T-Mobile today reported a fourth-quarter operating income of $1.38 billion, down from $1.57 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008.  The nation's fourth largest wireless carrier added 371,000 net subscribers in the fourth quarter, up from 77,000 losses in the third quarter of 2009.  Wireless retail postpaid churn came in at 2.5 percent, while total blended churn (combining postpaid and prepaid) was 3.3 percent.  Total data ARPU (average revenue per user) stood at $10.20 in the fourth quarter, up from $9.30 in the prior year.  At the end of the year, T-Mobile served 33.8 million subscribers, up from 32.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter in 2008.

“T-Mobile USA delivered on two significant objectives in 2009. The first was to achieve national scale with a high-quality 3G network offering. This was realized in the fourth quarter of 2009 with more than 200 million people now covered across the country. The second was to launch our first HSPA+ market. The successful launch of T-Mobile HSPA+ in Philadelphia now serves as the model for a national roll-out of one of the fastest and most pervasive networks in the United States,” said Robert Dotson, President and CEO, T-Mobile USA.

On a rather interesting note, contract customers comprised 79 percent of T-Mobile's total customer base at the end of 2009, compared to 82 percent at the same time in 2008.  The carrier's HSPA rollouts, combined with the new price structure of Even More and Even More Plus, will inevitably bring additional subscribers to the carrier as we move into 2010.  With the wireless market nearly saturated, individuals are either picking up a second device or hopping between wireless carriers.

T-Mobile customer?  Potential T-Mobile customer?  Give us a shout in the comments!