T-Mobile USA issued their Q1 2012 earnings report today along with parent company Deutsche Telekom and surprisingly declared a new increase of 187,000 customers. That number is fairly notable as last quarter saw T-Mobile report a net loss of 526,000 customers and a losses of 99,000 customers in the third quarter of 2011. T-Mobile attributes the growth to increases in prepaid users that helped offset the loss of more than 510,000 contract customers.
T-Mobile’s total revenues reached $5 billion in the first quarter, a 2.8% decline from the fourth quarter of 2011, and a 2.5% drop from the same period one year ago. Compared to the fourth and first quarters of 2011, total revenues changed primarily due to branded contract customer losses. Additionally, equipment revenues increased year-on-year, partly due to stronger smartphone sales and handset program changes in connection with T-Mobile’s Value Plan program.
Total customers served stands at 33.4 million at the end of the first quarter, compared to 33.2 million at end the of the fourth quarter 2011, and 33.6 million customers at the end of first quarter 2011.
“In the first quarter, T-Mobile USA delivered strong performance across several key metrics – adding customers, increasing branded ARPUs year-on-year and effectively managing costs to deliver a solid adjusted OIBDA margin. While branded contract churn remains a focus, in the first quarter of 2012 we achieved our lowest level in seven quarters,” said Philipp Humm, CEO and President of T-Mobile USA. “In just a short time since the December breakup of the AT&T deal, T-Mobile USA has redefined and restarted our Challenger Strategy including phase one of a major brand re-launch to redefine T-Mobile in the marketplace.”
T-Mobile USA Challenger Highlights
T-Mobile USA has made considerable progress in executing against the reinvigorated Challenger Strategy, which was announced in February 2012. Most significant is progress against the newly announced $4 billion network modernization and 4G evolution effort, which will further improve existing voice and data coverage and pave the way for long term evolution (“LTE”) service in 2013. Already this year, T-Mobile USA has entered into a spectrum exchange agreement with Leap Wireless International, Inc. and secured key AWS spectrum licenses from AT&T, which were agreed to as part of the breakup of the proposed merger between the two companies. More recently, T-Mobile USA signed agreements with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks to deploy state-of-the-art LTE-capable equipment at 37,000 cell sites in 2012 and 2013.
Other investment areas core to T-Mobile USA’s Challenger Strategy include continued retail expansion as well as an increased investment in the brand. So far this year, the Company has expanded its branded distribution, adding 115 new branded dealers and earned Wal-Mart’s 2011 “Supplier of the Year” award in both the Wireless category and the overall Entertainment Division.
The company also unveiled phase-one of a brand re-launch program, introducing a new ad campaign that encourages customers to Test Drive T-Mobile USA’s competitive 4G experience.
Additionally, the Company continued to expand its portfolio of compelling 4G smartphones in the first quarter. T-Mobile USA became the first U.S. carrier to offer a Nokia Windows® Phone, the affordable, 4G-capable Nokia Lumia 710, and launched the 42 Mbps-capable Samsung Galaxy S® Blaze™ 4G. In April 2012, T-Mobile USA launched the 42 Mbps-capable HTC One™ S.