Sprint posts $29.5B Q4 loss, debuts Simply Everything plan

Sprint Nextel posted a $29.5 billion fourth quarter loss, the fifth-largest decline among Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies since 1990. Fourth quarter revenues were $8.5 billion, a 2 percent sequential decline and a 6 percent slump from the fourth quarter of 2006; data revenues grew 12 percent sequentially and 26 percent year-over-year. Sprint's wireless unit posted 53.8 million total subscribers at the end of 2007, with postpaid subscriber counts down 1.2 million. By year's end, Sprint Nextel served roughly 35 million subscribers on its CDMA platform, 17.3 million on iDEN and 1.4 million PowerSource subscribers spanning both platforms.

According to Sprint, postpaid ARPU was slightly above $58 in the quarter, compared to $59 in Q3 and a little more than $60 a year ago. The decline reflects lower voice revenues, offset somewhat by increased data revenues: Data contributed more than $11 to overall post-paid ARPU in the quarter. Data ARPU on the postpaid CDMA base was more than $14, an increase of 21 percent from the year-ago period, and contributed more than $5 to iDEN ARPU, a year-over-year increase of 10 percent.

"The fourth quarter financial results reflect the challenges facing our wireless business," said Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse in a prepared statement. "We are making significant changes across the organization in an effort to improve execution, stabilize our customer base and deliver on the opportunity provided by our assets. Given current deteriorating business conditions, which are more difficult than what I had expected to encounter, these changes will take time to produce improved operating performance, and our near-term subscriber and financial results will continue to be pressured."

In related news, Sprint announced it will launch Simply Everything, a domestic pricing plan giving subscribers unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, web surfing, Sprint TV, Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect for $99.99 per month. Sprint becomes the first of the four major U.S. operators to include both voice, data and multimedia services together under the same all-you-can-eat plan. Hesse: "All major carriers have good voice networks. Our network is about more than voice and more than just being the largest wireless data network. It is about allowing customers to connect with people, information and entertainment. It is about simplicity, usability and real value. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan eliminates overage surprises and provides a worry-free environment."

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