Revenues increased by 7.4 percent quarter-over-quarter to USD 6.7 billion, primarily due to the inclusion of MetroPCS results for the full quarter and higher equipment revenues due to record smartphone sales. Service revenues increased 8.0 percent on the same basis to USD 5.1 billion, and smartphone sales surged to 5.6 million units thanks to the launch of the iPhone. On a pro forma basis for the takeover of MetroPCS, revenues grew by 0.6 percent from Q2.
Branded postpaid ARPU decreased by USD 1.40 compared to Q2 to USD 52.20, as the number of customers on the lower-price Value and Simple Choice plans rose to 61 percent from 50 percent in the previous quarter. Prepaid ARPU dropped by USD 0.26 on a sequential, pro forma basis to USD 35.71.
Pro forma adjusted EBITDA improved by 6.2 percent over the second quarter to USD 1.3 billion, reflecting lower promotional spend and better control of subscriber acquisition and retention costs. Cash capital expenditure reached USD 1.0 billion in the quarter, and T-Mobile maintained its full-year outlook for spending of USD 5.2-5.4 billion. It also still expects adjusted EBITDA of USD 5.2-5.4 billion for the full year.
The operator said it will expand the MetroPCS brand to another 15 markets from November 21 and also continue to redeploy MetroPCS spectrum to reach 2x10 MHz for LTE in 40 of the top 50 markets by year-end.
