MetroPCS announced its schedule for market launches n Las Vegas a...

and New York the first half of 2009, said Thomas Keys, chief operating officer. The dates could change and launches may happen “in phases,” but designs are done, with construction underway and “key staff” in place, Keys said. Advanced Wireless Services auction spectrum will be cleared in time for the launches, avoiding a problem that T-Mobile faces, he added. In Los Angeles, MetroPCS has penetrated 0.5 percent of its covered population since the network’s mid-September launch, Keys said. The California fires spared the network and service wasn’t affected, he added. MetroPCS income is growing with the network. In the third quarter, Metro total revenue rose 41 percent year over year to $557 million and net income 81 percent to $53 million. It posted $184 million in EBITDA, a 70 percent increase year-over-year and the highest quarterly figure in company history. Meanwhile, CEO Roger Linquist updated investors on 700 MHz plans and Leap Wireless talks. “A lot of factors,” such as new rules, make the 700 MHz auction “not totally stable,” but “you should probably still assume” MetroPCS will register, Linquist said. “There are some issues regarding the spectrum and the interference from adjacent bands,” he said. “So we're cautious, interested but cautious.” Concerning Leap, Linquist essentially repeated a company statement released when MetroPCS withdrew its merger proposal this month, adding that “the ball is… in their court.” The CEO declined to comment on Leap Wireless’s recent restatement of previous financial results (CD Nov 13 p10). “I would rather not speculate on information that’s rapidly coming to the forefront,” he said. Neither a U.S. economic slowdown nor competition from Sprint Nextel threatens MetroPCS’s business, said Braxton Carter, chief financial officer. “MetroPCS is a phenomenal company to own if there’s a sustained economic slowdown,” he said. “Our very low cost structure and no bad debt exposure positions us extremely well for aggressive customer acquisition during these periods as opposed to our competitors.” Boost Mobile, Sprint’s prepaid mobile virtual network operator, is no threat to MetroPCS because it won’t expand nationwide, Carter said. Sprint’s fear of cannibalization limits Boost and could make the MVNO unsustainable long term, he said: “If you make it too compelling, you're going to start bleeding off all those postpaid customers that are Sprint’s bread and butter.”