T-Mobile Adds 1.4 Mil Customers With Cheaper Plans

T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) late Monday said it added a better-than-expected 1.4 million postpaid subscribers in Q3 and raised full-year customer targets. The No. 4 U.S. wireless operator’s cheaper ‘Un-Carrier’ plans are attracting customers, though at the expense of its bottom line and the entire industry.

T-Mobile, 67%-owned by Deutsche Telekom (OTCPK:DTEGY) widened its loss to 12 cents a share vs. 5 cents a year earlier. Revenue rose 10% to $7.35 billion.

T-Mobile now expects to add 4.3 million to 4.7 million net new branded postpaid customers in 2014. It had said it expected to add 3 million to 3.5 million.

T-Mobile gained 2.3 million customers overall in Q3, significantly more than many of its rivals.

“Despite our competitors’ best efforts, the Un-carrier revolution made huge advances in the third quarter with record net new customers,” said John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile. “More proof of the resurgent strength of our brand and the massive momentum behind the Un-carrier consumer movement.”

The wireless operator has used lower-priced plans and incentives as large as $650 to woo customers from rival operators.

AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and Sprint (NYSE:S) have had to cut prices to try to keep pace. AT&T and Verizon reported weaker-than-expected earnings. earlier this month.

Also fueling subscriber growth in Q3 and the rest of the year is the new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 P

T-Mobile shares closed down 0.5% to 27.99 on the stock market today, ahead of the Q3 report.

Follow Ed Carson Low on Twitter at @IBD_ECarson.