Sprint's Solid Rankings in the 1H15 RootMetrics Mobile Network Performance Report
Postpaid customers growth
Previously in this series, we observed that Sprint Corporation’s (S) churn rate improved significantly both YoY (year over year) and sequentially during the June quarter. We also learned that according to the company, one of the reasons for the churn rate improvement was its better network performance.
The better postpaid churn rate also influenced customer growth. Sprint’s postpaid customers grew by ~0.9% YoY to reach ~30 million in 1Q15. This YoY growth in postpaid customers was particularly significant for Sprint. Sprint’s postpaid base had been consistently declining YoY since 3Q13.
Net additions of postpaid customers
Net additions in Sprint’s postpaid customers remained positive in 1Q15, during which time Sprint added ~310K postpaid customers. As the above chart shows, these net additions have now remained positive for three quarters in a row.
Also on the positive side, net losses of postpaid phone customers were lower both sequentially and YoY in 1Q15. Sprint had net losses of postpaid phone subscribers of ~12K during 1Q15, compared to ~620K in 1Q14, and ~201K in 4Q14.
Customer additions compared to peers
Among the top four US wireless carriers, Verizon Communications (VZ) was the market leader in terms of postpaid net additions in 1Q15, during which time Verizon added ~1.1 million postpaid customers.
T-Mobile (TMUS) followed Verizon, in second place. On a net basis, T-Mobile added ~1 million postpaid customers, and AT&T (T) had postpaid net additions of 410K. Of these top four US carriers, Sprint had the lowest postpaid net additions in 1Q15.
Instead of investing directly in Sprint’s stock, you may take a diversified exposure to the company by investing in the iShares Dow Jones US Telecom ETF (IYZ). IYZ held ~3.3% in Sprint as of July 31, 2015. You may take an even more diversified exposure to the company by investing in iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD). The ETF held ~0.02% in Sprint at the end of July.
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