First quarter 2008 results.

[Mobile Mike]

T-Mobile seems to be doing pretty well. Crossing 30 million customers is a good milestone for them. I wonder what a good, national 3G network will do for them?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

T-Mobile seems to be doing pretty well. Crossing 30 million customers is a good milestone for them. I wonder what a good, national 3G network will do for them?

Also from the PR above, it looks like about 1/3 of the network is currently UMTS ready:

T-Mobile USA continued its commitment to invest in network coverage and quality in the first quarter of 2008, adding approximately 600 cell sites. In addition to this, 2,500 cell sites were added through the acquisition of SunCom, bringing the total number of cell sites at the end of the quarter to 41,000. In the quarter T-Mobile USA also added approximately 5,000 3G (UMTS / HSDPA) capable cell sites, ending the quarter with more than 13,000 UMTS cell sites.

[bobolito]

They're putting out some good churn rate numbers too. I remember the days when their churn was almost double what they have now. Good for them!

[RJB]

Here is Leap Wireless (Cricket)

* Customer churn for the quarter was 3.6%, down from 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2007 and consistent with the seasonal rhythms of the business. When compared to the prior year quarter, customer churn increased 0.2 percentage points, reflecting the impact of customer tenure and market launches in the first quarter of 2007.
* ARPU for the quarter was $44.98, consistent with the Company's objective to increase customer growth while maintaining mobile voice ARPU in the mid-$40 range.
* Service revenues increased 24 percent year-over-year, and 7 percent over the fourth quarter, to $398.9 million. These increases were primarily the result of the growth in weighted-average customers and increased usage of the Company's value-added services.
* First quarter operating income of $26.1 million increased by $27.6 million over the prior year quarter as a result of a $43.6 million increase in adjusted OIBDA, offset by a $13.8 million increase in depreciation and amortization expense, reflecting the benefits of scale as the Company's markets continue to grow and mature.
* Net loss for the first quarter was $18.1 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, an improvement over the net loss of $24.2 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the prior year quarter. Net loss improved year-over-year even with a $7.4 million increase in net interest expense due to the Company's higher total debt balance and a $7.3 million increase in income tax expense. The increase in income tax expense reflects the deferred tax effect of the higher amortization of wireless licenses resulting from the change in tax treatment for those licenses in the third quarter of 2007.
* Capital expenditures during the first quarter of 2008 were $157.2 million, including approximately $98 million of expenditures associated with the build-out of new markets and approximately $13 million of capitalized interest.

Leap Wireless - Media Relations - Press Release

[RJB]

Metro PCS

First Quarter 2008 Highlights Include:

* Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $178 million, representing 19% year over year growth
* Quarterly net subscriber additions of 452 thousand
* First commercial launch of AWS Market, Las Vegas
* Reaffirms outlook for continued growth in 2008

MetroPCS - Investor Relations - Press Release

[Mobile Mike]

It would be nice if Leap could give actual customer number additions...

Also, MetroPCS had some interesting numbers as well. Sounds like they did well with sub additions with 452K adds. Not bad for a small carrier. I'd be curious to find out how they're REALLY doing in Los Angeles...

[RJB]

This is the gross and net additions for Leap
Gross customer additions 550,520
Net customer additions 230,062

[danny boi]

Sprint's Race Downward - Forbes.com

For the first quarter Sprint (nyse: S - news - people ) reported a loss of $505.0 million, or 18 cents per share, a further knock from its $211.0 million, or 7 cents per share, loss reported in last year's corresponding period. The company's sales fell to $9.3 million from $10.0 million. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 4 cents per share, ahead of Wall Street's 2 cent forecast. Sprint's shares lifted 3.2%, or 30 cents, to $9.68, in morning trading.

Front and center is the company's continued inability to attract and retain customers.

Total wireless subscribers declined to 52.8 million customers, compared with 53.6 million at the end of the first quarter of 200. The company said 1.07 million of the loss came from post-paid customers. Post-paid customers pay for their service every month and are on 1 to 2 year contracts. Post-paid churn was 2.5%, a few notches above the 2.3% recorded both in the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2007. Postpaid churn is the measure of these monthly customers dropping service.

AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ) and Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) reported customer additions in the quarter and analysts have said these bigger companies took market share from Sprint. P oor service, wishy-washy marketing and a troubled integration of the Nextel business have caused Sprint to fall far behind its larger peers.

Sprint said wireless service revenue fell 9.0% year over year and 6.0% from the 2007 fourth quarter. The company credited lower average services revenue per customer and fewer post paid subscribers to the drop.

Originally Posted by YourDaddy

AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ) and Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) reported customer additions in the quarter and analysts have said these bigger companies took market share from Sprint. Poor service, wishy-washy marketing and a troubled integration of the Nextel business have caused Sprint to fall far behind its larger peers.

If Sprint does decide to drop Nextel, it will be interesting to see if their numbers start to climb again. I know they have been working on their customer service in an effort to improve their image.

