Document
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
| |
x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018
or
| |
¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number: 1-33409
T-MOBILE US, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
|
| | |
DELAWARE | | 20-0836269 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
12920 SE 38th Street, Bellevue, Washington | | 98006-1350 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | (Zip Code) |
(425) 378-4000 |
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: |
Title of Each Class | | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered |
Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share | | The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None. |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No ¨Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer ¨
Non-accelerated filer ¨ Smaller reporting company ¨
Emerging growth company ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No x
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.
As of June 30, 2018, the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates was $18.3 billion based on the closing sale price as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. As of February 4, 2019, there were 850,221,464 shares of common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K will be incorporated by reference from certain portions of the definitive Proxy Statement for the Registrant’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which definitive Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A or will be included in an amendment to this Report.
T-Mobile US, Inc.
Form 10-K
For the Year Ended December 31, 2018
Table of Contents
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”) includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including information concerning our future results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “could” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The following important factors, along with the Risk Factors included in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K, could affect future results and cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements:
| |
• | the failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals for the merger (the “Merger”) with Sprint Corporation (“Sprint”), pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement with Sprint and other parties therein (the “Business Combination Agreement”) and the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (collectively, the “Transactions”), and the risk that such approvals may result in the imposition of conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the Transactions, or the failure to satisfy any of the other conditions to the Transactions on a timely basis or at all; |
| |
• | the occurrence of events that may give rise to a right of one or both of the parties to terminate the Business Combination Agreement; |
| |
• | adverse effects on the market price of our common stock or on our operating results because of a failure to complete the Merger in the anticipated timeframe or at all; |
| |
• | inability to obtain the financing contemplated to be obtained in connection with the Transactions on the expected terms or timing or at all; |
| |
• | the ability of us, Sprint and the combined company to make payments on debt or to repay existing or future indebtedness when due or to comply with the covenants contained therein; |
| |
• | adverse changes in the ratings of our or Sprint’s debt securities or adverse conditions in the credit markets; |
| |
• | negative effects of the announcement, pendency or consummation of the Transactions on the market price of our common stock and on our or Sprint’s operating results, including as a result of changes in key customer, supplier, employee or other business relationships; |
| |
• | significant costs related to the Transactions, including financing costs and unknown liabilities of Sprint or that may arise; |
| |
• | failure to realize the expected benefits and synergies of the Transactions in the expected timeframes or at all; |
| |
• | costs or difficulties related to the integration of Sprint’s network and operations into our network and operations; |
| |
• | the risk of litigation or regulatory actions related to the Transactions; |
| |
• | the inability of us, Sprint or the combined company to retain and hire key personnel; |
| |
• | the risk that certain contractual restrictions contained in the Business Combination Agreement during the pendency of the Transactions could adversely affect our or Sprint’s ability to pursue business opportunities or strategic transactions; |
| |
• | adverse economic or political conditions in the U.S. and international markets; |
| |
• | competition, industry consolidation, and changes in the market for wireless services, which could negatively affect our ability to attract and retain customers; |
| |
• | the effects of any future merger, investment, or acquisition involving us, as well as the effects of mergers, investments, or acquisitions in the technology, media and telecommunications industry; |
| |
• | challenges in implementing our business strategies or funding our operations, including payment for additional spectrum or network upgrades; |
| |
• | the possibility that we may be unable to renew our spectrum licenses on attractive terms or acquire new spectrum licenses at reasonable costs and terms; |
| |
• | difficulties in managing growth in wireless data services, including network quality; |
| |
• | material changes in available technology and the effects of such changes, including product substitutions and deployment costs and performance; |
| |
• | the timing, scope and financial impact of our deployment of advanced network and business technologies; |
| |
• | the impact on our networks and business from major technology equipment failures; |
| |
• | breaches of our and/or our third-party vendors’ networks, information technology (“IT”) and data security, resulting in unauthorized access to customer confidential information; |
| |
• | natural disasters, terrorist attacks or similar incidents; |
| |
• | unfavorable outcomes of existing or future litigation; |
| |
• | any changes in the regulatory environments in which we operate, including any increase in restrictions on the ability to operate our networks and changes in data privacy laws; |
| |
• | any disruption or failure of our third parties’ or key suppliers’ provisioning of products or services; |
| |
• | material adverse changes in labor matters, including labor campaigns, negotiations or additional organizing activity, and any resulting financial, operational and/or reputational impact; |
| |
• | changes in accounting assumptions that regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), may require, which could result in an impact on earnings; |
| |
• | changes in tax laws, regulations and existing standards and the resolution of disputes with any taxing jurisdictions; |
| |
• | the possibility that the reset process under our trademark license results in changes to the royalty rates for our trademarks; |
| |
• | the possibility that we may be unable to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or be accused of infringing the intellectual property rights of others; |
| |
• | our business, investor confidence in our financial results and stock price may be adversely affected if our internal controls are not effective; and |
| |
• | interests of a majority stockholder may differ from the interests of other stockholders. |
Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. In this Form 10-K, unless the context indicates otherwise, references to “T-Mobile,” “T-Mobile US,” “our Company,” “the Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to T-Mobile US, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Investors and others should note that we announce material financial and operational information to our investors using our investor relations website, press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. We intend to also use the @TMobileIR Twitter account (https://twitter.com/TMobileIR) and the @JohnLegere Twitter (https://twitter.com/JohnLegere), Facebook and Periscope accounts, which Mr. Legere also uses as means for personal communications and observations, as means of disclosing information about us and our services and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The information we post through these social media channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor these social media channels in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. The social media channels that we intend to use as a means of disclosing the information described above may be updated from time to time as listed on our investor relations website.
PART I.
Item 1. Business
Business Overview and Strategy
Un-carrier Strategy
We are the Un-carrier. Through our Un-carrier strategy, we’ve disrupted the wireless communication services industry by listening to our customers and providing them with added value and an exceptional experience, including implementing signature initiatives that changed the wireless industry forever. We ended annual service contracts, overages, unpredictable international roaming fees, data buckets and more. Customer response to our Un-carrier strategy has allowed us to grow into the third largest wireless provider in the United States. We will continue our relentless focus on customers and are determined to bring the Un-carrier to every potential customer in the United States.
Our relentless focus on customer experience through increased investment in network expansion, customer care, distribution expansion, and digital initiatives has strengthened our customer growth and increased customer retention and satisfaction, including the growing success of new customer segments and rate plans such as T-Mobile ONE 55+, T-Mobile ONE Military, T-Mobile for Business and T-Mobile Essentials as well as continued growth in existing and Greenfield markets. We continue to invest and innovate in these areas to deliver our customers the best value in the industry. Everything we do is powered by our nationwide 4G Long-Term Evolution (“LTE”) network, and we are rapidly preparing for the next generation of 5G services. Going forward, it is this network that will allow us to deliver innovative new products and services with the same customer focused and industry disrupting mentality that has redefined wireless service in the United States.
History
T-Mobile USA, Inc. (“T-Mobile USA”), a Delaware corporation, was formed in 1994 as VoiceStream Wireless PCS (“VoiceStream”), a subsidiary of Western Wireless Corporation (“Western Wireless”). VoiceStream was spun off from Western Wireless in 1999, acquired by Deutsche Telekom AG (“DT”) in 2001 and renamed T-Mobile USA, Inc. in 2002.
In 2013, T-Mobile US, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was formed through the business combination of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (“MetroPCS”). The business combination was accounted for as a reverse acquisition with T-Mobile USA as the accounting acquirer. Accordingly, T-Mobile USA’s historical financial statements became the historical financial statements of the combined company.
In September 2018, we announced the rebranding of our prepaid brand, MetroPCS, as Metro™ by T-Mobile.
Business
We provide wireless services to 79.7 million postpaid, prepaid and wholesale customers and generate revenue by providing affordable wireless communication services to these customers, as well as a wide selection of wireless devices and accessories. Our most significant expenses relate to acquiring and retaining high-quality customers, providing a full range of devices, compensating employees, and operating and expanding our network. We provide service, devices and accessories across our flagship brands, T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile, through our owned and operated retail stores, as well as through our websites (www.T-Mobile.com and www.MetroPCS.com) and customer care channels. In addition, we sell devices to dealers and other third-party distributors for resale through independent third-party retail outlets and a variety of third-party websites. The information on our websites is not part of this Form 10-K. See Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional information.
In 2018, we completed the acquisition of television innovator Layer3 TV, Inc. (“Layer3 TV”). This transaction represented an opportunity to acquire a complementary service to our existing wireless service to advance our video strategy. For more information, see Note 2 – Business Combinations of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
On April 29, 2018, we entered into the Business Combination Agreement with Sprint to merge in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will be named “T-Mobile,” and as a result of the Merger, is expected to be able to rapidly launch a nationwide 5G network, accelerate innovation and increase competition in the U.S. wireless, video and broadband industries. The Merger is subject to regulatory approvals and certain other customary closing conditions. We expect to receive regulatory approval in the first half of 2019. For more information regarding our Business Combination Agreement, see Note 2 – Business Combinations of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Customers
We provide wireless communication services to three primary categories of customers:
| |
• | Branded postpaid customers generally include customers who are qualified to pay after receiving wireless communication services utilizing phones, DIGITS or connected devices which includes tablets, wearables and SyncUp DRIVE™; |
| |
• | Branded prepaid customers generally include customers who pay for wireless communication services in advance. Our branded prepaid customers include customers of T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile; and |
| |
• | Wholesale customers include Machine-to-Machine (“M2M”) and Mobile Virtual Network Operator (“MVNO”) customers that operate on our network but are managed by wholesale partners. |
We generate the majority of our service revenues by providing wireless communication services to branded postpaid and branded prepaid customers. Our ability to acquire and retain branded postpaid and prepaid customers is important to our business in the generation of service revenues, equipment revenues and other revenues. In 2018, our service revenues generated by providing wireless communication services by customer category were:
| |
• | 65% Branded postpaid customers; |
| |
• | 30% Branded prepaid customers; and |
| |
• | 5% Wholesale customers and Roaming and other services. |
All of our revenues for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016 were earned in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Services and Products
We provide wireless communication services through a variety of service plan options. We also offer a wide selection of wireless devices, including smartphones, tablets and other mobile communication devices, which are manufactured by various suppliers.
