T-Mobile Adds More Customers Than AT&T, Verizon Combined

T-Mobile US added more subscribers in the first quarter than AT&T and Verizon Communications combined, heightening the carrier’s allure as Sprint pursues a merger.

Promotions and cheaper plans helped T-Mobile add 1.3 million new monthly subscribers in the period, topping the 998,000 projected by analysts and the 1.16 million customers that AT&T and Verizon added combined.

The subscriber growth came at a cost: T-Mobile’s fourth quarterly loss in a row. Sprint plans to push forward with a bid for T-Mobile after meeting with banks to make debt arrangements for that offer, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

T-Mobile Chief Executive Officer John Legere is delivering on a promise to shake up the US wireless industry. The fourth-largest US carrier has been on a campaign to lure customers away from larger rivals by providing financing for phones, cheap international rates and as much as $650 to people who switch service.