Oct 27 (Reuters) – T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O) on Thursday raised its annual forecast for monthly bill-paying wireless subscriber additions for the third time this year, after beating estimates for quarterly additions as inflation-weary people lapped up its affordable plans.
The telecoms giant has been offering discounts on smartphones and plans at industry-low prices to attract subscribers and stave off competition.
It also has an edge over bigger rivals Verizon (VZ.N) and AT&T (TN) who are building up the mid-band portion of their 5G networks to catch up with T-Mobile that won a chunky 2.5 GHz of mid-band spectrum thanks to the buyout of rival Sprint.
T-Mobile added 854,000 monthly bill-paying phone subscribers in the third quarter, far higher than FactSet estimates of 724,800.
In comparison, AT&T added 708,000 wireless subscribers in the third quarter, while Verizon, the largest US carrier by subscribers, only added 8,000 customers in the same period due to its price hikes. read more read more
T-Mobile’s decision not to raise prices for its wireless plans has helped it lure more customers in a price-conscious market, while AT&T and Verizon chose the opposite to combat higher costs.
T-Mobile expects to add between 6.2 million and 6.4 million net monthly-bill paying subscribers in 2022, up from a prior forecast of 6 million to 6.3 million.
Its third-quarter total revenue of $19.48 billion came in below Wall Street’s estimate of $19.99 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
The company reported a net income of $508 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a loss of $108 million or 9 cents per share a year earlier.
Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
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