Our primary service plan offering, which allows customers to subscribe for wireless communication services separately from the purchase of a device is our T-Mobile ONE plan (“T-Mobile ONE”), which includes:
| |
• | Unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited high-speed 4G LTE data on their device, where monthly wireless service fees and sales taxes are included in the advertised monthly recurring charge; |
| |
• | Video that typically streams at DVD (480p) quality and tethering is at maximum 3G speeds; |
| |
• | The ability for customers to keep their price for service until they decide to change it; |
| |
• | The ability for qualifying T-Mobile ONE customers on family plans to opt in for a standard monthly Netflix service plan at no additional cost; and |
| |
• | The ability for customers to choose to add on additional features for an additional cost on T-Mobile ONE Plus, where customers also receive: |
| |
• | Unlimited high definition video streaming; |
| |
• | 20 GB of high-speed 4G LTE tethering; |
| |
• | Voicemail to Text, NameID and unlimited Gogo in-flight internet passes on capable domestic flights; and |
| |
• | Up to two times faster speeds when traveling abroad in 210+ countries and destinations. |
Depending on their credit profile, customers are qualified either for postpaid or prepaid service.
Our device options for customers on T-Mobile ONE, and previously on Simple Choice plans, include:
| |
• | for qualifying customers, depending on their credit profile, the option of financing all or a portion of the device purchase price at the time of sale over an installment period of up to 36 months using an EIP. |
| |
• | for qualifying customers who finance their initial device with an EIP, an option to enroll in our Just Upgrade My Phone (“JUMP!®”) program to later upgrade their device. Upon a qualifying JUMP! upgrade, the customer’s remaining EIP balance is settled provided they trade-in their used device at the time of upgrade in good working condition and purchase a new device from us on a new EIP. |
| |
• | JUMP! On Demand™ includes a low monthly payment that covers the cost of leasing a new device and gives qualified customers the freedom to exchange it for a new device up to one time per month for no extra fee. Upon device upgrade or at lease end, customers must return their device in good working condition or purchase their device. Customers that choose to purchase their device have the option to finance their device over a nine-month EIP. |
Network
We continue to expand the footprint and increase the capacity of our network to better serve our customers. Our advancements in network technology and our spectrum resources ensure we can continue to increase the capabilities of our 4G LTE network as we prepare for our nationwide deployment of 5G.
Spectrum Growth
We provide wireless communication services utilizing mid-band spectrum licenses, such as Advanced Wireless Services (“AWS”) and Personal Communications Service (“PCS”), and low-band spectrum licenses utilizing our 600 MHz and 700 MHz spectrum.
| |
• | We owned an average of 110 MHz of spectrum nationwide as of December 31, 2018, comprised of an average of 31 MHz in the 600 MHz band, 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band, 29 MHz in the 1900 MHz PCS band and 40 MHz in the AWS band. We also own millimeter wave spectrum that comprises an average of 264 MHz covering over 110 million points of presence (“POPs”) in the 28 GHz band and 105 MHz covering nearly 45 million POPs in the 39 GHz band. |
We will evaluate future spectrum purchases in current and upcoming auctions and in the secondary market to augment our current spectrum position.
| |
• | As of December 31, 2018, we owned a nationwide average of 31 MHz of 600 MHz low-band spectrum. We now own approximately 41 MHz of low-band spectrum (600 MHz and 700 MHz), covering 100% of the U.S. |
| |
• | We are building out 5G across the US, including deployment in six of the top 10 markets, including New York and Los Angeles, in 2018. This network will be ready for the introduction of the first standards-based 5G smartphones in 2019. We plan on the delivery of a nationwide standards-based network next year. |
| |
• | In 2018, we entered into two multi-year contracts that will support the deployment of a nationwide 5G network. In July 2018, we and Nokia entered into a multi-year $3.5 billion contract for Nokia to provide us with complete end-to-end 5G technology, software and services. In September 2018, we and Ericsson announced a multi-year $3.5 billion contract in which Ericsson will provide us with the latest 5G New Radio hardware and software compliant with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) standards. |
| |
• | We have started deployment of 600 MHz spectrum on an aggressive schedule. As of December 31, 2018, we were live in more than 2,700 cities and towns in 43 states and Puerto Rico covering hundreds of thousands of square miles. Combining 600 and 700 MHz spectrum, we have deployed low band spectrum to 301 million POPs. |
| |
• | We have actively engaged with broadcasters to accelerate the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) spectrum clearance timelines, entering into 95 agreements with several parties. These agreements are expected to, in aggregate, accelerate clearing, bringing the total clearing target to approximately 272 million POPs by year-end 2019. As of December 31, 2018, we had cleared approximately 135 million POPs. We remain committed to assisting broadcasters occupying 600 MHz spectrum to move to new frequencies. |
| |
• | We currently have 29 devices compatible with 600 MHz including the latest iPhone generation. |
| |
• | We expect our 600 MHz spectrum holdings will be used to deploy America’s first nationwide standards-based 5G network next year. 600 MHz 4G LTE radios are software upgradeable to support 5G as it becomes available later this year. |
| |
• | We intend to opportunistically acquire spectrum licenses in private party transactions and future FCC spectrum license auctions. |
Network Coverage Growth
| |
• | We continue to expand our coverage breadth and, as of December 31, 2018, covered more than 325 million people with 4G LTE. |
| |
• | As of December 31, 2018, we had equipment deployed on approximately 64,000 macro towers and 21,000 distributed antenna system (“DAS”) and small cell sites. We remain on plan to roll out approximately 20,000 small cells through 2019. |
Network Speed Leadership
We offer the fastest nationwide 4G LTE upload and download speeds in the United States. The fourth quarter of 2018 is the 20th consecutive quarter we have led the industry in both categories based on the results of millions of user-generated speed tests.
Network Capacity Growth
We continue to expand our capacity through the re-farming of existing spectrum and implementation of new technologies including Voice over LTE (“VoLTE”), Carrier Aggregation, 4x4 multiple-input and multiple-output (“MIMO”), 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (“QAM”) and Licensed Assisted Access (“LAA”).
| |
• | VoLTE comprised 87% of total voice calls as of December 31, 2018, compared to 80% as of December 31, 2017. Moving voice traffic to VoLTE frees up spectrum and allows for the transition of spectrum currently used for 2G and 3G to 4G LTE. We are leading the U.S. wireless industry in the rate of VoLTE adoption. |
| |
• | Carrier aggregation is live for our customers in 923 markets. This advanced technology delivers superior speed and |
performance by bonding multiple discrete spectrum channels together.
| |
• | 4x4 MIMO is currently available in 564 markets. This technology effectively delivers twice the speed and incremental network capacity to customers by doubling the number of data paths between the cell site and a customer's device. We started deploying massive MIMO (FD-capable and 5G with future software upgrades) in selected locations in late 2018. |
| |
• | We have rolled out 256 QAM in 988 markets. 256 QAM increases the number of bits delivered per transmission to enable faster speeds. We are the first carrier globally to have rolled out the combination of carrier aggregation, 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM. This trifecta of standards has been rolled out to more than 500 markets. |
| |
• | We have also started rolling out LAA, a technology which utilizes unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum to augment available bandwidth. The first LAA small cell went live in New York City in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the technology has since been rolled out to nearly 1,700 cell sites, the vast majority being small cells. Deployments of LAA have also commenced in 28 cities including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Houston, Las Vegas, San Diego and New Orleans. In areas where LAA has been deployed, customers with capable handsets have observed real-life speeds in excess of 500 Mbps. |
| |
• | In July 2018, we launched our Narrowband Internet of Things (“NB-IoT”) service nationwide, making us the first to launch NB-IoT in the U.S. and the first in the world to launch NB-IoT in the guard bands for improved efficiency. Built on the 3GPP standard, NB-IoT is a low power, wide area network LTE-advanced technology that provides a pathway to 5G Internet of Things and enables many comparable benefits like low power usage, long battery life and low device cost. |
Competition
The wireless telecommunications industry is highly competitive. We are the third largest provider of postpaid service plans and the largest provider of prepaid service plans in the U.S. as measured by customers. Our competitors include other national carriers, such as AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”), Verizon Communications, Inc. (“Verizon”) and Sprint. AT&T and Verizon are significantly larger than us and enjoy greater resources and scale advantages as compared to us. In addition, our competitors include numerous smaller regional carriers, existing mobile virtual network operators (“MVNOs”), including TracFone Wireless, Inc., Comcast Corporation (“Comcast”) and Charter Communications, Inc., and future MVNOs, such as Altice USA, Inc., many of which offer or plan to offer no-contract, postpaid and prepaid service plans. Competitors also include providers who offer similar communication services, such as voice, messaging and data services, using alternative technologies or services. Competitive factors within the wireless telecommunications industry include pricing, market saturation, service and product offerings, customer experience, network investment and quality, development and deployment of technologies, availability of additional spectrum licenses and regulatory changes. Some competitors have shown a willingness to use aggressive pricing as a source of differentiation. Other competitors have sought to add ancillary services, like mobile video, to enhance their offerings. Taken together, the competitive factors we face continue to put pressure on growth and margins as companies compete to retain the current customer base and continue to add new customers.
Employees
As of December 31, 2018, we employed approximately 52,000 full-time and part-time employees, including network, retail, administrative and customer support functions.
Regulation
The FCC regulates many key aspects of our business, including licensing, construction, the operation and use of our network, modifications of our network, control and ownership of our licenses and authorizations, the sale, transfer and acquisition of certain licenses, domestic roaming arrangements and interconnection agreements, pursuant to its authority under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (“Communications Act”). The FCC has a number of complex requirements and proceedings that affect our operations and that could increase our costs or diminish our revenues. For example, the FCC has rules regarding provision of 911 and E-911 services, porting telephone numbers, interconnection, roaming, internet openness or net neutrality, disabilities access, privacy and cybersecurity, consumer protection, and the universal service and Lifeline programs. Many of these and other issues are being considered in ongoing proceedings, and we cannot predict whether or how such actions will affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Our ability to provide services and generate revenues could be harmed by adverse regulatory action or changes to existing laws and regulations. In addition, regulation of companies that offer competing services can impact our business indirectly.
