T-Mobile Had Fewer Net Phone Adds Than AT&T

2.1 million postpaid adds and an industry leading 1.3 million total postpaid adds in the quarter. CEO Mike Sievert questioned whether the growth reported by “the other guys” was sustainable, on a call with analysts. “As competition heats up you shouldn’t paint us all with the same brush,” he said. “Many of you have raised questions about the promotional environment and also about the source and sustainability of recent industry growth,” he said. “We like healthy competition because we historically win when customers start shopping around. Our competitors are leaning into device offers” and “expensive promotions” and “don’t have compelling pricing or a competitive 5G network.” Sievert said: “They’re trying to temporarily buy down churn while they sell assets and come up with a plan.” AT&T and Verizon didn’t immediately comment. Smaller markets and rural areas generated about one-third of T-Mobile’s new accounts, though the company is just starting to target those markets, he said. Customers are also coming to T-Mobile because of its 5G network, he said. “We’re years ahead on 5G … and we’re positioned to stay ahead,” he said. T-Mobile also added more than 1 million new accounts in the past year, while Verizon had none and AT&T didn’t report that metric, Sievert said. Net income was $691 million, with service revenue of $14.7 billion. Some 90% of Sprint customer traffic is now carried on the T-Mobile network and 53% of Sprint customers have been “fully transitioned” to the combined network, the company said. Some are benefiting from Sprint churn, but “we’re working to make that very short-lived,” Sievert said. AT&T and Verizon didn't comment by our deadline.