Metro PCS, the small but highly successful prepaid subscriber has announced its intention to alter its “wireless for all” campaign to “LTE for all.” LightSquared, the booming wireless infrastructure provider, is being considered to play the role of partner in Metro’s newest endeavor. However, Metro has made it clear that they are willing to look at spectrums from any number of sources, including AT&T, which is being forced to divest spectrum as a result of its impending 2012 merger with T-Mobile.
“As data requirements continue to expand, we are interested in opportunistic spectrum acquisitions and we’re evaluating all sources,” said MetroPCS Chairman, President and CEO Roger Linquist. “I don’t think there’s an exhaust time where we simply don’t have more capacity, but I’d expect that in a couple years, spectrum additions will be needed for us to continue growth.”
This announcement occurred in the wake of reports of astronomical success for Metro PCS, as they posted profits that have more than doubled in the first quarter of 2011, which were $56 million up from $23 million last year. Metro’s sales increased 23% to $1.2 billion. The company added 725 thousand new subscribers, significantly trumping industry analysts’ predictions of 440 thousand new subscribers and hiking their customer base up to 8.9 million people. The carrier’s new low priced Android Smartphones have been credited with this wave of good fortune. Metro controls 1.7% of the US market share.
Metro PCS now hopes to capitalize on this achievement by providing “LTE for ALL”, and it will likely succeed.