Wireless communications providers must be licensed by the FCC to provide communications services at specified spectrum frequencies within specified geographic areas and must comply with the rules and policies governing the use of the spectrum as
adopted by the FCC. The FCC issues each license for a fixed period of time, typically 10-15 years depending on the particular licenses. While the FCC has generally renewed licenses given to operating companies like us, the FCC has authority to both revoke a license for cause and to deny a license renewal if a renewal is not in the public interest. Furthermore, we could be subject to fines, forfeitures and other penalties for failure to comply with FCC regulations, even if any such non-compliance was unintentional. In extreme cases, penalties can include revocation of our licenses. The loss of any licenses, or any related fines or forfeitures, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Additionally, Congress’ and the FCC’s allocation of additional spectrum for broadband commercial mobile radio service (“CMRS”), which includes cellular, PCS, miscellaneous wireless services and specialized mobile radio, could significantly increase competition. We cannot assess the impact that any developments that may occur in the U.S. economy or any future spectrum allocations by the FCC may have on license values. FCC spectrum auctions and other market developments may adversely affect the market value of our licenses in the future. A significant decline in the value of our licenses could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the FCC periodically reviews its policies on how to evaluate carriers’ spectrum holdings. A change in these policies could affect spectrum resources and competition among us and other carriers.
Congress and the FCC have imposed limitations on foreign ownership of CMRS licensees that exceed 20% direct ownership or 25% indirect ownership. The FCC has ruled that higher levels of indirect foreign ownership, even up to 100%, are presumptively consistent with the public interest albeit subject to review. Consistent with that established policy, the FCC has issued a declaratory ruling authorizing up to 100% ownership of our Company by DT. This declaratory ruling, and our licenses, are conditioned on DT’s and the Company’s compliance with a network security agreement with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security. Failure to comply with the terms of this agreement could result in fines, injunctions and other penalties, including potential revocation of our spectrum licenses.
While the Communications Act generally preempts state and local governments from regulating the entry of, or the rates charged by, wireless communication providers, certain state and local governments regulate other terms and conditions of wireless service, including billing, termination of service arrangements and the imposition of early termination fees, advertising, network outages, the use of devices while driving, zoning and land use. Additionally, after the FCC’s adoption of the 2017 “Restoring Internet Freedom” Order, a number of states have sought to impose state-specific net neutrality and privacy requirements on providers’ broadband services. The FCC ruling broadly preempts such state efforts, which are inconsistent with the FCC’s federal deregulatory approach, and there are pending court challenges that will determine if such state enactments are lawful. While most states are largely seeking to codify the repealed federal rules, there are differences in some states, notably California, which has passed separate privacy and net neutrality legislation. There are efforts on the Hill to push for federal legislation to codify uniform federal privacy and net neutrality requirements, while also ensuring the preemption of separate state requirements, including the California laws. If not rescinded, separate state requirements will impose significant business costs and could also result in increased litigation costs and enforcement risks. State authority over wireless broadband services will remain unsettled until final action by the courts or Congress.
In addition, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and other federal agencies have jurisdiction over some consumer protection and elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices with respect to the provision of non-common carrier services. Further, the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration regulate the siting, lighting and construction of transmitter towers and antennae. Tower siting and construction are also subject to state and local zoning, as well as federal statutes regarding environmental and historic preservation. The future costs to comply with all relevant regulations are to some extent unknown and changes to regulations, or the applicability of regulations, could result in higher operating and capital expenses, or reduced revenues in the future.
Available Information
The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically at www.sec.gov. Our Form 10-K and all other reports and amendments filed with or furnished to the SEC are also publicly available free of charge on the investor relations section of our website at investor.t-mobile.com as soon as reasonably practicable after these materials are filed with or furnished to the SEC. Our corporate governance guidelines, code of ethics for senior financial officers, code of business conduct, and charters for the audit, compensation, nominating and corporate governance and executive committees of our Board of Directors are also posted on the investor relations section of our website at investor.t-mobile.com. The information on our websites is not part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the other information contained in this Form 10-K, the following risk factors should be considered carefully in evaluating our Company. Our business, financial condition, liquidity, or operating results, as well as the price of our common stock and other securities, could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks.
Risks Related to Our Business and the Wireless Industry
Competition, industry consolidation, and changes in the market for wireless services could negatively affect our ability to attract and retain customers and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.
We have multiple wireless competitors, some of which have greater resources than us and compete for customers based principally on service/device offerings; price; network coverage, speed and quality and customer service. We expect market saturation to continue to cause the wireless industry’s customer growth rate to be moderate in comparison with historical growth rates, or possibly negative, leading to ongoing competition for customers. We also expect that our customers’ appetite for data services will place increasing demands on our network capacity. This competition and our capacity will continue to put pressure on pricing and margins as companies compete for potential customers. Our ability to compete will depend on, among other things, continued absolute and relative improvement in network quality and customer service, effective marketing and selling of products and services, innovation, attractive pricing, and cost management, all of which will involve significant expenses.
Joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances in the wireless sector have resulted in and are expected to result in larger competitors competing for a limited number of customers. The two largest national wireless communication providers currently serve a significant percentage of all wireless customers and hold significant spectrum and other resources. Our largest competitors may be able to enter into exclusive handset, device, or content arrangements, execute pervasive advertising and marketing campaigns, or otherwise improve their cost position relative to ours. In addition, refusal of our large competitors to provide critical access to resources and inputs, such as roaming services on reasonable terms could improve their position within the wireless broadband mobile services industry.
We face intense and increasing competition from other service providers as industry sectors converge, such as cable, telecom services and content, satellite, and other service providers. Companies like Comcast and AT&T (with acquisitions of DirecTV and Time Warner, Inc.) will have the scale and assets to aggressively compete in a converging industry. Verizon, through its acquisitions of AOL, Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. is also a significant competitor focusing on premium content offerings to diversify outside of core wireless. Further, some of our competitors now provide content services in addition to voice and broadband services, and consumers are increasingly accessing video content from Internet-based providers and applications, all of which create increased competition in this area. These factors, together with the effects of the increasing aggregate penetration of wireless services in all metropolitan areas and the ability of our larger competitors to use resources to build out their networks and to quickly deploy advanced technologies, such as 5G, could make it more difficult for us to continue to attract and retain customers, and may adversely affect our competitive position and ability to grow, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
The scarcity and cost of additional wireless spectrum, and regulations relating to spectrum use, may adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We will need to acquire additional spectrum in order to continue our customer growth, expand and deepen our coverage, maintain our quality of service, meet increasing customer demands and deploy new technologies. We will be at a competitive disadvantage and possibly experience erosion in the quality of service in certain markets if we fail to gain access to necessary spectrum before reaching network capacity. As a result, we are actively seeking to make additional investment in spectrum, which could be significant.
The continued interest in, and acquisition of, spectrum by existing carriers and others may reduce our ability to acquire and/or increase the cost of acquiring spectrum in the secondary market or negatively impact our ability to gain access to spectrum through other means, including government auctions. We may need to enter into spectrum sharing or leasing arrangements, which are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may involve significant expenditures. Gaining access to the spectrum we won in the FCC 600 MHz auction in 2017 may take up to three years or more. Any material delay could adversely impact our ability to implement our plans and efforts to improve our network. In addition, our return on investment in spectrum depends on our ability to attract additional customers and to provide additional services and usage to existing customers. As a result, the return on any investment in spectrum that we make may not be as much as we anticipate or take longer than
expected. Additionally, we may be unable to secure the spectrum we need in any auction we may elect to participate in or in the secondary market, on favorable terms or at all.
The FCC may impose conditions on the use of new wireless broadband mobile spectrum that may negatively impact our ability to obtain spectrum economically or in appropriate configurations or coverage areas. Additional conditions that may be imposed by the FCC include heightened build-out requirements, limited license terms or renewal rights, and clearing obligations that may make it less attractive or less economical to acquire spectrum. In addition, rules may be established for future government spectrum auctions that may negatively impact our ability to obtain spectrum economically or in appropriate configurations or coverage areas.
If we cannot acquire needed spectrum from the government or otherwise, if competitors acquire spectrum that will allow them to provide services competitive with our services, or if we cannot deploy services over acquired spectrum on a timely basis without burdensome conditions, at reasonable cost, and while maintaining network quality levels, then our ability to attract and retain customers and our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.
If we are unable to take advantage of technological developments on a timely basis, we may experience a decline in demand for our services or face challenges in implementing or evolving our business strategy.
Significant technological changes continue to impact the communications industry. In general, these technological changes enhance communications and enable a broader array of companies to offer services competitive with ours. In order to grow and remain competitive with new and evolving technologies in our industry, we will need to adapt to future changes in technology, continually invest in our network, increase network capacity, enhance our existing offerings, and introduce new offerings to address our current and potential customers’ changing demands. Enhancing our network, such as deploying 5G, is subject to risk from equipment changes and migration of customers from existing spectrum bands and the potential inability to secure spectrum necessary to deploy advanced technologies. Adopting new and sophisticated technologies may result in implementation issues such as scheduling and supplier delays, unexpected or increased costs, technological constraints, regulatory permitting issues, customer dissatisfaction, and other issues that could cause delays in launching new technological capabilities, which in turn could result in significant costs or reduce the anticipated benefits of the upgrades. In general, the development of new services in the wireless telecommunications industry will require us to anticipate and respond to the continuously changing demands of our customers, which we may not be able to do accurately or timely. If our new services fail to retain or gain acceptance in the marketplace or if costs associated with these services are higher than anticipated, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We could be harmed by data loss or other security breaches, whether directly or indirectly.
