Earnings are out.
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Wireless communications carrier Leap
Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ:LWIN) today announced its subscriber
growth through the end of calendar 1999 and its subscriber and financial
results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2000 ended November 30, 1999.
By the end of the calendar year, international and domestic subscribers at
Leap's subsidiaries and joint ventures grew to more than 210,000 - over 22,000
in the United States, 78,000 in Chile, and 110,000 in Mexico. This represents
a 250 percent increase since August 31, 1999, Leap's 1999 fiscal year end.
Leap's proportionate share of the total subscriber base grew to 111,000 at
calendar year-end based on Leap's 100 percent ownership of SMARTCOM PCS, 28.6
percent ownership of PEGASO, and its current 7.2 percent stake in Chase
Telecommunications Holdings, Inc. (ChaseTel). In late September 1999, Leap
filed an application with the FCC to approve the transfer of ChaseTel's
licenses to Leap in conjunction with Leap's planned acquisition of ChaseTel.
At the end of Leap's first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 1999,
international and domestic subscribers were 104,200 with Leap's proportionate
share of these subscribers being approximately 70,200.
"We saw subscriber growth of nearly 74 percent during the first fiscal
quarter even though our Chilean operation did not re-launch as SMARTCOM PCS
until late in November and PEGASO's launch of Mexico City did not occur until
December," said Harvey P. White, chairman and chief executive officer of Leap.
"We are especially pleased with the performance of our operations in December.
The last month of 1999 proved to be ChaseTel's greatest thus far in terms of
subscriber growth. PEGASO and SMARTCOM PCS saw large increases as well.
These results reaffirm Leap's commitment to make wireless service easy to buy,
easy to use and easy to pay for."
Domestically, Leap's operating company, ChaseTel, added 3,500 subscribers
to its Chattanooga network during Leap's first fiscal quarter, closing the
quarter with approximately 15,900 total subscribers and bringing ChaseTel's
total penetration of the covered population in the Chattanooga market to 5.0
percent. Growth over the Christmas holiday period continued to be strong,
with ChaseTel adding more than 6,100 subscribers in the month of December,
bringing its total subscribers to over 22,000 and increasing its penetration
to 7.0 percent in less than ten months of operation. Leap's domestic service
concept, Cricket(SM), was launched in Chattanooga, Tenn., in March 1999, using
ChaseTel's infrastructure under an agreement that provides that ChaseTel
controls the business until Leap's proposed acquisition of ChaseTel is
complete. Construction of a wireless network in Nashville is underway and is
expected to launch by early 2000.
Internationally, subscriber growth was strong in Leap's Mexican joint
venture, with PEGASO adding 21,500 customers during Leap's first fiscal
quarter and bringing the total number of subscribers on its network to 27,000
at the end of November. By calendar year end, PEGASO's subscribers rose to
110,000 after the launch of Mexico City in early December. Leap's Chilean
operation also made significant progress, as total subscribers grew by 19,300
subscribers to 61,300 in the first fiscal quarter. Holiday sales added
another 16,700 subscribers, bringing SMARTCOM PCS' total subscriber base to
78,000 by calendar year end.
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