T-Mobile USA reported their 2012 1st Quarter earnings today as well as parent company Deutshe Telekom.  Surprising to some is that they had an increase of 187,000 customers. Didn’t surprise me since Magenta is just that amazing. That increase might not seem as much but after a net loss of 526,000 customers last quarter, it’s a welcome increase for the company.

Most of the gain comes from prepaid customers. As of now T-Mobile has around 33.4 million customers, up from 33.2 million at the end of 2011′s 4th quarter. You think T-Mobile has it in them to make a comeback even after dropping so many customers? Let us know in the comments.

Source: TmoNews

Press Release:

“In the first quarter, T-Mobile USA delivered strong performance across several key metrics – adding customers, increasing branded ARPUs year-on-year and effectively managing costs to deliver a solid adjusted OIBDA margin. While branded contract churn remains a focus, in the first quarter of 2012 we achieved our lowest level in seven quarters,” said Philipp Humm, CEO and President of T-Mobile USA. “In just a short time since the December breakup of the AT&T deal, T-Mobile USA has redefined and restarted our Challenger Strategy including phase one of a major brand re-launch to redefine T-Mobile in the marketplace.”

T-Mobile USA Challenger Highlights

T-Mobile USA has made considerable progress in executing against the reinvigorated Challenger Strategy, which was announced in February 2012.  Most significant is progress against the newly announced $4 billion network modernization and 4G evolution effort, which will further improve existing voice and data coverage and pave the way for long term evolution (“LTE”) service in 2013.  Already this year, T-Mobile USA has entered into a spectrum exchange agreement with Leap Wireless International, Inc. and secured key AWS spectrum licenses from AT&T, which were agreed to as part of the breakup of the proposed merger between the two companies.  More recently, T-Mobile USA signed agreements with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks to deploy state-of-the-art LTE-capable equipment at 37,000 cell sites in 2012 and 2013.

Other investment areas core to T-Mobile USA’s Challenger Strategy include continued retail expansion as well as an increased investment in the brand. So far this year, the Company has expanded its branded distribution, adding 115 new branded dealers and earned Wal-Mart’s 2011 “Supplier of the Year” award in both the Wireless category and the overall Entertainment Division.

The company also unveiled phase-one of a brand re-launch program, introducing a new ad campaign that encourages customers to Test Drive T-Mobile USA’s competitive 4G experience.

Additionally, the Company continued to expand its portfolio of compelling 4G smartphones in the first quarter. T-Mobile USA became the first U.S. carrier to offer a Nokia Windows® Phone, the affordable, 4G-capable Nokia Lumia 710, and launched the 42 Mbps-capable Samsung Galaxy S® Blaze™ 4G.  In April 2012, T-Mobile USA launched the 42 Mbps-capable HTC One™ S.