T-Mobile Again Leads Industry on Postpaid Phone Adds

T-Mobile added 760,000 net postpaid customers in Q2, besting AT&T and Verizon, it reported Thursday. That’s up from 538,000 in Q1. T-Mobile also picked up a net 509,000 customers for its home internet service, which it said is “more than AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter combined.” Postpaid churn hit a record low for the carrier of 0.77%. Service revenue of $15.7 billion was up 3% year-over-year and net income was $2.2 billion, compared with a net loss of $108 million last year. T-Mobile raised its guidance for the year in several areas and is now projecting 5.6 million-5.9 million postpaid net customer additions, compared with prior guidance of 5.3 million-5.7 million. T-Mobile said 285 million POPs are covered by T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G network, which uses its 2.5 GHz spectrum. Consumers are starting to “take notice” of T-Mobile’s 5G network “as we’re winning prime network seekers in the top 100 markets,” CEO Mike Sievert said on a call with analysts. In small markets, T-Mobile is capturing 30% of customers who switch networks, he said. Sievert said T-Mobile’s integration of Sprint is now “substantially complete, with both the billing migration and retail rationalization done ahead of a year-end target. The deadline has passed for Dish Network to exercise an option it got as part of a complicated arrangement on T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint to acquire the company’s 800 MHz spectrum for $3.4 billion (see 2304280049), Sievert said. Dish asked for additional time from the DOJ to consider what it would do “and we did not object to that,” he said. Dish has until Aug. 11 before T-Mobile will terminate the offer, Sievert said: “But, in fact, we’re in discussions with Dish about whether or not there might be a win-win that’s different from their initial privilege … But that deadline is coming.”