T-Mobile added 1.6 million customers in the last three months, marking the 22nd straight quarter with more than 1 million net additions.
T-Mobile delivered what it called its “best financials ever,” in the third quarter, including a record total for revenue with $10.8 billion, which is up 8 percent over a year ago. T-Mobile reported net profits of $795 million, or $0.93 per share. These figures came in ahead of Wall Street expectations of $0.85 per share on revenue of $10.7 billion.
“T-Mobile delivered another record-breaking quarter,” CEO John Legere said in a statement. “We continue to drive our business beyond expectations and despite the work underway to close the merger, we delivered our best financials ever in Q3. Our customer growth accelerated again, benefiting from the investments we are making in network and in customer experience, leading to 22 quarters in a row with more than 1 million net customer additions. I couldn’t be more proud of the T-Mobile team!”
T-Mobile executives are set to discuss the record quarter in a webcast:
T-Mobile’s customer base now stands at 77.2 million. Its network covers 324 million people with 4G LTE service, and T-Mobile’s goal is to push that number to 325 million by the end of the year.
On the webcast, Legere said the T-Mobile-Sprint merger is still on track to close in the first half of next year. Tomorrow, the formal comment period on the proposed deal closes. Legere said more than half of state utility commissions have signed off on the merger.
The merger with Sprint and T-Mobile’s quest for 5G were an important part of the company’s quarter. In September, T-Mobile brought in Sunit Patel, former chief financial officer and executive vice president at CenturyLink to oversee the merger.
T-Mobile inked alliances with Nokia and Ericsson, each valued at $3.5 billion, to speed up 5G deployment. T-Mobile also began putting the $8 billion worth of low-band spectrum it bought in a federal auction to work, strengthening connections in rural areas as it preps for nationwide rollout of the next generation wireless network.
In addition to the merger and its 5G pursuits, T-Mobile also unveiled its latest “Un-carrier” move, targeting customer service by overhauling that department with its new Team of Experts model. The service, which T-Mobile has been testing for two years, assigns blocks of customers in the same area to a group of 30 to 40 dedicated employees that sit together at a specific call center and have a lot more authority to deal with issues than the typical customer service rep.
T-Mobile beefed up MetroPCS, renaming it Metro by T-Mobile. T-Mobile has added new plans for the pre-paid provider that include an Amazon Prime membership and access to Google One, which features expanded storage and a quick line to Google experts.
T-Mobile pledged to use entirely renewable energy to power its Bellevue, Wash. campus through Puget Sound Energy’s Green Direct program, which gives the company access to a blend of local wind and solar energy sources. The pledge is part of T-Mobile’s participation in the RE100, a global initiative of more than 100 companies committed to 100 percent renewable electricity.
