From DailyTech: There's been a lot of shakeup in the cellular market between Verizon Communications Inc.'s (VZ) buyout of Vodafone Plc.'s (LON:VOD) stake in Verizon Wireless for $130B USD, the merger of German telecom firm Deutsche Telekom AG's (ETR:DTE) T-Mobile USA brand with MetroPCS, and Japan's Softbank Corp. (TYO:9984) $21.6B USD acquisition of Sprint Corp. (S), and Sprint's subsequent ~$1.8B USD ($5.00 USD/share) buyout of Clearwire.
While America's fourth largest carrier -- T-Mobile USA -- saw a prompt return to profitability following its MetroPCS merger and posted net subscriber additions in Q2, Sprint's turnaround has been a slower process.
In Q3 2013, its first quarter reporting income [PDF] under Softbank's umbrella, Sprint lost 360,000 post-paid subscribers, and added 84,000 prepaid subscribers. Due to the June closure of Sprint's IDen network, used primarily by business customers, Sprint saw a net lost of 313,000 customers across its post-paid and pre-paid brands.
While T-Mobile has yet to report its Q3 results (and will do so Nov. 5), Sprint's losses stack up unfavorable compared to rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Inc. (T), America's first and second place carriers, respectively. Verizon Wireless added 927,000 new subscribers in Q3, while AT&T tacked on 363,000.
As the Softbank deal and Clearwire acquisition only wrapped up midway through Q3, it may be too early to say how the pairing of the highly successful Japanese carrier, with the struggling American carrier is stacking up.
Sprint reported mixed results for its average revenue per user (ARPU). ARPU among postpaid (contract) customers was up on a quarter-to-quarter basis, but prepaid ARPU fell. Wireless revenue did set a record of $7.3B USD, a bright spot on the earnings report and the Sprint brand revenue rose to $5.8B USD. However, the company's total net revenue (including wireline and revenue from other Sprint-owned brands) fell 2 percent to $8.68B USD.
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