AT&T loses 191,000 postpaid phone subscribers in Q1

AT&T released its first quarter earnings report earlier today, and during the three-month period from January through March the company saw 191,000 postpaid phone subscribers leave. That compares to the 289,000 such customers that left Verizon during the same period. But most telling was the 798,000 postpaid phone subscribers added to T-Mobile's customer logs during the first three months of the year. Sprint is expected to show a gain of 100,000 postpaid phone subscribers for the period.

Revenue attributed to AT&T's wireless division declined 4.4% year-over-year to $17.2 billion, thanks to lower equipment and services revenue. Still, there were some positives. Postpaid phone churn was at a record low of .90%. Operating margins were a strong 30.1%. During the three months, 85% of postpaid phone subscribers were using a Mobile Share plan that does not offer a phone subsidy. 82% of all equipment upgrades and gross smartphone additions during the quarter came from sales made under AT&T's equipment installment program, including AT&T Next. That was up from the 80% of phone upgrades and gross additions that were related to an EIP during the first Quarter of 2016.

AT&T says that because it cannot predict handset sales in advance, it no longer will forecast revenue for future quarters. After the earnings were reported, the stock dropped 11 cents after-hours to $39.83

source: AT&T

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