Things continue to be bleak for the nation’s third-largest carrier, as Sprint lost 75,000 net subscribers and $865 million for its first quarter.
The loss of subscribers is actually a lot better than the same period a year ago, but it’s sad to see the company saying this is the best net results it has seen since 2007. This number is also kind of misleading because it lost 578,000 subscribers on long-term contracts but this was buoyed by a massive gain in prepaid subscribers due to the $50 unlimited plans offered by Boost Mobile, which is now owned by Sprint.
The prepaid market is only going to grow in the United States and Sprint is in a good place to capitalize because it owns Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and even little old Helio (I love my freaking Helio Ocean). The problem is that the average revenues per user is much lower than subscribers on contracts and the only way to make this work is through volume. Sprint doesn’t even have that kind of volume, as AT&T and Verizon Wireless have a much higher base of contract users.
How can Sprint fight this? Well, they seem to be making the right moves by having pretty reasonable smartphone plans. The company’s entry-level Everything Data plan essentially offers unlimited data, text and calls to mobiles for $70 a month, which isn’t bad. It’s also finally getting some lust-worthy hardware with the EVO 4G and I know many people are contemplating switching to get this WiMax-capable Android handset.
“Our ongoing focus on improving the customer experience, generating cash and strengthening the brand continues to pay off,” said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, in a prepared statement. “Customer satisfaction has improved for the ninth consecutive quarter and we generated more than $500 million in free cash flow.”
Overall, it now has 48.1 million subscribers – 33.4 million contract customers, 11 million prepaid users and about 3.6 million wholesale and affiliate subscribers. The company’s post-paid ARPU dropped to $55 year-over-year from $56 and the prepaid ARPU was $27. On the positive side, the company does still have $4.4. billion in cash.