US: T-Mobile adds subscribers as merger case continues

T-Mobile US announced it added one million of its most profitable cellphone customers in the fourth quarter, driving the carrier’s subscriber base closer to its larger rivals’ as it awaits a ruling on its proposed merger with Sprint.

The Bellevue company issued preliminary results showing a net gain of one million postpaid phone customers during the last three months of 2019, plus 77,000 more prepaid subscribers. Postpaid subscribers are important to carriers because they tend to pay their monthly bills regularly and are less likely to switch providers.

T-Mobile ended the year with about 67.9 million customers, excluding “wholesale customers” who pay another brand that uses its cellphone network. The company typically reports full fourth-quarter results, including profit and cash flow metrics, later in the year.

T-Mobile’s proposed US$26 billion merger with Sprint, announced in 2018, has overshadowed the company’s steady growth over the past two years.

Lawyers for both sides are scheduled to deliver closing arguments in the case on January 15, following a two-week December trial that featured testimony from top executives at T-Mobile and Sprint as well as their corporate parents, Deutsche Telekom AG and SoftBank.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.