Spend a little, earn a little

You've heard the saying before: You have to spend money to make money. It's one of those tired old business adages usually followed by a pitch to buy Amway products. But in the case of wireless carriers, it still rings very true. In fact, you could even get more specific: You have to spend $103 per new customer to make money. This year, $103 was the average handset subsidy U.S. carriers coughed up between June and September to make their less-than-stellar third-quarter subscriber growth numbers, according to Kagan World Media. The good news is it's getting cheaper. Last year's average was $104 for the third quarter.