International News

(Telecompaper) US mobile operator Sprint reported its first subscriber growth in three years, adding a net 111,000 customers in the second quarter for a total base of 48.2 million at the end of June. The increase came entirely from its wholesale and affiliate operations, which gained 166,000 customers, while the Sprint retail brand shed 55,000 customers. The company lost a net 228,000 postpaid customers, for a total 33.2 million, with postpaid churn at a record low of 1.85 percent. The CDMA network added almost 136,000 postpaid customers while iDen lost almost 364,000 customers. Postpaid ARPU of USD 55 declined year-over-year from USD 56, but was flat sequentially. Prepaid customers grew by 173,000 to 11.2 million, with 638,000 new prepaid CDMA customers offset by a loss of 465,000 iDen subscribers. Prepaid ARPU of USD 28 dropped compared to USD 34 in the year-ago period and was up from USD 27 in the first quarter of 2010. The year-over-year decline is due to the inclusion of Virgin Mobile and Assurance Wireless customers who have lower ARPU on average than Sprint's Boost Mobile customers. Sequentially, prepaid ARPU improved as a result of continued popularity of the Boost Monthly Unlimited offering on the CDMA network. Total revenues from the mobile activities were little changed year-on-year at USD 7.0 billion, while adjusted OIBDA fell 13 percent to USD 1.2 billion as the company saw an increase in handset subsidies due to the growing popularity of smartphones. Revenues including the wireline activities were down 1 percent from a year earlier to USD 8.0 billion, and the net loss widened to USD 760 million from USD 384 million due to a charge of USD 302 million on deferred tax assets. Sprint said it expects the net mobile susbcriber growth to continue in the remainder of the year, with fewer net postpaid subscriber losses in the second half compared to the first half of 2010. The company continues to expect full-year capital expenditure of up to USD 2 billion, after USD 856 million in H1, and free cash flow is expected to remain positive.