Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

T-Mobile Adds One Million Customers in Third Quarter

T-Mobile said on Tuesday that it added a million customers last quarter, including 672,000 for its primary T-Mobile and MetroPCS brands.

John Moore/Getty Images

That’s similar to last quarter, where the company added 1.1 million customers, including 678,000 for those brands.

“T-Mobile’s Un-carrier approach is resonating with consumers,” CEO John Legere said in a statement. “Part of our customer momentum comes from the MetroPCS acquisition. With MetroPCS we are making great progress, including the planned additional expansion of the MetroPCS brand into another 15 additional markets by November 21. Our momentum is great and we have confidence that we can continue to deliver sustainable and profitable growth.”

Legere promised in an August interview that T-Mobile’s gains were more than just a blip.

The company sold 5.6 million smartphones in the quarter, or 88 percent of total phone units. “This is a great trend that will now continue,” Legere said, noting that the company now has all of the major devices, a clear reference to getting the iPhone after years of having to go without an Apple device.

Sales of iPhones represented about 15 percent of T-Mobile-brand smartphone sales, CMO Mike Sievert said. T-Mobile sold about 3.6 million smartphones under its own brand, meaning its old about 540,000 iPhones in the quarter.

Update: “We had another outstanding quarter,” Legere said in a conference call with investors. The company said it added more phone customers than the rest of the industry combined.

Legere said that T-Mobile continues to change the “stupid, arrogant” industry with its un-carrier moves, and is expanding the company’s LTE network to more cities and with more spectrum in cities in which it has already launched.

“We’re not done yet,” he said.

The company said its LTE network now hits 203 million people in 254 cities, including 94 of the Top 100 areas. Legere also reiterated that T-Mobile’s network is the fastest in 10 of the Top 20 metro areas, according to crowdsourced data.

T-Mobile said that it will expand the MetroPCS brand into 15 additional markets on Nov. 21. It is also on track to beat the company’s goals for operating and capital expense savings from the deal.

“We are well ahead on both counts,” Legere said.

Legere said 2.2 million people have signed up for its $10-per-month Jump service, which combines device insurance with the option to upgrade early.

T-Mobile’s total revenue was $6.68 billion for the quarter, up from $6.15 billion a year ago, and up one percent from the prior quarter. The year-over-year jump was due in large part to higher equipment sales, given that the company no longer subsidized phone costs. Service revenue of $5.14 billion was down from $5.38 billion a year ago, given the company’s lower average monthly revenue per customer.

The company said its new plans, which remove device subsidies and cost from monthly service fees, now represent 61 percent of its postpaid customer base, up from 50 percent a quarter ago.

T-Mobile CFO Braxton Carter said that the average revenue per customer continues to decline amid the shift to those plans, though the company expects things to level off around the middle of next year, as T-Mobile completes the transition to the new-style plans.

The company reaffirmed its full-year adjusted earnings and capital spending goals, and raised its target for core customer growth.

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

I’m a giant vat of creative juices.

— David Pogue on why he’s joining Yahoo