MetroPCS Shows Landline Replacement Impact

MetroPCS reported record first quarter 2009 financial results, with 684,000 net subscriber additions and over 1.6 million net subscriber additions in the past 12 months, providing more evidence that wireless substitution, rather than mobility, is a growing segment of the wireless business.

 

"In aggregate, our share of gross subscriber additions in our launched markets was higher than any other U.S. carrier in the first quarter of 2009 at approximately 25 percent market share," says Roger Linquist, MetroPCS Communications CEO.

 

"The opportunity, as we see it, is in growing the segment that is really wireline replacement and displacement," says Lindquist. Though a shift to prepaid instead of post-paid payment plans also can be noted elsewhere in the business, MetroPCS, like Cricket Communications (News - Alert), long has prospered by focusing on landline replacement services. 

 

"On a consolidated basis, the growth of our subscriber base actually accelerated this quarter growing over 37 percent year-over-year compared to 30 percent growth when compared to the first quarter's 2008 to 2007, Lingquist notes. 

 

"Helping to drive our strong subscriber growth is the continuing trend of subscribers cutting the cord," he adds. "Residential wireline access line losses at the largest national telephone companies continued in this first quarter and were over 12 percent year-over-year," Lindquist says. "We expect this to continue as voice continues to go wireless."

 

"Nearly 60 percent of MetroPCS subscribers have already replaced their landline phones with our MetroPCS wireless phones," he notes. 

 

"Consumers are looking for the most value for every dollar they spend" and "we think this is a permanent change," says Tom Keys, MetroPCS COO. 

 

By way of comparison, AT&T (News - Alert) added 875,000 post-paid net additions on a nationwide footprint of roughly 250 million covered POPs, while MetroPCS added approximately 684,000 net additions on a 77 million average POP footprint.