The COVID-19 crisis is not slowing down the “New T-Mobile.”
T-Mobile’s blockbuster $26.5 billion merger with Sprint officially closed April 1. Mike Sievert, who just replaced John Legere as CEO of the combined company, said Wednesday that bringing the nation’s third and fourth-largest wireless carriers together might be bigger than expected and happen faster than planned.
“We feel a lot of optimism about the potential to go faster than we were expecting, and potentially to go bigger than we were expecting on both growth and synergy attainment,” Sievert said on CNBC following T-Mobile’s first quarter earnings report.
Still, the pandemic is certainly affecting T-Mobile, which said today it expects COVID-19-related costs to be in the $450 to $550 million range for the second quarter of this year. The company also did not provide full-year guidance due to the impact of COVID-19.
Sievert said that the company’s network is performing “incredibly well” under increased data traffic usage as more people use mobile technology amid the health and economic crisis.
"Our network is performing better than ever before," says @tmobile CEO @MikeSievert. $TMUS pic.twitter.com/93XenCYQNc
— CNBC's Closing Bell (@CNBCClosingBell) May 6, 2020
T-Mobile closed 80% of its retail stores on March 17. The carrier gave all customers (who already have plans with data) two months of unlimited data, excluding roaming. It also provided free international calling for all customers to Level 3 impacted countries.
Sievert said that one driver of the merger’s bigger growth potential is churn from Sprint customers.
“As more and more Sprint customers get exposure to the T-Mobile network, their satisfaction levels are rising,” he said on CNBC. “We may see an improvement in the Sprint customer base faster than we were expecting.”
T-Mobile posted record Q1 profits, beating expectations with earnings per share of $1.10, up from $1.06 last year. Revenue came in at $11.1 billion, slightly missing Wall Street estimates, and up from $11.08 million in the year-ago quarter.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based company added a net total of 649,000 customers in the first quarter. T-Mobile now has 68.54 million subscribers. Shares were up more than 1% in after-hours trading.
T-Mobile will report combined results with Sprint next quarter. T-Mobile and Sprint revealed a revamped leadership structure for the New T-Mobile in March. Legere stepped off the board on April 24, earlier than expected.
As we look ahead, we are uniquely positioned to serve a greater number of customers by delivering unmatched value! We are ready to continue to do more of this ? by further supercharging the #Uncarrier, bringing new 5G capabilities and continuing to put customers first!! pic.twitter.com/D6gKswXHCS
— Mike Sievert (@MikeSievert) May 6, 2020