Our business, like that of most retailers and wireless companies, involves the receipt, storage, and transmission of our customers’ confidential information, including sensitive personal information and payment card information, confidential information about our employees and suppliers, and other sensitive information about our Company, such as our business plans, transactions and intellectual property (“Confidential Information”). Unauthorized access to Confidential Information may be difficult to anticipate, detect, or prevent, particularly given that the methods of unauthorized access constantly change and evolve. We are subject to the threat of unauthorized access or disclosure of Confidential Information by state-sponsored parties, malicious actors, third parties or employees, errors or breaches by third-party suppliers, or other security incidents that could compromise the confidentiality and integrity of Confidential Information. In August 2018, we notified affected customers of an incident involving unauthorized access to certain customer contact information (not involving credit card information, financial data, social security numbers or passwords). While we do not believe the August 2018 security incident was material, we expect to continue to be the target of cyber-attacks, data breaches, or security incidents, which may in the future have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results.
Cyber-attacks, such as denial of service and other malicious attacks, could disrupt our internal systems and applications, impair our ability to provide services to our customers, and have other adverse effects on our business and that of others who depend on our services. As a telecommunications carrier, we are considered a critical infrastructure provider and therefore may be more likely to be the target of such attacks. Such attacks against companies may be perpetrated by a variety of groups or persons, including those in jurisdictions where law enforcement measures to address such attacks are ineffective or unavailable, and such attacks may even be perpetrated by or at the behest of foreign governments.
In addition, we provide confidential, proprietary and personal information to third-party service providers as part of our business operations. These third-party service providers have experienced data breaches and other attacks that included unauthorized access to Confidential Information in the past, and face security challenges common to all parties that collect and process information. Past data breaches include a breach of the networks of one of our credit decisioning providers in
September 2015, during which a subset of records containing current and potential customer information was acquired by an external party.
Our procedures and safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data and to defend against attacks seeking to disrupt our services must be continually evaluated and revised to address the ever-evolving threat landscape. We cannot make assurances that all preventive actions taken will adequately repel a significant attack or prevent information security breaches or the misuses of data, unauthorized access by third parties or employees, or exploits against third-party supplier environments. If we or our third-party suppliers are subject to such attacks or security breaches, we may incur significant costs or other material financial impact, which may not be covered by, or may exceed the coverage limits of, our cyber insurance, be subject to regulatory investigations, sanctions and private litigation, experience disruptions to our operations or suffer damage to our reputation. Any future cyber-attacks, data breaches, or security incidents may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
System failures and business disruptions may allow unauthorized use of or interference with our network and other systems which could materially adversely affect our reputation and financial condition.
To be successful, we must provide our customers with reliable, trustworthy service and protect the communications, location, and personal information shared or generated by our customers. We rely upon both our systems and networks and the systems and networks of other providers and suppliers to provide and support our services and, in some cases, protect our customers’ information and our information. Failure of our or others’ systems, networks, or infrastructure may prevent us from providing reliable service or may allow for the unauthorized use of or interference with our networks and other systems or for the compromise of customer information. Examples of these risks include:
| |
• | human error such as responding to deceptive communications or unintentionally executing malicious code; |
| |
• | physical damage, power surges or outages, or equipment failure, including those as a result of severe weather, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, political instability and volatility, and acts of war; |
| |
• | theft of customer and/or proprietary information offered for sale for competitive advantage or corporate extortion; |
| |
• | unauthorized access to our IT and business systems or to our network and critical infrastructure and those of our suppliers and other providers; |
| |
• | supplier failures or delays; and |
| |
• | system failures or outages of our business systems or communications network. |
Such events could cause us to lose customers, lose revenue, incur expenses, suffer reputational damage, and subject us to litigation or governmental investigation. Remediation costs could include liability for information loss, repairing infrastructure and systems, and/or costs of incentives offered to customers. Our insurance may not cover, or be adequate to fully reimburse us for, costs and losses associated with such events.
We are in the process of implementing a new billing system, which will support a portion of our subscribers, while maintaining our legacy billing system. Any unanticipated difficulties, disruption, or significant delays could have adverse operational, financial, and reputational effects on our business.
We are currently implementing a new customer billing system, which involves a new third-party supported platform and utilization of a phased deployment approach. Post implementation, we plan to operate both the existing and new billing systems in parallel to aid in the transition to the new system until all phases of the conversion are complete.
The implementation may cause major system or business disruptions, or we may fail to implement the new billing system in a timely or effective manner. In addition, the third-party billing services supporting vendor may experience errors, cyber-attacks, or other operational disruptions that could negatively impact us and over which we may have limited control. Interruptions and/or failure of this billing services system could disrupt our operations and impact our ability to provide or bill for our services, retain customers, attract new customers, or negatively impact overall customer experience. Any occurrence of the foregoing could cause material adverse effects on our operations and financial condition, material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, and reputational damage.
We rely on third parties to provide products and services for the operation of our business, and the failure or inability of such parties to provide these products or services could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.
We depend heavily on suppliers, their subcontractors, and other third parties for us to efficiently operate our business. Due to the complexity of our business, it is not unusual to engage a diverse set of suppliers to help us develop, maintain, and
troubleshoot products and services such as network components, software development services, and billing and customer service support. Some of our suppliers may provide services from outside of the United States, which carries additional regulatory and legal obligations. We commonly rely on suppliers to provide us with contractual assurances and to disclose accurate information regarding risks associated with their provision of products or services in accordance with our policies and standards, including our Supplier Code of Conduct and our third party-risk management practices. The failure of our suppliers to comply with our expectations and standards could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Many of the products and services we use are available through multiple sources and suppliers. However, there are a limited number of suppliers who can support or provide billing services, voice and data communications transport services, network infrastructure, equipment, handsets, other devices, and payment processing services, among other products and services. Disruptions or failure of such suppliers to adequately perform could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
In the past, our suppliers, contractors, service providers and third-party retailers may not have always performed at the levels we expected or at the levels required by their contracts. Our business could be severely disrupted if critical suppliers, contractors, service providers, or third-party retailers fail to comply with their contracts or become unable to continue providing goods or services. Our business could also be disrupted if we experience delays or service degradation during any transition to a new outsourcing provider or other supplier or if we are required to replace the supplied products or services with those from another source, especially if the replacement becomes necessary on short notice. Any such disruptions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Economic, political, and market conditions may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results, as well as our access to financing on favorable terms or at all.
Our business, financial condition, and operating results are sensitive to changes in general economic conditions, including interest rates, consumer credit conditions, consumer debt levels, consumer confidence, rates of inflation (or concerns about deflation), unemployment rates, economic growth, energy costs, and other macro-economic factors. Difficult, or worsening, general economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Market volatility, political and economic uncertainty, and weak economic conditions, such as a recession or economic slowdown, may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results in a number of ways. Our services and device financing plans are available to a broad customer base, a significant segment of which may be more vulnerable to weak economic conditions, particularly our subprime customers. We may have greater difficulty in gaining new customers within this segment, and existing customers may be more likely to terminate service and default on device financing plans due to an inability to pay.
Weak economic conditions and credit conditions may also adversely impact our suppliers and dealers, some of which have filed for or may be considering bankruptcy, or may experience cash flow or liquidity problems, or are unable to obtain or refinance credit such that they may no longer be able to operate. Any of these could adversely impact our ability to distribute, market, or sell our products and services.
In addition, instability in the global financial markets could lead to periodic volatility in the credit, equity, and fixed income markets. This volatility could limit our access to the credit markets, leading to higher borrowing costs or, in some cases, the inability to obtain financing on terms that are acceptable to us or at all.
The agreements governing our indebtedness and other financing arrangements include restrictive covenants that limit our operating flexibility.
The agreements governing our indebtedness and other financing arrangements impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions, subject in certain cases to customary baskets, exceptions, and incurrence-based ratio tests, may limit our or our subsidiaries’ ability to pursue strategic business opportunities and engage in certain transactions, including the following:
| |
• | incurring additional indebtedness and issuing preferred stock; |
| |
• | paying dividends, redeeming capital stock, or making other restricted payments or investments; |
| |
• | selling or buying assets, properties, or licenses; |
| |
• | developing assets, properties, or licenses that we have or in the future may procure; |
| |
• | creating liens on assets securing indebtedness or other obligations; |
| |
• | participating in future FCC auctions of spectrum or private sales of spectrum; |
| |
• | engaging in mergers, acquisitions, business combinations, or other transactions; |
| |
• | entering into transactions with affiliates; and |
| |
• | placing restrictions on the ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments. |
These restrictions could limit our ability to obtain debt financing, engage in share repurchases, refinance or pay principal on our outstanding indebtedness, complete acquisitions for cash or indebtedness or react to business, economic, market and industry conditions and other changes in our operating environment or the economy. Any future indebtedness that we incur may contain similar or more restrictive covenants. Any failure to comply with the restrictions of our debt agreements and other financing arrangements may result in an event of default under these agreements, which in turn may result in defaults or acceleration of obligations under these and other agreements, giving our lenders the right to terminate any commitments they had made to provide us with further funds and to require us to repay all amounts then outstanding. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Our significant indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our ability to make payments on our debt, to repay our existing indebtedness when due, to fund our capital-intensive business and operations, and to make significant planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future, which is in turn subject to the operational risks described elsewhere in this report. Our debt service obligations could have material adverse effects on our business, financial condition, and operating results, including by:
| |
• | limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or the communications industry or pursuing growth opportunities; |
| |
• | reducing the amount of cash available for other operational or strategic needs; and |
| |
• | placing us at a competitive disadvantage to competitors who are less leveraged than we are. |
Some of our debt has a variable rate of interest linked to various indices and only some of our exposure is hedged. If the changes in indices result in interest rate increases, our debt service requirements will increase, which could adversely affect our cash flow and operating results. In particular, some or all of our variable-rate indebtedness may use the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or similar rates as a benchmark for establishing the rate. LIBOR is the subject of recent national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. These reforms and other pressures may cause LIBOR to disappear entirely or to perform differently than in the past. The consequence of these developments cannot be entirely predicted but could include an increase in the cost of our variable rate indebtedness. In addition, any hedging agreements we have and may continue to enter into to limit our exposure to interest rate increases or foreign currency fluctuations may not offer complete protection from these risks or may be unsuccessful, and consequently may effectively increase the interest rate we pay on our debt or the exchange rate with respect to such debt, and any portion not subject to such hedging agreements would have full exposure to interest rate increases or foreign currency fluctuations, as applicable. If any financial institutions that are parties to our hedging agreements were to default on their payment obligations to us, declare bankruptcy or become insolvent, we would be unhedged against the underlying exposures. Any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Failure to maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could result in a loss of investor confidence regarding our financial statements or may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we along with our independently registered public accounting firm are required to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We rely heavily on IT systems as an important part of our internal controls in order to operate, transact, and otherwise manage our business, as well as provide effective and timely reporting of our financial results. Failure to design and maintain effective internal controls, including those over our IT systems, could constitute a material weakness that could result in inaccurate financial statements, inaccurate disclosures, or failure to prevent fraud. If we or our independent registered public accounting firm were unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, investor confidence regarding our financial statements and our business could be materially adversely affected.
