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T-Mobile US adds record 2.4 million subscribers in Q1
2014-05-01 13:34:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) T-Mobile US added a record 2.4 million new customers in the first quarter, as its new pricing strategy started a year ago paid off. The mobile operator added 1.3 million postpaid and 465,000 prepaid customers under its own brand, while the remainder came from wholesale customers, giving it a total base of 49.1 million at the end of March. Revenues rose 47 percent year-on-year to USD 6.88 billion and were up 15.3 percent on a pro forma basis including the MetroPCS takeover. Growth was led by handset sales, with a record 6.9 million smartphones sold in the quarter, while pro forma service revenue increased 4.5 percent year-on-year to USD 5.34 billion. Retail postpaid ARPU was still down 1.4 percent from the previous quarter and 7.5 percent year-on-year to USD 50.01, due to greater adoption of the lower-priced Value and Simple Choice plans. Adjusted EBITDA was down slightly from a year earlier, to USD 1.09 billion versus 1.18 billion, due to increased handset sales. The margin fell to 20 percent from 29 percent a year ago. T-Mobile spent USD 947 million cash on capital equipment in the quarter and maintained its annual budget at USD 4.3-4.6 billion. The operator slightly reduced its forecast for annual adjusted EBITDA, to USD 5.6-5.8 billion from an earlier outlook of USD 5.7-6.0 billion. This comes as it raised its target for retail postpaid net additions this year, to 2.8-3.3 million from the earlier goal of 2.0-3.0 million.
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Category:Telecommunications