T-Mobile USA Reports Huge Customer Defections, Says It Will Launch LTE in 2013

Deutsche Telekom announced that T-Mobile USA will launch high-speed LTE service sometime next year, but noted that the most recent quarter was a brutal one for its US mobile business.

“For T-Mobile USA, the past year was characterized by significant challenges, particularly in the fourth quarter, following the market launch of the new Apple iPhone model by the three major national competitors in October,” T-Mobile said. In the fourth quarter alone, T-Mobile USA lost 802,000 contract customers. Revenue dropped 3.3 percent to $20.6 billion. The company is the last major U.S. carrier to announce LTE plans and it has been questioned whether it would be able to amass enough spectrum to offer the service. T-Mobile said it will use a combination of spectrum acquired from AT&T, a further $1.4 billion in additional investment and “refarmed frequencies” to launch LTE service. It also plans to continue its “challenger” brand strategy and more aggressively pursue business customers.