Sprint releases final Q3 numbers for 2014 – some good, some bad
After teasing us with some numbers a few weeks ago, Sprint has finally published its final report for Q3 2014, and the numbers aren’t quite as bleak as many expected – although they’re still not great. The carrier managed to keep its third place position, even though T-Mobile’s John Legere promised to surpass Sprint in total numbers of subscribers by the end of 2014.
In fact, Sprint managed to activate just under one million new connections, and it bragged about its “significant progress on building a consistent and reliable network.” This means that the total new connections are up 42% year-over-year, with 30,000 postpaid, 410,000 prepaid, and 527,000 wholesale new subscribers. The huge wholesale numbers are only possible through its Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile brands, although the postpaid additions are the highest in three years.
Unfortunately, all of this comes with a rather big loss, as Spring just can’t seem to figure out how to turn a profit. The carrier reported a $2.5 billion operating loss, and revenue fell 1.8%. It also lost 205,000 subscribers, even though Sprint says that its LTE coverage now reaches over 270 million POPs.
Still, Sprint is chugging forward with aggressive offers aimed at stealing more customers from Verizon and AT&T, while T-Mobile continues to close in on Sprint’s third place position, albeit a little more slowly than before.
[Sprint]
