As we were already aware – after John Legere’s press conference at CES – last quarter was incredible for T-Mobile. More than 1.6 million customers joined Magenta’s ranks. 981k of those were branded customer additions, with 869k of those being postpaid. If you’ve been following Tmo’s earnings and reports for a while, you’ll know that those figures alone represent the best quarter T-Mobile’s had for a very long time. In fact, it’s Tmo’s best quarter since the end of 2005.
Another encouraging note, often not given enough mention, is the low churn rate of just 1.7%. That means very few customers are leaving for other companies. It’s also the third quarter in a row that Tmo’s revenue has grown. All in all, it’s a great end to a year that’s seen T-Mobile transform from being a no-hope carrier almost bought by AT&T to one that everyone is talking about.
Full Year 2013 Highlights:
- Total net customer additions of more than 4.4 million on a pro forma combined basis
- 2.4 million total branded net customer additions including 2 million branded postpaid and 359,000 branded prepaid customers on a pro forma combined basis
- Branded postpaid churn of 1.7%, down 70 basis points year-over-year
- Adjusted EBITDA of $5.317 billion and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 26% on a pro forma combined basis
- Successful introduction and execution of major Un-carrier initiatives
- Rapid progress with the integration of MetroPCS by expanding the brand into 30 additional markets
- Currently 3.5 million MetroPCS customers on the T-Mobile network
- Met or exceeded all company guidance targets for 2013
“Our performance in the fourth quarter and the full year is clearly proving that we have our strategy right and that we are executing it well,” said John Legere in his official statement. “Customers are fed up with the old ways and are voting in favor of choice, innovation and doing business with a company that cares about them and is willing to earn their business. For shareholders, we transformed the Company into a fierce, growing competitor that is changing the wireless industry and creating significant value.”
Also mentioned in the report was the continued expansion of LTE across the country. With more than 209 million people covered in 273 markets, the advanced network rollout has been incredibly fast. And isn’t slowing down. Over the next 12 months we’ll see a few more locations light up, as well as the “Wideband LTE” or 20+20 network go live in a handful of major cities. To top it off, the 700MHz spectrum should be put to use by the time 2014 comes to a close. 158 million people will benefit from the A-block airwaves, once the deal with Verizon is finalized around the middle of this year.
For full details on all the ins and outs of the announcement, head on over to T-Mobile’s official press release.