In the fourth quarter of 2005, T-Mobile USA added 1.39 million net new customers, up from 1.06 million net customers added in the third quarter of 2005 and 1.02 million net added in the fourth quarter of 2004. Postpay customers made up 66% of the fourth quarter customer growth and comprised 85% of T-Mobile USA’s total customer base at the end of the year. Additional highlights include:
- T-Mobile USA service revenues, which consist of postpay, prepaid, roaming and other service revenues, were $3.26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005, up from $3.15 billion in the third quarter of 2005 and $2.75 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004.
- Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) was $52 in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from $53 in the third quarter of 2005 and $55 in the fourth quarter of 2004. The year on year decrease in ARPU was primarily caused by a decrease in prepaid ARPU and the increased percentage of prepaid customers in the customer base in 2005, along with a decline in postpay ARPU.
- Data services revenue from postpay and prepaid customers continued to grow, reaching a total of $279 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. Data revenues now represent 9.6% of postpay ARPU, or $5.21 per postpay customer, compared to 8.8% in the third quarter of 2005 and 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Central to the growth in data services revenue was a net increase in postpay converged device users of over 123,000 during the fourth quarter of 2005. In total, T-Mobile USA had 1.1 million converged device users at the end of 2005. Converged devices include both BlackBerry and T-Mobile Sidekick devices.
- Postpay churn was 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from 2.4% in the third quarter of 2005 and 2.6% in fourth quarter 2004. Prepaid churn was 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2005, which was the same in the third quarter of 2005 and fourth quarter 2004. Blended churn, including both postpay and prepaid customers, was 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2005, the same as in the third quarter of 2005, and down from 3.1% in the fourth quarter of 2004.
- The average cost of acquiring a customer, Cost Per Gross Add (“CPGA”), was $264 in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from $271 in the third quarter of 2005 and $345 in the fourth quarter of 2004. The decrease in CPGA from the fourth quarter of 2004 is primarily due to changes in the postpay and prepaid sales mix and changes in the competitive environment.
- The average cash cost of serving customers, Cash Cost Per User, was $24.32 per customer per month in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from $24.65 in the third quarter of 2005 and $27.66 in the fourth quarter of 2004.
- Capital expenditures were $807 million in the fourth quarter of 2005, compared with $585 million in the third quarter of 2005 and $422 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.
- T-Mobile USA added more than 1,000 new cell sites in the fourth quarter of 2005, bringing the total number of cell sites to nearly 33,000.
- During 2005 T-Mobile USA added almost 3,500 new cell sites
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