T-Mobile reported adding a net 1.1 million branded postpaid customers in its latest fiscal quarter along with postpaid phone churn of nearly 1.2 percent.
The nation’s No. 3 carrier also reported a 5 percent increase in revenue to $10.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, but that new record nonetheless fell just short of Wall Street expectations.
Adjusted earnings of $2.7 billion, however, beat analysts’ forecasts as the carrier reported that tax reform legislation impacted its net income and earnings levels by $2.2 billion.
The additional postpaid customers included 891,000 branded postpaid phones, and the company also reported 149,000 branded prepaid net additions and 1.9 million total net additions in the fourth quarter.
Average revenue per user declined in the latest period, although analysts from MoffettNathanson noted that was “a troubling trend seen industry-wide this quarter.”
Free cash flow, meanwhile, jumped by more than 50 percent year-over-year to $1.1 billion.
For the full calendar year, T-Mobile officials touted the addition of more than 5 million customers for the fourth consecutive year in 2017, including 3.6 million net postpaid customers.
In 2018, the carrier anticipates adding another 2 million to 3 million net postpaid customers and $4.9 billion to $5.3 billion in property and equipment expenditures, including “for 5G deployment.”
“We made incredible progress in 2017 building out our network and retail footprint to set ourselves up for future growth,” CEO John Legere said in a statement. “Our business is clearly firing on all cylinders and our strong guidance for 2018 shows that we have no plans of letting up.”