T-Mobile today reported its third quarter earnings, showing a 37% year-over-year increase in revenue to $6.6 billion. The company managed to cut its losses to $36 million during the third quarter. This represents the second straight quarter of revenue growth for T-Mobile, and the company’s stock has reflected its higher-than-expected results.
More importantly for T-Mobile, it is now quickly closing the subscriber gap on Sprint. T-Mobile added one million net customers during its third quarter, with 648,000 of those being postpaid subscribers. T-Mobile now estimates that it has 45 million total customers, edging closer to Sprint’s reduced 55 million customers at the end of its third quarter.
Many of those new subscribers came from T-Mobile’s acquisition of MetroPCS, which was completed in May. T-Mobile has announced plans to expand the MetroPCS brand into 15 new markets on November 21.
As the fourth largest mobile provider in the U.S., T-Mobile has been competing aggressively with its larger competitors during the past year. The company was the first to roll out its “JUMP!” offering, a service plan that allows customers to upgrade their mobile devices on a more rapid basis. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint now also offer similar plans. T-Mobile also announced just last week that it will provide unlimited international data service to customers at no extra charge.
“T-Mobile’s ‘Un-carrier’ approach is resonating with consumers,” said John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile. “We added more than 1 million customers and led the industry with 643,000 branded postpaid phone additions because we are fixing the things that drive customers crazy. Part of our customer momentum comes from the MetroPCS acquisition. With MetroPCS we are making great progress, including the planned additional expansion of the MetroPCS brand into another 15 additional markets by November 21. Our momentum is great and we have confidence that we can continue to deliver sustainable and profitable growth.”