Sprint Corp, the No. 3 U.S. mobile provider on Tuesday reported fewer subscribers leaving than expected and strong tablet additions, as the company undergoes a massive network overhaul in a highly competitive market.
Sprint shares were up 7 percent, as the company cut costs to offset subscriber losses due to a network overhaul and competitor price cuts.
“Network is obviously a crucial foundation for being competitive,” Sprint's chief executive, Dan Hesse told analysts in a post-earnings call.
“We are beginning to see churn improvements after a few months but it takes longer to see improvements in gross adds,” he said.
The company, 80 percent owned by Japan's SoftBank Corp, said it lost 231,000 net postpaid subscribers in the first quarter, compared with Wall Street estimates of 244,000 losses. Yet excluding…