Our financial condition and operating results will be impaired if we experience high fraud rates related to device financing, credit cards, dealers, or subscriptions.
Our operating costs could increase substantially as a result of fraud, including device financing, customer credit card, subscription, or dealer fraud. If our fraud detection strategies and processes are not successful in detecting and controlling fraud, whether directly or by way of the systems, processes, and operations of third parties such as national retailers, dealers, and others, the resulting loss of revenue or increased expenses could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.
We rely on highly-skilled personnel throughout all levels of our business. Our business could be harmed if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel, hire qualified personnel or maintain our corporate culture.
The market for highly-skilled workers and leaders in our industry is extremely competitive. We believe that our future success depends in substantial part on our ability to recruit, hire, motivate, develop, and retain talented and highly-skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. Doing so may be difficult due to many factors, including fluctuations in economic and industry conditions, changes to U.S. immigration policy, competitors’ hiring practices, employee tolerance for the significant amount of change within and demands on our Company and our industry, and the effectiveness of our compensation programs. Our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to retain and motivate our existing employees and to attract new employees. If we do not succeed in retaining and motivating our existing key employees and attracting new key personnel, we may not be able to meet our business plan and, as a result, our revenue growth and profitability may be materially adversely affected.
Any acquisition, investment, or merger may subject us to significant risks, any of which may harm our business.
We may pursue acquisitions of, investments in or mergers with businesses, technologies, services and/or products that complement or expand our business. Some of these potential transactions could be significant relative to the size of our business and operations. Any such transaction would involve a number of risks and could present financial, managerial and operational challenges, including:
| |
• | diversion of management attention from running our existing business; |
| |
• | increased costs to integrate the networks, spectrum, technology, personnel, customer base and business practices of the business involved in any such transaction with our business; |
| |
• | difficulties in effectively integrating the financial and operational systems of the business involved in any such transaction into (or supplanting such systems with) our financial and operational reporting infrastructure and internal control framework in an effective and timely manner; |
| |
• | potential exposure to material liabilities not discovered in the due diligence process or as a result of any litigation arising in connection with any such transaction; |
| |
• | significant transaction expenses in connection with any such transaction, whether consummated or not; |
| |
• | risks related to our ability to obtain any required regulatory approvals necessary to consummate any such transaction; |
| |
• | acquisition financing may not be available on reasonable terms or at all and any such financing could significantly increase our outstanding indebtedness or otherwise affect our capital structure or credit ratings; and |
| |
• | any business, technology, service, or product involved in any such transaction may significantly under-perform relative to our expectations, and we may not achieve the benefits we expect from the transaction, which could, among other things, also result in a write-down of goodwill and other intangible assets associated with such transaction. |
For any or all of these reasons, our pursuit of an acquisition, investment, or merger may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters
Changes in regulations or in the regulatory framework under which we operate could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
The FCC regulates the licensing, construction, modification, operation, ownership, sale, and interconnection of wireless communication systems, as do some state and local regulatory agencies. In particular, the FCC imposes significant regulation on licensees of wireless spectrum with respect to how radio spectrum is used by licensees, the nature of the services that licensees may offer and how the services may be offered, and the resolution of issues of interference between spectrum bands. Additionally, the FTC and other federal and state agencies have asserted that they have jurisdiction over some consumer protection, and elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices with respect to the provision of wireless
products and services. We are subject to regulatory oversight by various federal, state and local agencies, as well as judicial review and actions, on issues related to the wireless industry that include, but are not limited to: roaming, interconnection, spectrum allocation and licensing, facilities siting, pole attachments, intercarrier compensation, Universal Service Fund (“USF”), net neutrality, 911 services, consumer protection, consumer privacy, and cybersecurity. We are also subject to regulations in connection with other aspects of our business, including handset financing and insurance activities.
We cannot assure you that the FCC or any other federal, state or local agencies will not adopt regulations or take enforcement or other actions that would adversely affect our business, impose new costs, or require changes in current or planned operations. For example, under the Obama administration, the FCC established net neutrality and privacy regimes that applied to our operations. Both sets of rules potentially subjected some of our initiatives and practices to more burdensome requirements and heightened scrutiny by federal and state regulators, the public, edge providers, and private litigants regarding whether such initiatives or practices are compliant. While the FCC rules are now largely rolled back under the Trump administration, some state legislators and regulators are seeking to replace them with state laws, perpetuating uncertainty regarding the regulatory environment around these issues.
In addition, states are increasingly focused on the quality of service and support that wireless communication providers provide to their customers and several states have proposed or enacted new and potentially burdensome regulations in this area. We also face potential investigations by, and inquiries from or actions by state public utility commissions. We also cannot assure you that Congress will not amend the Communications Act, from which the FCC obtains its authority, and which serves to limit state authority, or enact other legislation in a manner that could be adverse to our business. Additionally, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”) in June 2018, putting into place new data privacy rights for consumers, effective in January 2020. Legislators have stated that they intend to propose amendments to the CCPA before it goes into effect, and it remains unclear what, if any, modifications will be made to this legislation or how it will be interpreted. We will likely have to incur significant implementation costs to ensure compliance with the CCPA, and we could see increased litigation costs once the law goes into effect. If we are unable to put proper controls and procedures in place to ensure compliance, it could have an adverse effect on our business. Other states are considering similar legislation, which, if passed, could create more risks and potential costs for us.
Failure to comply with applicable regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. We could be subject to fines, forfeitures, and other penalties (including, in extreme cases, revocation of our spectrum licenses) for failure to comply with FCC or other governmental regulations, even if any such non-compliance was unintentional. The loss of any licenses, or any related fines or forfeitures, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Unfavorable outcomes of legal proceedings may adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We are regularly involved in a number of legal proceedings before various state and federal courts, the FCC, the FTC, other federal agencies, and state and local regulatory agencies, including state attorneys general. Such legal proceedings can be complex, costly, and highly disruptive to our business operations by diverting the attention and energy of management and other key personnel. The assessment of the outcome of legal proceedings, including our potential liability, if any, is a highly subjective process that requires judgments about future events that are not within our control. The amounts ultimately received or paid upon settlement or pursuant to final judgment, order or decree may differ materially from amounts accrued in our financial statements. In addition, litigation or similar proceedings could impose restraints on our current or future manner of doing business. Such potential outcomes including judgments, awards, settlements or orders could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We offer highly regulated financial services products. These products expose us to a wide variety of state and federal regulations.
The financing of devices, through our EIP and JUMP! On Demand programs, has expanded our regulatory compliance obligations. Failure to remain compliant with applicable regulations, may increase our risk exposure in the following areas:
| |
• | consumer complaints and potential examinations or enforcement actions by federal and state regulatory agencies, including but not limited to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, state attorneys general, the FCC and the FTC; and |
| |
• | regulatory fines, penalties, enforcement actions, civil litigation, and/or class action lawsuits. |
Failure to comply with applicable regulations and the realization of any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
We may not be able to adequately protect the intellectual property rights on which our business depends or may be accused of infringing intellectual property rights of third parties.
We rely on a combination of patent, service mark, trademark, and trade secret laws and contractual restrictions to establish and protect our proprietary rights, all of which offer only limited protection. The steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property may not prevent the misappropriation of our proprietary rights. We may not have the ability in certain jurisdictions to adequately protect intellectual property rights. Moreover, others may independently develop processes and technologies that are competitive to ours. Also, we may not be able to discover or determine the extent of any unauthorized use of our proprietary rights. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights may increase the cost of protecting these rights or reduce our revenues. We cannot be sure that any legal actions against such infringers will be successful, even when our rights have been infringed. We cannot assure you that our pending or future patent applications will be granted or enforceable, or that the rights granted under any patent that may be issued will provide us with any competitive advantages. In addition, we cannot assure you that any trademark or service mark registrations will be issued with respect to pending or future applications or will provide adequate protection of our brands. We do not have insurance coverage for intellectual property losses, and as such, a charge for an anticipated settlement or an adverse ruling awarding damages represents an unplanned loss event. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Third parties may claim we infringe their intellectual property rights. We are a defendant in numerous intellectual property lawsuits, including patent infringement lawsuits, which exposes us to the risk of adverse financial impact either by way of significant settlement amounts or damage awards. As we adopt new technologies and new business systems and provide customers with new products and/or services, we may face additional infringement claims. These claims could require us to cease certain activities or to cease selling relevant products and services. These claims can be time-consuming and costly to defend, and divert management resources, and expose us to significant damages awards or settlements, any or all of which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition. In addition to litigation directly involving our Company, our vendors and suppliers can be threatened with patent litigation and/or subjected to the threat of disruption or blockage of sale, use, or importation of products, posing the risk of supply chain interruption to particular products and associated services which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our business may be impacted by new or amended tax laws or regulations, judicial interpretations of same or administrative actions by federal, state, and/or local taxing authorities.
