Analyzing T-Mobile’s Fastest-Growing Segment

In the fourth quarter, T-Mobile’s (TMUS) total net customer base increased by 2.4 million. For the 23rd consecutive quarter, the company posted more than 1.0 million total net customer additions.

T-Mobile’s strong momentum didn’t show any signs of slowing down. T-Mobile had 1.0 million branded postpaid phone customer net additions in the fourth quarter. T-Mobile’s branded postpaid phone customer net additions rose from 774,000 net additions in the third quarter and from 891,000 net additions in the fourth quarter of 2017. The increase in postpaid phone subscriber net additions is mainly driven by the continued growth in existing and greenfield markets and the growing success of its new customer segments like T-Mobile for Business. The company was the industry leader in postpaid phone subscriber net additions for the 20th consecutive quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Verizon (VZ) added 653,000 postpaid phone net customers, while AT&T (T) added 134,000 postpaid phone net subscribers. Sprint (S) reported a loss of 26,000 postpaid phone net customers in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 (quarter ending in December).

The postpaid handset subscribers, especially smartphone users, are valuable for wireless service providers. Smartphone users tend to have higher data usage. As a result, they’re the most lucrative users for wireless carriers.