[RJB]

Here is the official release from Sprint.com
Sprint | News Release: Sprint Nextel Reports First Quarter 2008 Results

For the quarter, total wireless subscribers declined by 1.09 million due to losses of 1.07 million post-paid subscribers and 543,000 traditional prepaid users, partially offset by gains of 343,000 Boost Unlimited and 183,000 wholesale and affiliate subscribers. Post-paid subscriber additions in the quarter were impacted by lower gross additions and higher churn. Post-paid churn in the quarter was 2.45% compared to 2.3% in both the first and fourth quarters of 2007. Wireless post-paid ARPU in the quarter was a little under $56, a 6% decline compared to the year-ago period and a 4% sequential decline. The ARPU trends reflect ongoing pressures on voice revenues partially offset by data growth.

First quarter revenues of $8.0 billion declined 9% compared to the year-ago period and declined 6% from the fourth quarter of 2007. The declines are mainly due to lower average service revenue per customer and fewer post-paid subscribers.

Adjusted Operating Income* was a loss of $253 million compared to profits of $253 million in the first quarter of 2007 and $168 million in the fourth quarter. The decline in Adjusted Operating Income* is due to lower service revenues that were partially offset by reduced operating expenses.

Adjusted OIBDA* was $1.8 billion in the current period compared to $2.4 billion in the 2007 first quarter and $2.2 billion in the 2007 fourth quarter. Adjusted OIBDA* in the first quarter exceeded capital expenditures for the period by a little more than $900 million.

IMHO horrible just horrible.

[tmobileman]

30 million customers wow, when I started with tmobile we had 9 million customers...it is so nice to see the growth, and seems to be getting better and better

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by YourDaddy

Sprint's Race Downward - Forbes.com

For the first quarter Sprint (nyse: S - news - people ) reported a loss of $505.0 million, or 18 cents per share, a further knock from its $211.0 million, or 7 cents per share, loss reported in last year's corresponding period. The company's sales fell to $9.3 million from $10.0 million. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 4 cents per share, ahead of Wall Street's 2 cent forecast. Sprint's shares lifted 3.2%, or 30 cents, to $9.68, in morning trading.

Front and center is the company's continued inability to attract and retain customers.

Total wireless subscribers declined to 52.8 million customers, compared with 53.6 million at the end of the first quarter of 200. The company said 1.07 million of the loss came from post-paid customers. Post-paid customers pay for their service every month and are on 1 to 2 year contracts. Post-paid churn was 2.5%, a few notches above the 2.3% recorded both in the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2007. Postpaid churn is the measure of these monthly customers dropping service.

AT&T (nyse: T - news - people ) and Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ - news - people ) reported customer additions in the quarter and analysts have said these bigger companies took market share from Sprint. P oor service, wishy-washy marketing and a troubled integration of the Nextel business have caused Sprint to fall far behind its larger peers.

Sprint said wireless service revenue fell 9.0% year over year and 6.0% from the 2007 fourth quarter. The company credited lower average services revenue per customer and fewer post paid subscribers to the drop.

I wonder what percentage of the loss is on the Nextel side. I'm thinking it's the lion's share of the numbers.

[bobolito]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

I wonder what percentage of the loss is on the Nextel side. I'm thinking it's the lion's share of the numbers.

Don't forget much of the drop in Nextel subscribership is due to their migration to Sprint. When they bought Nextel they were both about 26M (I think) and now Nextel only has about 13M. Many of them fled to either AT&T and Verizon, others migrated to the Sprint side, others have been replaced with kids and ____ dealers that use Boost. So their loss from the original 26M is more than the 13M remaining.

[Dogma]

Alltel keeps plugging away...

May 15, 2008

Download financial highlights (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Alltel achieved record customer growth in the first quarter, adding more than 1 million gross customers for the second consecutive quarter. Net customer additions also hit a new high with a 63 percent increase year-over-year.

“We are pleased with our results across the board, and I am extremely proud of our team for staying focused in our first full quarter under new ownership,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Ford. “We are off to a strong start for the year, with consolidated EBITDA up 18 percent year-over-year.”

Alltel completed its merger with an affiliate of TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners in November 2007 and ceased trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Among the highlights for the first quarter:

• Revenues were $2.3 billion, an 11 percent increase from the same period a year ago. The company reported a net loss of $125 million, due primarily to significant increases in interest costs and depreciation and amortization expense following the completion of the merger.

• Alltel added just over 1 million gross customers through internal growth, a 26 percent increase from a year ago. Post-pay net additions were 163,000, up 50 percent year-over-year, and pre-pay net adds were 183,000. Reseller net adds, which Alltel is including this quarter in order to be consistent with industry practice, were 39,000. Total net adds were 385,000, an all-time high.

• Post-pay churn was 1.34 percent, essentially flat year-over-year, and total churn was 1.83 percent, up 6 basis points year-over-year.

• Average revenue per wireless customer (ARPU) was $53.64, up 2 percent from last year. Data revenue per customer reached a new high of $7.50, a 60 percent increase year-over-year.

• Consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $847 million, an 18 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

A table describing consolidated EBITDA and reconciling net income to consolidated EBITDA is included in the schedules accompanying this release.

Alltel operates America’s largest wireless network, which delivers voice and advanced data services nationwide to more than 13 million customers. Headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., Alltel is a Forbes 500 company with annual revenues of nearly $9 billion.

[RJB]

Very good for Alltel Grrr why cant they have a liceanse here.