T-Mobile adds 1 million new subscribers in 2009, income and revenue decline

By on Feb 25, 2010 at 1:07 PM
News February 25, 2010

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T-Mobile held its position as the #4 carrier in the U.S. by adding one million new subscribers to its coffers in 2009 and ending 2009 with a total of 33.8 million customers. Catherine Zeta Jones’ favorite network gained a total of 371,000 new subscribers in Q4 2009, a number that was achieved by the addition of 488,000 pre-paid subscribers and the loss of 117,000 net contract subscribers. Despite the yearly and quarterly growth in its subscriber base, yearly revenue declined to $21.5 billion, a 1.6% year over year drop and quarterly revenue dropped to $5.41 billion from $5.72 billion in Q4 2008. T-Mobile’s net income also took a hit, dropping from $483 million at the end of 2008 to $306 million in 2009. Though overall revenue and income declined, T-Mobile’s mobile data business was lucrative as total data revenue reached $598 million in Q4 2009 and $2.2 billion for the full year, a 35% and 37% year over year increase. Additionally, the Magenta network’s infrastructure was also on the rise; its entire 3G network has been upgraded to 7.2 Mbps HSPA, select markets are being upgraded to 21Mbps HSPA+, and its 3G coverage now reaches 205 million people nationwide.

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  • Alex

    At least they are still making money. Sprint can’t say that.

  • Steve

    I’ve been a T-Mo customer for over 10 years and I wouldn’t think of switching! While they don’t have the biggest network they offer tremendous value for my money! Verizon and ATT charge ridulous amounts of money for what is supposed to be a significantly better experience. Hopefully their 7.2 HSPA+ upgrades and EM+ plans will draw in a ton of new customers tired of overpaying. As far as them losing contract customers’ go that shouldn’t bother anyone. Customers should WANT to stay with a provider not because they are contractly obligated to do so. As long as customer counts keep going up and profits are good then all is well!

  • DubYa

    T-Mobile is jumping on the USA prepaid bandwagon a little too soon. I think its going to come back to haunt them.

  • JFA

    T-Mobile didn’t do THAT bad, I honestly expected much worse, this is also coming from a T-Mobile subscriber.

    What T-Mobile needs to become more successful is

    A) Better handsets (were getting there w/ HD2 & i guess the Nexus One). But more high end phones definitely will not hurt.

    B) Better coverage (Its great in Metro areas, outside of em, not so much)

    C) MARKETING. They need to market their shit, they’re gonna have the fastest 3G network late this year (which also beats Sprint’s 4G in speeds) and they should let THE PEOPLE KNOW.

    T-Mobile should really stop being scared and challenge the other 3. They already have better prices than AT&T & Verizon.

  • Chancellor

    Unfortunatley tmobile didn’t work in my house a few years ago, can’t wait to try again. I would be saving 40-50 bucks a month by switchig, and if they work where I am at a majority of the time (home and school) then they’re by far the best option. If I can put up with AT&T this long… Tmobile should be fine lol.

  • James

    I’m just waiting for the day that at&t absorbs Tmobile into their network to relieve the strain brought on them by the iPhone. If they buy Tmobile then Verizon will buy Sprint.

  • Chancellor

    Then they could spend millions of dollars changing the name to tmobile…. And then back to AT&T a few years later.

  • Brad

    T-Mobile has pretty decent voice coverage, I’ll give you that. But when it comes to the 3G maps AT&T and Verizon love so much in their commercials, if you think AT&T’s 3G map is a joke, you should see T-Mobile’s. While with Verizon’s map, it’s easier to tell you where they don’t have 3G coverage than where they do, the opposite is true of T-Mobile. I live in a pretty good-sized city just an hour away from a large metro area, and while Verizon, AT&T, and even Sprint have solid 3G coverage here, T-Mobile’s does not extend outside the metro area that’s just an hour away. To T-Mobile, I say the same thing I say about AT&T: it doesn’t matter how fast your 3G service is, if it’s not available where people want or need it.

    • betchplz

      Thanks for stating the obvious. Where would our society be without people like you..

      I mean honestly, T-Mobile of course doesn’t have expansive 3G coverage, they started the launch in 2008. AT&T started years before T-Mobile and they are still lagging behind their main competitor Verizon.

  • Christopher

    Customer of T-mobile for 5 years and I’d say that they do an ‘ok’ job. Customer service is decent, and they provide an all around good range of service. For the price, I’d say they’re #1. The Iphone is the killer though… I currently use the Iphone on the t-mo service… If it were offered through them, they’d own the market with their rates.

  • JB

    Profit is only down because they lowered their plans. Adding subs didn’t make up for the price drop but it did make them profitable.

  • Droid Lover

    JB forgot to tell you he’s on prepaid service

  • Droid Lover

    Sorry – I meant Christopher – cheers

  • Prepaid Data

    T-mobile does not offer prepaid data (except sidekik)! Absolutely unacceptable! Does anybody know if it is going to change?

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