MetroPCS reports fourth quarter results

Well, for the fourth quarter they added 298,568 subscribers, a decent bounty, but short of their 324,454 from the fourth quarter of 2006. For the year they added 1,021,800, which marks the second straight year in which they added over a million subscribers. That mark actually edges out the 2006 total of 1,016,365 net additions.

“Demonstrating the continued demand for our unlimited fixed-price service and as consumers increasingly replace their landline phones with wireless, we added nearly 300 thousand new subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2007, resulting in total subscriber growth of approximately 35% over the past 12 months,” said Roger D. Linquist, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of MetroPCS. “Our Core Markets continue to grow, adding incremental penetration of 1.1% over last year to a total penetration of 11.3%. With the first full quarter of results from our Los Angeles market, and the excellent progress we are making towards meeting the ultimate build-out goals, we anticipate continued strong growth in this market over the coming quarters. The other Expansion Markets continue to perform very well in spite of slower economic conditions.”

Metro ended the year with 3,962,768 total subscribers, and said they crossed the four million mark in January. The most telling numbers, though, are their additions in “expanding markets,” which includes, as you’d guess, any markets they added during the year. Most notably for Metro, this means Los Angeles. The company added 217,628 subscribers in those markets in the fourth quarter, ending the year with 1,303,881 additions in expanding markets. This is a 100 percent gain over last year. So it’s pretty clear: Expansion is necessary. Let’s hope Leap comes to the same conclusion. [MetroPCS]]]>