In connection with the products and services we sell, we calculate, collect, and remit various federal, state, and local taxes, fees and regulatory charges (“tax” or “taxes”) to numerous federal, state and local governmental authorities, including federal USF contributions and common carrier regulatory fees. In addition, we incur and pay state and local taxes and fees on purchases of goods and services used in our business.
Tax laws are dynamic and subject to change as new laws are passed and new interpretations of the law are issued or applied. In many cases, the application of existing, newly enacted or amended tax laws (such as the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017) may be uncertain and subject to differing interpretations, especially when evaluated against new technologies and telecommunications services, such as broadband internet access and cloud related services. Changes in tax laws could also impact revenue reported on tax inclusive plans.
In the event that we have incorrectly described, disclosed, determined, calculated, assessed, or remitted amounts that were due to governmental authorities, we could be subject to additional taxes, fines, penalties, or other adverse actions, which could materially impact our business, financial condition and operating results. In the event that federal, state, and/or local municipalities were to significantly increase taxes on our network, operations, or services, or seek to impose new taxes, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our wireless licenses are subject to renewal and may be revoked in the event that we violate applicable laws.
Our existing wireless licenses are subject to renewal upon the expiration of the 10-year or 15-year period for which they are granted. Historically, the FCC has approved our license renewal applications. However, the Communications Act provides that licenses may be revoked for cause and license renewal applications denied if the FCC determines that a renewal would not serve the public interest. In addition, our licenses are subject to our compliance with the terms set forth in the agreement pertaining to national security among us, DT, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. The failure of DT or the Company to comply with the terms of this agreement could result in fines, injunctions and other penalties, including potential revocation or non-renewal of our spectrum licenses. If we fail to timely file to renew any wireless license or fail to meet any regulatory requirements for renewal, including construction and
substantial service requirements, we could be denied a license renewal. Many of our wireless licenses are subject to interim or final construction requirements and there is no guarantee that the FCC will find our construction, or the construction of prior licensees, sufficient to meet the build-out or renewal requirements. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that the FCC will renew our wireless licenses upon their expiration. If any of our wireless licenses were to be revoked or not renewed upon expiration, we would not be permitted to provide services under that license, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Our business could be adversely affected by findings of product liability for health or safety risks from wireless devices and transmission equipment, as well as by changes to regulations or radio frequency emission standards.
We do not manufacture the devices or other equipment that we sell, and we depend on our suppliers to provide defect-free and safe equipment. Suppliers are required by applicable law to manufacture their devices to meet certain governmentally imposed safety criteria. However, even if the devices we sell meet the regulatory safety criteria, we could be held liable with the equipment manufacturers and suppliers for any harm caused by products we sell if such products are later found to have design or manufacturing defects. We generally seek to enter into indemnification agreements with the manufacturers who supply us with devices to protect us from losses associated with product liability, but we cannot guarantee that we will be fully protected against all losses associated with a product that is found to be defective.
Allegations have been made that the use of wireless handsets and wireless transmission equipment, such as cell towers, may be linked to various health concerns, including cancer and brain tumors. Lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers and carriers in the industry claiming damages for alleged health problems arising from the use of wireless handsets. In addition, the FCC has from time to time gathered data regarding wireless handset emissions and its assessment of this issue may evolve based on its findings. The media has also reported incidents of handset battery malfunction, including reports of batteries that have overheated. These allegations may lead to changes in regulatory standards. There have also been other allegations regarding wireless technology, including allegations that wireless handset emissions may interfere with various electronic medical devices (including hearing aids and pacemakers), airbags and anti-lock brakes. Defects in the products of our suppliers, such as the 2016 recall by a handset original equipment manufacturer on one of its smartphone devices, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Additionally, there are safety risks associated with the use of wireless devices while operating vehicles or equipment. Concerns over any of these risks and the effect of any legislation, rules or regulations that have been and may be adopted in response to these risks could limit our ability to sell our wireless services.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Common Stock
We are controlled by DT, whose interests may differ from the interests of our other stockholders.
DT beneficially owns and possesses majority voting power of the fully diluted shares of our common stock. Through its control of the voting power of our common stock and the rights granted to DT in our certificate of incorporation and the Stockholder’s Agreement, DT controls the election of our directors and all other matters requiring the approval of our stockholders. By virtue of DT’s voting control, we are a “controlled company,” as defined in The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”) listing rules, and are not subject to NASDAQ requirements that would otherwise require us to have a majority of independent directors, a nominating committee composed solely of independent directors or a compensation committee composed solely of independent directors. Accordingly, our stockholders will not be afforded the same protections generally as stockholders of other NASDAQ-listed companies with respect to corporate governance for so long as we rely on these exemptions from the corporate governance requirements.
In addition, our certificate of incorporation and the Stockholder’s Agreement restrict us from taking certain actions without DT’s prior written consent as long as DT beneficially owns 30% or more of the outstanding shares of our common stock, including:
| |
• | the incurrence of debt (excluding certain permitted debt) if our consolidated ratio of debt to cash flow, as defined in the indenture dated April 28, 2013, for the most recently ended four full fiscal quarters for which financial statements are available would exceed 5.25 to 1.0 on a pro forma basis; |
| |
• | the acquisition of any business, debt or equity interests, operations or assets of any person for consideration in excess of $1.0 billion; |
| |
• | the sale of any of our or our subsidiaries’ divisions, businesses, operations or equity interests for consideration in excess of $1.0 billion; |
| |
• | the incurrence of secured debt (excluding certain permitted secured debt); |
| |
• | any change in the size of our Board of Directors; |
| |
• | the issuances of equity securities in excess of 10% of our outstanding shares or to repurchase debt held by DT; |
| |
• | the repurchase or redemption of equity securities or the declaration of extraordinary or in-kind dividends or distributions other than on a pro rata basis; and |
| |
• | the termination or hiring of our chief executive officer. |
These restrictions could prevent us from taking actions that our Board of Directors may otherwise determine are in the best interests of the Company and our stockholders or that may be in the best interests of our other stockholders.
DT effectively has control over all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election or removal of directors, changes to our certificate of incorporation, a sale or merger of our Company and other transactions requiring stockholder approval under Delaware law. DT’s controlling interest may have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or discouraging a third party from seeking to acquire, the Company. DT may have strategic, financial, or other interests different from our other stockholders, including as the holder of a substantial amount of our indebtedness and as the counter-party in a number of commercial arrangements, and may make decisions adverse to the interests of our other stockholders.
In addition, we license certain trademarks from DT, including the right to use the trademark “T-Mobile” as a name for the Company and our flagship brand, under a trademark license agreement with DT. As described in more detail in our proxy statement under the heading “Transactions with Related Persons and Approval”, we are obligated under the trademark license agreement to pay DT a royalty in an amount equal to 0.25%, which we refer to as the royalty rate, of the net revenue (as defined in the trademark license) generated by products and services we sell under the licensed trademarks. The trademark license agreement includes a royalty rate adjustment mechanism that would have occurred in early 2018 and potentially resulted in a new royalty rate effective in January 2019. The license agreement includes a royalty rate adjustment mechanism that has been postponed until the conclusion of the proposed Sprint Merger. The current royalty rate will remain effective until that time. The royalty rate under the license agreement will be adjusted retroactively if the Business Combination Agreement is terminated. We also have the right to terminate the trademark license upon one year’s prior notice. An increase in the royalty rate or termination of the trademark license could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Future sales or issuances of our common stock, including sales by DT, could have a negative impact on our stock price.
We cannot predict the effect, if any, that market sales of shares or the availability of shares of our common stock will have on the prevailing trading price of our common stock from time to time. Sales or issuances of a substantial number of shares of our common stock could cause our stock price to decline and could result in dilution of your shares.
We and DT are parties to the Stockholder’s Agreement pursuant to which DT is free to transfer its shares in public sales without notice, as long as such transactions would not result in the transferee owning 30% or more of the outstanding shares of our common stock. If a transfer would exceed the 30% threshold, it is prohibited unless the transferee makes a binding offer to purchase all of the other outstanding shares on the same price and terms. The Stockholder’s Agreement does not otherwise impose any other restrictions on the sales of common stock by DT. Moreover, we have filed a shelf registration statement with respect to the common stock and certain debt securities held by DT, which would facilitate the resale by DT of all or any portion of the shares of our common stock it holds. The sale of shares of our common stock by DT (other than in transactions involving the purchase of all of our outstanding shares) could significantly increase the number of shares available in the market, which could cause a decrease in our stock price. In addition, even if DT does not sell a large number of its shares into the market, its right to transfer a large number of shares into the market may depress our stock price.
Our stock price may be volatile and may fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with our business, financial condition and operating results.
The trading prices of the securities of communications companies historically have been highly volatile, and the trading price of our common stock may be subject to wide fluctuations. Our stock price may fluctuate in reaction to a number of events and factors that may include, among other things:
| |
• | our or our competitors’ actual or anticipated operating and financial results; |
| |
• | introduction of new products and services by us or our competitors or changes in service plans or pricing by us or our competitors; |
| |
• | analyst projections, predictions and forecasts, analyst target prices for our securities and changes in, or our failure to meet, securities analysts’ expectations; |
| |
• | transaction in our common stock by major investors; |
| |
• | share repurchases by us or purchases by DT; |
| |
• | DT’s financial performance, results of operation, or actions implied or taken by DT; |
| |
• | entry of new competitors into our markets or perceptions of increased price competition, including a price war; |
| |
• | our performance, including subscriber growth, and our financial and operational metric performance; |
| |
• | market perceptions relating to our services, network, handsets, and deployment of our LTE platform and our access to iconic handsets, services, applications, or content; |
| |
• | market perceptions of the wireless communications industry and valuation models for us and the industry; |
| |
• | conditions or trends in the Internet and the industry sectors in which we operate; |
| |
• | changes in our credit rating or future prospects; |
| |
• | changes in interest rates; |
| |
• | changes in our capital structure, including issuance of additional debt or equity to the public; |
| |
• | the availability or perceived availability of additional capital in general and our access to such capital; |
| |
• | actual or anticipated consolidation, or other strategic mergers or acquisition activities involving us or our competitors, or other participants in related or adjacent industries, or market speculations regarding such activities, including the pending Merger and views of market participants regarding the likelihood the conditions to the Merger will be satisfied and the anticipated benefits of the Merger will be realized; |
| |
• | disruptions of our operations or service providers or other vendors necessary to our network operations; |
| |
• | the general state of the U.S. and world politics and economies; and |
| |
• | availability of additional spectrum, whether by the announcement, commencement, bidding and closing of auctions for new spectrum or the acquisition of companies that own spectrum, and the extent to which we or our competitors succeed in acquiring additional spectrum. |
In addition, the stock market has been volatile in the recent past and has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations, which may continue for the foreseeable future. This volatility has had a significant impact on the trading price of securities issued by many companies, including companies in the communications industry. These changes frequently occur irrespective of the operating performance of the affected companies. Hence, the trading price of our common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with our business, financial condition and operating results.
