T-Mobile USA Passes 25 Million Subscriber Mark

In the fourth quarter of 2006 T-Mobile USA says that it added 901,000 net new customers, up from 802,000 net new customers added in the third quarter of 2006 and down from 1.39 million in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Postpay customer net additions made up 87% of fourth quarter customer growth, up from 66% in the fourth quarter of 2005. Postpay customers comprised 85% of T-Mobile USA's total customer base at December 31, 2006. The introduction of two-year contracts earlier in 2006 continued to prove popular with customers, with over three quarters of new postpay customers opting for two-year contract terms in the fourth quarter.

Postpay churn declined to 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2006 from 2.3% in the third quarter of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2005. Blended churn, including both postpay and prepaid customers, was 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2006, level with the fourth quarter of 2005, and slightly down from 3.0% in the third quarter of 2006.

"T-Mobile USA is playing an increasingly vital role in bringing a service leadership culture to all of DT," said Rene Obermann, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Telekom. "At more than 25 million customers and growing, the U.S. business continues to assert its position as the leading growth driver for Deutsche Telekom."

T-Mobile USA reported OIBDA of $1.17 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006, slightly down from $1.23 billion in the third quarter of 2006 and up from $1.11 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005. The sequential fall in OIBDA occurred due to higher total customer acquisition costs related to the strong postpay customer growth and the expected continued decrease in Cingular Wireless wholesale revenues. 2006 OIBDA was $4.71 billion - an increase of 12.6% over 2005.

T-Mobile USA's net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $179 million, down from $1.79 billion in the third quarter of 2006 and $2.99 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005. The lower net income compared to the third quarter of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2005 is primarily due to the recognition of non-cash income tax benefits in both of these prior quarters.

Blended ARPU was $52 in the fourth quarter of 2006, the same as the third quarter of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2005. Postpay ARPU was $56 in the fourth quarter of 2006, the same as in the third quarter of 2006 and up from $54 in the fourth quarter of 2005. The year on year increase in postpay ARPU primarily relates to continued data revenue growth.

The total number of SMS and MMS messages increased to almost 13 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to 9.9 billion in the third quarter of 2006 and 5.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

T-Mobile USA says that it added approximately 800 new cell sites in the fourth quarter of 2006, and 3,200 for 2006 as a whole, bringing the total number of cell sites to more than 36,000. In addition, T-Mobile USA has started rolling out its UMTS network and has already deployed 3G equipment on over 1,200 cell sites in the New York metropolitan area."

Posted to the site on 1st March 2007