Sprint's still bleeding subscribers but CDMA data is strong

Despite Sprint's introduction of the innovative Any Mobile, Any Time rate plan that allows unlimited calling to any mobile phone from any carrier and its growing portfolio of smartphones, the company finished the third quarter with 48.3 million subscribers, down from 50.5 million in third quarter 2008 and down from 48.8 million in the second quarter.  Nevertheless, there were a few bright spots in Sprint's earnings report, particularly on the data front. Data contributed more than $16.25 to overall post-paid average revenue per user in the third quarter. On the CDMA side, data ARPU was greater than $19 and now represents 34 percent of total CDMA ARPU.

Here's a breakdown of some of Sprint's other key metrics:

• Subscribers: Sprint said net retail subscribers declined by 135,000 and net wireless customers declined by around 545,000, including net losses of 801,000 postpaid customers. The postpaid loss is down from 991,000 postpaid subscriber losses in the second quarter. The company gained a net 801,000 prepaid iDEN customers, which was offset by net losses of 135,000 prepaid CDMA customers. Sprint also had a net loss of 410,000 wholesale and affiliate subscribers because of subscriber losses from its MVNO partners and machine-to-machine devices. Sprint had a total customer base of 48.3 million customers at the end of the quarter, compared with 48.8 million at the end of the second quarter.

• Financials: Total revenue fell 9 percent to $8.04 billion, down from $8.81 billion in the year-ago quarter. Wireless service revenues for the quarter of $6.3 billion declined 8 percent year-over-year and 2 percent sequentially. Sprint said the year-over-year and sequential decline was due to fewer postpaid subscribers, partially offset by more prepaid subscribers. Sprint had a net loss of $478 million, up from $326 million in the year-ago quarter.

• ARPU: Sprint said postpaid ARPU remained stable at $56--where it has been for the past seven quarters--primarily due to continued growth in fixed-rate bundled plans like Simply Everything, and offset by declines in usage and roaming. Prepaid ARPU in the quarter was around $35, up from $31 in the year-ago period and $34 in the second quarter.

• Churn: Postpaid churn was 2.17 percent, up from 2.15 percent in the year-ago period and 2.05 percent in the second quarter. Sprint said the sequential increase was due to "seasonality" and heightened competition. Prepaid churn was 6.65 percent, down from 8.16 percent in the year-ago period but up from 6.38 percent in the second quarter. The company said the year-over-year improvement in prepaid churn was due to increased subscriber additions to its Boost Monthly Unlimited offering.

For more:
- see these quarterly metrics
- see FierceWireless' Q3 earnings page
- see this release

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