(Reuters) – T-Mobile US Inc on Thursday raised its annual forecast for monthly bill-paying wireless subscriber additions for the third time this year, after beating estimates for quarterly additions as inflation-weary people lapped up its affordable plans.
The telecoms giant has been offering discounts on smartphones and plans at industry-low prices to attract subscribers and stave off competition.
It also has an edge over bigger rivals Verizon and AT&T who are building up the mid-band portion of their 5G networks to catch up with T-Mobile that won a chunky 2.5 GHz of mid-band spectrum thanks to the buyout of rival Sprint.
T-Mobile added 854,000 monthly bill-paying phone subscribers in the third quarter, far higher than FactSet estimates of 724,800.
In comparison, AT&T added 708,000 wireless subscribers in the third quarter, while Verizon, the largest U.S. carrier by subscribers, only added 8,000 customers in the same period due to its price hikes.
T-Mobile’s decision to not raise prices for its wireless plans has helped it lure more customers in a price-conscious market, while AT&T and Verizon chose the opposite to combat higher costs.
T-Mobile expects to add between 6.2 million and 6.4 million net monthly-bill paying subscribers in 2022, up from a prior forecast of 6 million to 6.3 million.
Its third-quarter total revenue of $19.48 billion came in below Wall Street’s estimate of $19.99 billion, according to Refinitiv data.
The company reported a net income of $508 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with a loss of $108 million or 9 cents per share a year earlier.
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
