:59:58 -0400

Although it didn't top rival AT&T, Verizon Wireless reported strong growth with 1.6 million net new subscribers in third quarter 2007 bringing its total subscriber base to 63.7 million. AT&T, which reported its earnings last week, had a record-breaking quarter with 2 million net new customers and a total of 65.7 million customers.

Verizon CEO Denny Strigl, said the firm felt little impact from AT&T's third-quarter launch of the much-anticipated iPhone. "We did see last quarter an initial adjustment in our local number portability rates but after two to three weeks it went back to normal," Strigl said. "As you can see from our churn number, it's not appreciably different. Relative to the iPhone we don't see a major impact on our business."

He added that the company believes its new Voyager handset will be a formidable competitor to the iPhone.

Here's a breakdown of Verizon Wireless' key metrics for the quarter:

Revenue: Revenues totaled $11.3 billion, up 14.4 percent. Service revenues were $9.7 billion, up from $9.4 billion in second quarter. Data revenue was $2 billion, up from $1.8 billion in second quarter.

Churn: Churn was 1.21 percent, up from 1.08 percent in second quarter.

ARPU: Retail service ARPU was $52.17, up from $51.84 in second quarter. Data ARPU was $10.59 in third quarter, up from $9.84 in second quarter. Here's a look at how Verizon Wireless' ARPU compares to previous quarters (click here for the tables on net subscribers and subscriber churn):

See this press release for more details.

Related Articles:
Verizon CEO: No regrets about iPhone Report
Report: Verizon leads on mobile data revenue Report

SNAPin powers T-Mobile's customer service portal

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:59:55 -0400

SNAPin quietly announced its first major deal in the U.S. this week. SNAPin has provided T-Mobile USA with its SelfService solution, which allows the carrier to efficiently solve its subscribers' customer service issues from a T-Mobile portal right on the handset. When a T-Mobile subscriber calls 611 while using a SNAPin-enabled handset, SNAPin's software will capture the call and bring the caller to a menu screen with frequently asked questions, troubleshooting and other tips and tricks. The portal allows T-Mobile subscribers to automatically configure handsets, deliver step-by-step instructions, make account inquiries and pay bills.

SNAPin's VP of products and support Tom Trinneer cited data from the Yankee Group and iGR to make his case for the return on investment for the SNAPin solution: "On average, 20 percent to 30 percent of a carrier's subscriber base calls once a month and each call costs the carrier between $8 dollars and $20 dollars." The portal also gives T-Mobile another opportunity to reinforce its brand, an ever difficult chore for carriers as handset makers are aggressively pushing their own brand recognition.

While the T-Mobile USA announcement is the first big announcement for SNAPin in the U.S., the company is in talks with operators worldwide: About two-thirds are located in Europe and about one-third of its customers are based in North America. -Brian

SNAPin powers T-Mobile's self-service solution

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

SNAPin quietly announced its first major deal in the U.S. today. For the last few months SNAPin has provided T-Mobile USA with its SelfService solution, which allows the carrier to efficiently solve its subscribers' customer service issues from a T-Mobile portal right on the handset. When a T-Mobile subscriber calls 611 while using a SNAPin-enabled handset, SNAPin's software will capture the call and bring the caller to a menu screen with frequently asked questions, troubleshooting and other tips and tricks. The portal allows T-Mobile subscribers to automatically configure handsets, deliver step-by-step instructions, make account inquiries and pay bills.

AT&T reports record sub growth

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

The iPhone is certainly paying off for AT&T. The carrier, which reported its third quarter earnings this morning, added a net 2 million subscribers in the quarter, the highest third-quarter increase in the company's history. That 2 million figure surpassed analyst expectations, which were in the 1.5 million to 1.8 million range. The carriers total wireless subscriber base now tops 65.7 million.

During the operator's earnings call this morning, AT&T executives said that the company activated 1.12 million iPhones in the quarter and that more than 40 percent of those activations were new customers to AT&T.

Here's a breakdown of the other highlights:

ARPU: The company's wireless revenues totaled $10.9 billion, up 14.4 percent from the year-earlier quarter. ARPU was up 2 percent year over year to $50.82 in the quarter. Data revenues were also strong, up 63.9 percent year-over-year.

Churn: Average monthly subscriber churn was 1.7 percent. Postpaid churn was 1.3 percent, down 20 points from the third quarter 2006.

For more:
- see this press release
- see Churn, ARPU, and sub-growth in our carrier metric charts here

Related Stories:
270K iPhones sold in two days, 146K activated. Story
AT&T nets 1.5M subscribers in Q2. Story

KDDI's profit rises 4.7 percent

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Japanese carrier KDDI posted a 4.7 percent rise in profit for its quarter ending in September, as its mobile assets offset declining revenues in its fixed-line business. KDDI also increased its subscriber base to 29.2 million, up 10.7 percent from 26.4 million a year ago. Since Japan recently instituted number portability rules, competition between carriers in the country has intensified.

For more on KDDI's quarter:
- read this article from the AP