T-Mobile adds 1.8 million customers, results slightly beat

(Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc reported first quarter results that slightly beat expectations as the wireless company added 1.8 million net customers and users defected to other networks at a lower rate.

The fourth-largest wireless carrier in the United States has turned around years of subscriber losses with aggressive campaigns and discounts in recent quarters.

In the latest quarter, it added 1.1 million postpaid customers who pay for service after use. It said postpaid churn, the rate at which users switch to other networks, was at a record low of 1.3 percent, down from 1.7 percent in the previous quarter.

For 2015, the company said it expects to add postpaid users in the range of 3 million to 3.5 million, up from its previous guidance in the range of 2.2 million to 3.2 million.

In 2013, T-Mobile started to turn the corner through savvy marketing and well-publicized wireless plans.

The company, which bills itself as the "Uncarrier", has launched a series of promotions including offering to pay the early termination fees for customers switching from other carriers and letting users roll over unused wireless data each month.

T-Mobile revenue rose 13.1 percent to $7.8 billion. This beat analysts' estimates of $7.7 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company reported a first-quarter loss of 9 cents per share, versus a loss of 19 cents a year earlier. The latest result was better than analysts' expectations of a loss of 10 cents per share.

T-mobile shares were relatively unchanged in pre-market trading after closing at $34.06 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Malathi Nayak in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Chris Reese)

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