Cingular subscriber adds 50% below expectations

Although Cingular Wireless recorded gains in revenue and cash flow in the fourth quarter, the carrier added only 325,000 net new customers--significantly less than Wall Street estimates of about 700,000.

The second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., Cingular increased it customer base increased to 21.6 million at the end of the year, up from 19.7 million one year earlier. However, some industry analysts have said that it has become more challenging for carriers such as Cingular to add net new subscribers as its customer base has increased, because it must add more customers to offset the number of customers whose service is discontinued.

Cingular’s cash flow rose to $1.05 billion from $853 million a year ago, and revenues rose to $3.64 billion from $3.25 billion a year ago.

--Kelly Carroll, staff writer