Sprint data ARPU closes in on $20 in Q4 2009

Sprint Nextel reported fourth quarter losses close to $1 billion as subscriber defections slowed, but the operator still fell short of analysts' revenue projections. Sprint posted a Q4 loss of $980 million, compared to year-ago losses of $1.6 billion; revenue dropped to $7.87 billion from $8.43 billion in Q4 2008, off analyst forecasts of about $8.03 billion. In addition, the company lost 504,000 postpaid subscribers during the quarter to finish with 48.1 million customers for the year, down from 49.3 million at the end of 2008; churn decreased to 2.11 percent compared to 2.16 percent in the year-ago quarter. Sprint contends it will shed fewer customers this year than in 2009. 

Sprint's wireless service revenues of $6.2 billion for the quarter declined 5 percent year-over-year and less than 1 percent sequentially--postpaid ARPU dropped year-over-year and sequentially from approximately $56 to approximately $55. Sprint blamed the year-over-year slide on declines in usage and roaming, partially offset by reductions in credits issued to customers resulting from an improved customer experience--the sequential decline is due to lower casual text and data usage and lower overage revenues thanks to the growing popularity of fixed-rate bundle plans and seasonality. Data revenues contributed more than $16.75 to Sprint's overall postpaid ARPU in the fourth quarter, led by growth in CDMA data ARPU. CDMA data ARPU increased to greater than $19.50, translating to more than 35 percent of total CDMA ARPU.

For more on Sprint's Q4 2009 results:
- read this release

For more on the Q4 earnings season:
- check out our complete coverage here