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Subscriber base booms for Sprint PCS wireless
The Las Vegas Review-Journal
Review-Journal
Fast-growing Sprint PCS, which entered the Las
Vegas market last fall, boosted its subscriber
base by nearly 50 percent in the fourth quarter,
the Kansas City, Mo.-based company reports.
Sprint PCS added an industry-record 836,000 subscribers in the last three
months of 1998, bringing its customer base to nearly 2.6 million, according
to [ Sprint Corp. ] 's quarterly report filed this week. For all of 1998, Sprint
PCS expanded into 91 markets for a total of 225 service areas that are
home to 150 million people.
Rival [ AT&T ] added 445,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter.
John Bischoff, a Sprint PCS area vice president who oversees the Las
Vegas and San Diego offices, said a strong reception in Southern Nevada
helped his company's numbers.
"Here in Las Vegas, we have experienced great success since our October
1998 launch," he said.
As a matter of policy, Sprint PCS declines to give subscriber figures for
specific markets.
For the quarter, the loss before a one-time charge at Sprint PCS widened to
$603.1 million, or $1.43 per share, from $465.5 million, or $1.12 per share,
in the year-earlier period. Sprint PCS was expected to lose $1.62 per
share, the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by First Call Corp.
Estimates of the loss ranged from $1.37 to $2.01 per share.
The company, which began trading as a separate tracking stock from Sprint
Corp. in November, is rapidly adding customers as it turns on its nationwide
network in more cities.
Revenue in the quarter tripled to $437.4 million from $147.5 million.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report. |