We have never paid or declared any cash dividends on our common stock, and we do not intend to declare or pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.
We have never paid or declared any cash dividends on our common stock, and we do not intend to declare or pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Our credit facilities and the indentures and supplemental indentures governing our long-term debt to affiliates and third parties contain covenants that, among other things, restrict our ability to declare or pay dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to use future earnings, if any, to invest in our business and to fund our previously authorized stock repurchase program if the Merger fails to close.
Our previously announced stock repurchase program, and any subsequent stock purchase program put in place from time to time, could affect the price of our common stock, increase the volatility of our common stock and could diminish our cash reserves. Such repurchase program may be suspended or terminated at any time, which may result in a decrease in the trading price of our common stock.
We may have in place from time to time, a stock repurchase program. Any such stock repurchase program adopted will not obligate the Company to repurchase any dollar amount or number of shares of common stock and may be suspended or discontinued at any time, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased under any such stock repurchase program depends on a variety of factors including the timing of open trading windows, the price of our common stock, corporate and regulatory requirements and other market conditions. We may effect repurchases under any stock repurchase program from time to time in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, including accelerated stock repurchase arrangements. Repurchases pursuant to any such stock repurchase program could affect our stock price and increase its volatility. The existence of a stock repurchase program could also cause our stock price to be higher than it would be in the absence of such a program and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock. There can be no assurance that any stock repurchases will enhance stockholder value because the market price of our common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased shares of common stock. Although our stock repurchase program is intended to enhance stockholder value, short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the program’s effectiveness. Additionally, our share repurchase program could diminish our cash reserves, which may impact our ability to finance future growth and to pursue possible future strategic opportunities and acquisitions. See Note 12 – Repurchases of Common Stock of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II of this Form 10-K for further information.
Risks Related to the Proposed Transactions
The closing of the Transactions is subject to a number of conditions, including the receipt of approvals from various governmental entities, which may not approve the Transactions, may delay the approvals for, or may impose conditions or restrictions on, jeopardize or delay completion of, or reduce or delay the anticipated benefits of, the Transactions, and if these conditions are not satisfied or waived, the Transactions will not be completed.
The completion of the Transactions is subject to a number of conditions, including, among others, obtaining certain governmental authorizations, consents, orders or other approvals, including the expiration or termination of applicable waiting periods under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, the receipt of required approvals from the FCC and any state and territorial public utility commissions or similar state and foreign regulatory bodies, and the absence of any injunction prohibiting the Transactions or any legal requirements enacted by a court or other governmental entity preventing the completion of the Transactions. There is no assurance that these required authorizations, consents, orders or other approvals will be obtained or that they will be obtained in a timely manner, or whether they will be subject to required actions, conditions, limitations or restrictions on the combined company’s business, operations or assets. If any such required actions, conditions, limitations or restrictions are imposed, they may jeopardize or delay completion of the Transactions, reduce or delay the anticipated benefits of the Transactions or allow the parties to the Business Combination Agreement to terminate the Business Combination Agreement, which could result in a material adverse effect on our or the combined company’s business, financial condition or operating results. In addition, the completion of the Transactions is also subject to T-Mobile USA having specified minimum credit ratings on the closing date of the Transactions (after giving effect to the Merger) from at least two of three specified credit rating agencies, subject to certain qualifications. In the event that we terminate the Business Combination Agreement in connection with a failure to satisfy the closing condition related to the specified minimum credit ratings, then in certain circumstances, we may be required to pay Sprint an amount equal to $600 million. If the Transactions are not completed by April 29, 2019 (subject to extension to July 29, 2019, and further extension to October 29, 2019, if the only conditions not satisfied or waived (other than those conditions that by their terms are to be satisfied at the closing, which conditions are then capable of being satisfied) are conditions relating to the required regulatory and other governmental consents and the absence of restraints), either we or Sprint may terminate the Business Combination Agreement. The Business Combination Agreement may also be terminated if the other conditions to closing are not satisfied, and we and Sprint may also mutually decide to terminate the Business Combination Agreement.
Failure to complete the Merger could negatively impact us and our business, assets, liabilities, prospects, outlook, financial condition or results of operations.
If the Merger is not completed for any reason, we may be subject to a number of material risks. The price of our common stock may decline to the extent that its current market price reflects a market assumption that the Merger will be completed. In addition, some costs related to the Transactions must be paid by us whether or not the Transactions are completed. Furthermore, we may experience negative reactions from our stockholders, customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, retailers, dealers and others who deal with us, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, it is expected that if the Merger is not completed, we will continue to lack the network, scale and financial resources of the current market share leaders in, and other companies that have more recently begun providing, wireless services. Further, if the Merger is not completed, it is expected that we will not be able to deploy a nationwide 5G network on the same scale and on the same timeline as the combined company, and therefore will continue to be limited in their respective abilities to compete effectively in the 5G era.
We are subject to various uncertainties, including litigation and contractual restrictions and requirements while the Transactions are pending that could disrupt our or the combined company’s business and adversely affect our or the combined company’s business, assets, liabilities, prospects, outlook, financial condition and results of operations.
Uncertainty about the effect of the Transactions on employees, customers, suppliers, vendors, distributors, dealers and retailers may have an adverse effect on us or the combined company. These uncertainties may impair the ability to attract, retain and motivate key personnel during the pendency of the Transactions and, if the Transactions are completed, for a period of time thereafter, as existing and prospective employees may experience uncertainty about their future roles with the combined company. If key employees depart because of issues related to the uncertainty and difficulty of integration or a desire not to remain with the combined company, the combined company’s business following the completion of the Transactions could be negatively impacted. We or the combined company may have to incur significant costs in identifying, hiring and retaining replacements for departing employees and may lose significant expertise and talent. Additionally, these uncertainties could cause customers, suppliers, distributors, dealers, retailers and others to seek to change or cancel existing business relationships
with us or the combined company or fail to renew existing relationships. Suppliers, distributors and content and application providers may also delay or cease developing for us or the combined company new products that are necessary for the operations of its business due to the uncertainty created by the Transactions. Competitors may also target our existing customers by highlighting potential uncertainties and integration difficulties that may result from the Transactions.
The Business Combination Agreement also restricts us, without Sprint’s consent, from taking certain actions outside of the ordinary course of business while the Transactions are pending, including, among other things, certain acquisitions or dispositions of businesses and assets, entering into or amending certain contracts, repurchasing or issuing securities, making capital expenditures and incurring indebtedness, in each case subject to certain exceptions. These restrictions may have a significant negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Management and financial resources have been diverted and will continue to be diverted toward the completion of the Transactions. We have incurred, and expect to incur, significant costs, expenses and fees for professional services and other transaction costs in connection with the Transactions. These costs could adversely affect our or the combined company’s financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, we and our affiliates are involved in various disputes, governmental and/or regulatory inspections, investigations and proceedings and litigation matters that arise from time to time, and it is possible that an unfavorable resolution of these matters could adversely affect us and our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and the results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of the combined company.
The Business Combination Agreement contains provisions that restrict the ability of our Board to pursue alternatives to the Transactions.
The Business Combination Agreement contains non-solicitation provisions that restrict our ability to solicit, initiate, knowingly encourage or knowingly take any other action designed to facilitate, any inquiries regarding, or the making of, any proposal the completion of which would constitute an alternative transaction for purposes of the Business Combination Agreement. In addition, the Business Combination Agreement does not permit us to terminate the Business Combination Agreement in order to enter into an agreement providing for, or to complete, such an alternative transaction.
Our directors and officers may have interests in the Transactions different from the interests of our stockholders.
Certain of our directors and executive officers negotiated the terms of the Business Combination Agreement. Our directors and executive officers may have interests in the Transactions that are different from, or in addition to, those of our stockholders. These interests include, but are not limited to, the continued service of certain of our directors as directors of the combined company, the continued employment of certain of our executive officers by the combined company, severance agreements and amended employment terms and other rights held by our directors and executive officers, and provisions in the Business Combination Agreement regarding continued indemnification of and advancement of expenses to our directors and officers.
Risks Related to Integration and the Combined Company
Although we expect that the Transactions will result in synergies and other benefits, those synergies and benefits may not be realized or may not be realized within the expected time frame.
Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Transactions will depend, to a large extent, on the combined company’s ability to integrate our and Sprint’s businesses in a manner that facilitates growth opportunities and achieves the projected standalone cost savings and revenue growth trends identified by each company without adversely affecting current revenues and investments in future growth. In addition, some of the anticipated synergies are not expected to occur for a significant time period following the completion of the Transactions and will require substantial capital expenditures in the near term to be fully realized. Even if the combined company is able to integrate the two companies successfully, the anticipated benefits of the Transactions, including the expected synergies and network benefits, may not be realized fully or at all or may take longer to realize than expected.
Our business and Sprint’s business may not be integrated successfully or such integration may be more difficult, time consuming or costly than expected. Operating costs, customer loss and business disruption, including difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, customers, suppliers or vendors, may be greater than expected following the Transactions. Revenues following the Transactions may be lower than expected.
