Three U.S. Cellcos Report Big Subscriber Increases

After Cingular reported earlier this week almost two million new subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2005, the other three largest U.S. cellular operators Thursday reported similar increases.

In quarterly financial reports, T-Mobile USA reported 1.4 million new customers for the fourth quarter of 2005 and Verizon Wireless reported two million new subscribers. Sprint has said it will release its quarterly and full-year results on February 22.

The preliminary results of the quarter, however, mean that Cingular remains the largest cellular carrier in the U.S. with 54.1 million subscribers. Verizon Wireless is in second place with more than 51 million subscribers followed closely by Sprint and T-Mobile a more distant fourth.