Sprint reports a $120 million loss during its fiscal third quarter
We wonder why the state attorneys general and regulators are so worried about T-Mobile snapping up Sprint. Sure, they say that with a 25% drop in the number of major U.S. carriers, consumers will end up paying more for wireless service. But if Sprint continues to spill red ink, and with the amount of debt the company carries, Sprint is either going to disappear or raise its prices anyway.
In the most important category, postpaid phone subscribers, Sprint lost 115,000 subscribers in the fiscal third-quarter of 2019
Sprint did have some positives to report during the period. The number of postpaid accounts (11.3 million at quarter’s end) grew year-over-year and sequentially for the third consecutive quarter. And the company’s True Mobile 5G service now covers 20 million Americans in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. In those markets, Sprint’s 5G service is delivering download data speeds averaging 215Mbps which is five times faster than the carrier’s average LTE download data speed.
Building out its 5G network, Sprint has been employing its mid-band 2.5GHz spectrum (and the object of T-Mobile’s desires) on its Macro sites which include large towers and antennas. It also is deploying thousands of Massive MIMO sites; the technology offers a larger number of connections between transmitters and receivers. This not only adds capacity to Sprint’s LTE and 5G network, it also allows spectrum to be used simultaneously for 4G LTE and 5G signals.
Ookla’s Speedtest Intelligence data had Sprint owning the second-fastest wireless network during the fourth calendar quarter of 2019. With a 45 percent year-over-year increase in its national average download speeds, Ookla named Sprint calendar 2019’s most improved wireless operator. Commenting on the earnings report, Sprint CEO Michel Combes said, “I continue to be impressed by the commitment of Sprint employees to deliver results during this period of uncertainty. As we await a decision in the state attorneys general lawsuit, I continue to believe the merger with T-Mobile is the best way to deliver the benefits of competition to American consumers.”
Sprint’s shares declined on the news by 15 cents or 3.11% to $4.68 a share.