Sprint earnings boosted by data growth

Sprint Nextel posted fourth-quarter profits Wednesday as revenue increased, thanks in part to gains in data service profits. Sprint reported its Q4 earnings rose to $261 million, or 9 cents per share, from $195 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier. Data service revenues increased by 66 percent in comparison to the fourth quarter of 2005, and grew 14 percent over Q3 2006. Sprint credited the increase to strong take rates for its Power Vision data services and demand for text messaging services. In all, data contributed $8.75 to overall post-paid ARPU in Q4--in terms of CDMA postpaid ARPU, data counted for nearly $12 of contribution.

Sprint's prepaid subsidiary Boost Mobile saw its subscriber total increase by 171,000 during the fourth quarter, but Boost ARPU declined to below $32 for the quarter, a 3 percent sequential decline and a 14 percent decline over the previous year. 

For more on Sprint's Q4 2006 report:
- read this release

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