Sprint vs. T-Mobile: Claure and Co. Tally Nearly 1 Million New Customers in Q4 2014
T-Mobile may be shaking up the wireless industry, but rival Sprint reported it ended 2014 with encouraging results, keeping it in third place among the major national networks.
Sprint revealed it added 967,000 customers during the last quarter of 2014. Of the nearly 1 million additions, 30,000 were net postpaid, 410,000 were net prepaid and 527,000 were net wholesale.
"Sprint's first priority is a return to customer growth and our results during the last quarter show we are on the right track," said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure in a company statement. "While we still have work to do, it is clear that our aggressive actions to provide customers with the best value in wireless are gaining momentum."
Sprint has been in a fight to retain its status as a major player among U.S. carriers as attractive marketing from T-Mobile and better service from Verizon and AT&T have caused the company to leak customers. CEO Marcelo Claure took over in August, bringing a series of aggressive plans with him to combat T-Mobile's maverick "Un-carrier" moves. Previously seen as archaic, Sprint seems to have regained some of its sheen over the last quarter of 2014.
According to a Sprint spokesperson, Sprint ended the quarter with a total of 56 million customers. T-Mobile, meanwhile, finished 2014 off with a little over 55 million, leaving Sprint still the No. 3 carrier in the United States behind Verizon and AT&T, if barely. T-Mobile, however, added more than 8 million customers in 2014 thanks to a marketing campaign that includes no contracts, faster upgrades, and more. Given the company's momentum, T-Mobile's eccentric CEO John Legere expects the tables to turn in 2015.
"T-Mobile will -- officially -- become the No. 3 wireless company in America in 2015. This summer, I said we'd blow by Sprint by the end of 2014 to become the No. 3 wireless company in the U.S.," Legere wrote in a blog post outlining his expectations for 2015. "They have been swinging the bat since I made that statement, so we won't know where things stand until we get the final score after we both report Q4 earnings, but whether it is now -- or soon -- I'm telling you, it's a done deal!"
Sprint will have to upgrade its network significantly in the coming years if it is to keep up with Verizon and AT&T. Sprint lacks coverage in many rural areas and a large reason customers switch carriers is due to connectivity issues.
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