T-Mobile posts strong 3Q numbers

NEW ORLEANS-T-Mobile USA, as expected, added a healthy number of net subscribers in the third quarter, announcing 869,000 net new adds. Analysts had expected as much in light of the aggressive pricing promotions the company launched in California during the quarter.

Neville Ray, senior vice president of engineering and operations with T-Mobile, told attendees of this week’s Tower Summit, that T-Mobile would continue its strong capital expenditure pattern throughout 2003. He predicted the company would add around 3000 new cell sites in 2003.

“We reached national scale, but we will be working hard on filling out our footprint in 2003,” he said. “2003 will be a big year for us.”

T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, also announced that T-Mobile is not for sale. Rumors in recent months have indicated that T-Mobile might enter into some sort of joint venture with other U.S. GSM operators or merge with either AT&T Wireless or Cingular Wireless.

“I can understand every reason why AT&T and Cingular wants us,” said Ray. “We’re rich in spectrum and have a nationwide GSM footprint.”