Sprint, the third-largest U.S. carrier, today reported a larger first-quarter loss on declining revenue but expects subscriber losses to stabilize.
The Overland Park, Kan.-based company said it lost fewer customers in the last three months of the year, but the sharp gain in prepaid customers masked a fall in the more valuable postpaid segment, or subscribers on contracts that provide the highest revenue margins.
The number of customers slid 0.4 percent from the previous quarter to 49.1 million. Postpaid subscribers dropped 1.3 million, putting the total fall in the past six quarters at over 6 million.
Meanwhile rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless have added 1.2 million and 1.3 million subscribers in the period, respectively.
"Total subscriber sequential improvement performance was the best in Sprint Nextel history," said Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse. "But we are far from satisfied with our postpaid subscriber numbers."
Sprint said it lost $594 million during the first quarter, compared to a loss of $505 million a year ago.
Sprint also said it cut its workforce by around 12.5 percent and will cut an additional 1,000 jobs this quarter, as part of a previously announced plan.
