T-Mobile adds fewer wireless subscribers than expected amid intense competition

Harshita Mary Varghese

Wed, February 11, 2026 at 9:40 PM GMT+9 2 min read

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By Harshita Mary Varghese

Feb 11 (Reuters) - T-Mobile (TMUS) added fewer wireless subscribers in the fourth quarter than analysts had expected, as rivals ‌extended aggressive deals and offers to lure customers.

Shares of the ‌company fell about 3.4% in premarket trading on Wednesday.

During the October-December period, telecom operators typically ​ramp up promotions around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, offering steep discounts on devices and plans to capitalize on holiday shopping.

Verizon, under its new CEO who has been working on the company’s turnaround, added its highest quarterly ‌wireless subscribers in six ⁠years during the fourth quarter, thanks to deals such as four phone lines for $100 per month.

“There was heightened device-centric ⁠competitiveness from one of our principal competitors, who was trying to get some headline post-paid phone growth,” T-Mobile finance chief Peter Osvaldik told Reuters.

T-Mobile still ​added 962,000 ​monthly-bill-paying phone customers in the quarter, ​the highest among the big ‌three U.S. wireless carriers. But the number fell short of the 981,330 additions expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

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The churn rate, the percentage of customers who discontinue service, stood at 1.02% for T-Mobile’s postpaid services, compared with 0.92% a year earlier.

Total revenue came in at $24.33 billion, compared with ‌estimates of $24.11 billion, according to data compiled ​by LSEG.

This was helped by more customers ​opting for T-Mobile’s premium ​plans that bundled subscriptions for Netflix and Hulu.

“We continue to ‌see new customer accounts… taking ​our premium plans at ​60% take rates,” Osvaldik said.

T-Mobile projected annual adjusted free cash flow between $18 billion and $18.70 billion, below analysts’ average expectation of $18.90 billion, according ​to Visible Alpha.

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The ‌cash flow guidance was likely impacted by higher integration costs related ​to the company’s merger with UScellular.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese ​in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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