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Dogma · 10-29-2007, 11:30 AM

Churn stymies iPCS’ growth

By Kelly Hill

Story posted: October 26, 2007 - 1:21 pm EDT

Sprint Nextel Corp. affiliate iPCS Inc.’s customer additions for the third quarter decreased compared to previous quarters, while the company’s churn rate increased.

The carrier said it added 10,100 net customers during the third quarter of 2007—a sizeable decrease, given that the company had gained around 17,000 customers in each of the two prior third quarters. Gross additions totaled 68,400 subscribers for the quarter, up from the 61,200 gross adds in the same period a year ago.

However, the gains in gross adds were offset by an increase in customer churn at iPCS. The affiliate posted churn of 2.8% during the quarter, up from 2.5% in the third quarter of 2006. The company’s metrics also lost steam consecutively; it reported a second-quarter churn rate of 2.2% and had gained about 21,000 subscribers in that quarter.

Timothy Yager, president and CEO of iPCS, said that “we were … disappointed with the increase in churn, which was driven by higher involuntary deactivations. We are actively managing our growth to ensure that the higher churn is a near-term issue and not a long-term trend.”

The company only reported its customer metrics, and is scheduled to release its full financial and subscriber results on Nov. 7.

iPCS ended the quarter with about 622,000 total customers on its network. The company operates in 80 markets in Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Tennessee.

cellular_freak · 10-29-2007, 2:25 PM

I'm glad that iPCS is experiencing woes.

When will Sprint finally decide to pick it up?

RadioFoneGuy · 10-29-2007, 5:47 PM

insider buzz was this year sometime. Hopefully soon for all you Sprint loyalists, cause they are putting that name to shame.

larry · 10-30-2007, 2:30 PM

Just for the record I don't believe that IPCS (or any other affiliate) is causing the downfall of Sprint although that's what some people would think if they read the various forums. In the grand scheme of things it's small potatoes and is not any major factor in Sprint's current slump. I doubt Sprint will pick them up this year and maybe not for a while.

RadioFoneGuy · 10-30-2007, 5:14 PM

I was talking in a regional aspect. If Sprint did buy Ipcs they would have their work cut out for them. A few Nextel techs I have run into at towers have mentioned that both iPCS and Sprint have set down to talks. I have yet to see anything formal.

10-29-2007, 11:30 AM	#1
Dogma Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Minnesota Posts: 364 Phone(s): Moto Razr Provider(s): Alltel/Verizon Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	iPCS Woes Churn stymies iPCS’ growth By Kelly Hill Story posted: October 26, 2007 - 1:21 pm EDT Sprint Nextel Corp. affiliate iPCS Inc.’s customer additions for the third quarter decreased compared to previous quarters, while the company’s churn rate increased. The carrier said it added 10,100 net customers during the third quarter of 2007—a sizeable decrease, given that the company had gained around 17,000 customers in each of the two prior third quarters. Gross additions totaled 68,400 subscribers for the quarter, up from the 61,200 gross adds in the same period a year ago. However, the gains in gross adds were offset by an increase in customer churn at iPCS. The affiliate posted churn of 2.8% during the quarter, up from 2.5% in the third quarter of 2006. The company’s metrics also lost steam consecutively; it reported a second-quarter churn rate of 2.2% and had gained about 21,000 subscribers in that quarter. Timothy Yager, president and CEO of iPCS, said that “we were … disappointed with the increase in churn, which was driven by higher involuntary deactivations. We are actively managing our growth to ensure that the higher churn is a near-term issue and not a long-term trend.” The company only reported its customer metrics, and is scheduled to release its full financial and subscriber results on Nov. 7. iPCS ended the quarter with about 622,000 total customers on its network. The company operates in 80 markets in Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio and Tennessee.

10-29-2007, 2:25 PM	#2
cellular_freak Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Caro, MI Posts: 456 Phone(s): iPhone 3G - White Provider(s): AT&T Thanks: 3 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts Images: 44 My Auctions	Re: iPCS Woes I'm glad that iPCS is experiencing woes. When will Sprint finally decide to pick it up?

10-29-2007, 5:47 PM	#3
RadioFoneGuy Powered by HTC FUZE Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Everywhere. Posts: 1,263 Phone(s): Nokia 6103, 6010, 2260, HTC FUZE, HTC TILT, Nokia 6682, 6085, to many phones Provider(s): The death star formally known as Cell One. Thanks: 5 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Images: 6	Re: iPCS Woes insider buzz was this year sometime. Hopefully soon for all you Sprint loyalists, cause they are putting that name to shame.

10-30-2007, 2:30 PM	#4
larry Go Angels! Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 13,384 Phone(s): LG Rumor 2, Sanyo Katana II Provider(s): Sprint Thanks: 29 Thanked 25 Times in 24 Posts Images: 154 My Auctions	Re: iPCS Woes Just for the record I don't believe that IPCS (or any other affiliate) is causing the downfall of Sprint although that's what some people would think if they read the various forums. In the grand scheme of things it's small potatoes and is not any major factor in Sprint's current slump. I doubt Sprint will pick them up this year and maybe not for a while. Last edited by larry; 10-30-2007 at 3:56 PM.

10-30-2007, 5:14 PM	#5
RadioFoneGuy Powered by HTC FUZE Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Everywhere. Posts: 1,263 Phone(s): Nokia 6103, 6010, 2260, HTC FUZE, HTC TILT, Nokia 6682, 6085, to many phones Provider(s): The death star formally known as Cell One. Thanks: 5 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Images: 6	Re: iPCS Woes I was talking in a regional aspect. If Sprint did buy Ipcs they would have their work cut out for them. A few Nextel techs I have run into at towers have mentioned that both iPCS and Sprint have set down to talks. I have yet to see anything formal.

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