Leap adds customers, improves churn

MetroPCS reported their third quarter subscriber numbers. Now comes word on rival Leap Wireless and their Cricket prepaid service. They added 155,779 net subscribers in the third quarter, nearly 100,000 less than MetroPCS. That’s not the whole story, though. This is a giant leap, pardon the pun, from Cricket’s number from last year, when they added 36,484 net subscribers in the third quarter — though they faced some turmoil about their books. All was corrected, though. Churn was a major turning point for Cricket. It was all the way up at 5.2 percent in the third quarter 2007, high for even a prepaid company. This year, they knocked it down a full percentage point to 4.2, a remarkable improvement. They added nearly 600,000 gross subscribers, and ended the period with about 50,000 subscribers shy of 3.5 million.

“Our results reflect the strength of our business and its ability to attract and service new customers and perform well during times of economic uncertainty,” said Doug Hutcheson, Leap’s president and chief executive officer. “Given our focus on achieving deeper penetration in our markets, the early successes of our mobile broadband service, and the attractive initial results of our Auction 66 market launches, we believe that the Company is well positioned as the value leader in the markets we serve with the right products in the right place at the right time. Our success in operating and further expanding our business, together with our strong liquidity position and commitment to operate our business in a thoughtful and disciplined manner, give us confidence that we can continue to move successfully through uncertain economic times.”

It’s tough to say how prepaid carriers will fare through the holiday season, and it’s even tougher to figure how they’ll do in the expected lull afterwards. Leap is poised, though, with their new PAYgo plans, to brave an economic storm.]]>