iPCS Increases Subscribers

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Sprint Corp's wireless affiliate iPCS said it added 10,000 subscribers during the first quarter of this year compared with 6,900 net customer additions during the first quarter of 2004. The carrier ended the first quarter with 259,200 total customers, including 36,000 resale subscribers.

iPCS' management noted the strong quarterly growth, which was the carrier's most robust since 2002, was attributed to a 22-percent increase in gross subscriber additions and a slight drop in customer churn from 2.7 percent during the first quarter of 2004 to 2.6 percent this year.

Average revenue per user results were mixed with non-roaming ARPU falling from $53 during the first quarter of 2004 to $51 this year, while ARPU including roaming swelled from $66 last year to $71 this year. The carrier's cost per gross addition increased from $340 during the first quarter of 2004 to $358 this year.

Financial results were also mixed year-over-year, though iPCS' management noted that due to its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July, financial results were not comparable between the pre- and post-bankruptcy organization.

Total revenues jumped more than 21 percent during the first quarter from $45.8 million in 2004 to $55.5 million this year, though sequential revenues dropped slightly from $60 million during the fourth quarter of 2004. Net losses increased during the quarter from $6.1 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $14.4 million this year, while sequential net losses increased from $7.7 million during the final three months of 2004.