The combination of two independent businesses is complex, costly and time-consuming and may divert significant management attention and resources to combining our and Sprint’s business practices and operations. This process may disrupt
our business. The failure to meet the challenges involved in combining the two businesses and to realize the anticipated benefits of the Transactions could cause an interruption of, or a loss of momentum in, the activities of the combined company and could adversely affect the results of operations of the combined company. The overall combination of our and Sprint’s businesses may also result in material unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities, competitive responses, and loss of customer and other business relationships. The difficulties of combining the operations of the companies include, among others:
| |
• | the diversion of management attention to integration matters; |
| |
• | difficulties in integrating operations and systems, including intellectual property and communications systems, administrative and information technology infrastructure and financial reporting and internal control systems; |
| |
• | challenges in conforming standards, controls, procedures and accounting and other policies, business cultures and compensation structures between the two companies; |
| |
• | differences in control environments, cultures, and auditor expectations may result in future weaknesses and deficiencies while we work to integrate the companies and align guidelines and practices; |
| |
• | alignment of key performance measurements may result in a greater need to communicate and manage clear expectations while we work to integrate the companies and align guidelines and practices; |
| |
• | difficulties in integrating employees and attracting and retaining key personnel; |
| |
• | challenges in retaining existing customers and obtaining new customers; |
| |
• | difficulties in achieving anticipated cost savings, synergies, accretion targets, business opportunities, financing plans and growth prospects from the combination; |
| |
• | difficulties in managing the expanded operations of a significantly larger and more complex company; |
| |
• | the impact of the additional debt financing expected to be incurred in connection with the Transactions; |
| |
• | the transition of management to the combined company management team, and the need to address possible differences in corporate cultures and management philosophies; |
| |
• | contingent liabilities that are larger than expected; and |
| |
• | potential unknown liabilities, adverse consequences and unforeseen increased expenses associated with the Transactions. |
Some of these factors are outside of our control and/or will be outside the control of the combined company, and any one of them could result in lower revenues, higher costs and diversion of management time and energy, which could materially impact the business, financial condition and results of operations of the combined company. In addition, even if the operations of our and Sprint’s businesses are integrated successfully, the full benefits of the Merger may not be realized, including, among others, the synergies, cost savings or sales or growth opportunities that are expected. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame or at all. Further, additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration of our and Sprint’s businesses. All of these factors could cause dilution to the earnings per share of the combined company, decrease or delay the projected accretive effect of the Merger, and negatively impact the price of our common stock following the Merger. As a result, it cannot be assured that the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint will result in the realization of the full benefits expected from the Transactions within the anticipated time frames or at all.
The indebtedness of the combined company following the completion of the Transactions will be substantially greater than the indebtedness of each of T-Mobile and Sprint on a standalone basis prior to the execution of the Business Combination Agreement. This increased level of indebtedness could adversely affect the combined company’s business flexibility and increase its borrowing costs.
In connection with the Transactions, we and Sprint have conducted, and expect to conduct, certain pre-Merger financing transactions, which will be used in part to prepay a portion of our and Sprint’s existing indebtedness and to fund liquidity needs. After giving effect to the pre-Merger financing transactions and the Transactions, we anticipate that the combined company will have consolidated indebtedness of up to approximately $75.0 billion to $77.0 billion, based on estimated December 31, 2018 debt and cash balances and excluding tower obligations.
Our substantially increased indebtedness following the Transactions will have the effect, among other things, of reducing our flexibility to respond to changing business, economic, market and industry conditions and increasing the amount of cash required to meet interest payments. In addition, this increased level of indebtedness following the Transactions may reduce funds available to support efforts to combine our and Sprint’s businesses and realize the expected benefits of the Transactions, and may also reduce funds available for capital expenditures, share repurchases and other activities that may put the combined company at a competitive disadvantage relative to other companies with lower debt levels. Further, it may be necessary for the combined company to incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in its debt instruments, which could increase the risks associated with the capital structure of the combined company.
Because of the substantial indebtedness of the combined company following the completion of the Transactions, there is a risk that the combined company may not be able to service its debt obligations in accordance with their terms.
The ability of the combined company to service its substantial debt obligations following the Transactions will depend in part on future performance, which will be affected by business, economic, market and industry conditions and other factors, including the ability of the combined company to achieve the expected benefits of the Transactions. There is no guarantee that the combined company will be able to generate sufficient cash flow to service its debt obligations when due. If the combined company is unable to meet such obligations or fails to comply with the financial and other restrictive covenants contained in the agreements governing such debt obligations, it may be required to refinance all or part of its debt, sell important strategic assets at unfavorable prices or make additional borrowings. The combined company may not be able to, at any given time, refinance its debt, sell assets or make additional borrowings on commercially reasonable terms or at all, which could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations after the Transactions.
Some or all of the combined company’s variable-rate indebtedness may use the LIBOR as a benchmark for establishing the rate. LIBOR is the subject of recent national, international and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. These reforms and other pressures may cause LIBOR to disappear entirely or to perform differently than in the past. The consequence of these developments cannot be entirely predicted, but could include an increase in the cost of our variable rate indebtedness. In addition, any hedging agreements we have and may continue to enter into to limit our exposure to interest rate increases or foreign currency fluctuations may not offer complete protection from these risks or may be unsuccessful, and consequently may effectively increase the interest rate we pay on our debt or the exchange rate with respect to such debt, and any portion not subject to such hedging agreements would have full exposure to interest rate increases or foreign currency fluctuations, as applicable. If any financial institutions that are parties to our hedging agreements were to default on their payment obligations to us, declare bankruptcy or become insolvent, we would be unhedged against the underlying exposures. Any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
The agreements governing the combined company’s indebtedness and other financings will include restrictive covenants that limit the combined company’s operating flexibility.
The agreements governing the combined company’s indebtedness and other financings will impose material operating and financial restrictions on the combined company. These restrictions, subject in certain cases to customary baskets, exceptions and maintenance and incurrence-based financial tests, may limit the combined company’s ability to engage in transactions and pursue strategic business opportunities, including the following:
| |
• | incurring additional indebtedness and issuing preferred stock; |
| |
• | paying dividends, redeeming capital stock or making other restricted payments or investments; |
| |
• | selling or buying assets, properties or licenses; |
| |
• | developing assets, properties or licenses which the combined company has or in the future may procure; |
| |
• | creating liens on assets securing indebtedness or other obligations; |
| |
• | participating in future FCC auctions of spectrum or private sales of spectrum; |
| |
• | engaging in mergers, acquisitions, business combinations or other transactions; |
| |
• | entering into transactions with affiliates; and |
| |
• | placing restrictions on the ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments. |
These restrictions could limit the combined company’s ability to obtain debt financing, make share repurchases, refinance or pay principal on its outstanding indebtedness, complete acquisitions for cash or indebtedness or react to business, economic, market and industry conditions and other changes in its operating environment or the economy. Any future indebtedness that the combined company incurs may contain similar or more restrictive covenants. Any failure to comply with the restrictions of the combined company’s debt agreements may result in an event of default under these agreements, which in turn may result in defaults or acceleration of obligations under these and other agreements, giving the combined company’s lenders the right to terminate any commitments they had made to provide it with further funds and to require the combined company to repay all amounts then outstanding.
The financing of the Transactions is not assured.
Although we have received debt financing commitments from lenders to provide various financing arrangements to facilitate the Transactions, the obligation of the lenders to provide these facilities is subject to a number of conditions and the financing of the Transactions may not be obtained on the expected terms or at all.
In particular, we have received commitments for $30.0 billion in debt financing to fund the Transactions which is comprised of (i) a $4.0 billion secured revolving credit facility, (ii) a $7.0 billion term loan credit facility and (iii) a $19.0 billion secured bridge loan facility. Our reliance on the financing from the $19.0 billion secured bridge loan facility commitment is intended to be reduced through one or more secured note offerings or other long-term financings prior to the merger closing. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to issue any such secured notes or other long-term financings on terms we find acceptable or at all, especially in light of the recent debt market volatility, in which case we may have to exercise some or all of the commitments under the secured bridge facility to fund the Transactions. Accordingly, the costs of financing for the Transactions may be higher than expected.
Credit rating downgrades could adversely affect the businesses, cash flows, financial condition and operating results of T-Mobile and, following the Transactions, the combined company.
Credit ratings impact the cost and availability of future borrowings, and, as a result, cost of capital. Our current ratings reflect each rating agency’s opinion of our financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet our debt obligations or, following the completion of the Transactions, obligations to the combined company’s obligors. Each rating agency reviews these ratings periodically and there can be no assurance that such ratings will be maintained in the future. A downgrade in the rating of us and/or Sprint could adversely affect the businesses, cash flows, financial condition and operating results of T-Mobile and, following the Transactions, the combined company.
We have incurred, and will incur, direct and indirect costs as a result of the Transactions.
We have incurred, and will incur, substantial expenses in connection with and as a result of completing the Transactions, and over a period of time following the completion of the Transactions, the combined company also expects to incur substantial expenses in connection with integrating and coordinating our and Sprint’s businesses, operations, policies and procedures. A portion of the transaction costs related to the Transactions will be incurred regardless of whether the Transactions are completed. While we have assumed that a certain level of transaction expenses will be incurred, factors beyond our control could affect the total amount or the timing of these expenses. Many of the expenses that will be incurred, by their nature, are difficult to estimate accurately. These expenses will exceed the costs historically borne by us. These costs could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations prior to the Transactions and the financial condition and results of operations of the combined company following the Transactions.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
As of December 31, 2018, our significant properties that we primarily lease and use in connection with switching centers, data centers, call centers and warehouses were as follows:
|
| | | | | |
| Approximate Number | | Approximate Size in Square Feet |
Switching centers | 61 |
| | 1,300,000 |
|
Data centers | 6 |
| | 500,000 |
|
Call center | 17 |
| | 1,300,000 |
|
Warehouses | 21 |
| | 500,000 |
|
As of December 31, 2018, we primarily leased:
| |
• | Approximately 64,000 macro towers and 21,000 distributed antenna system and small cell sites. |
| |
• | Approximately 2,200 T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile retail locations, including stores and kiosks ranging in size from approximately 100 square feet to 17,000 square feet. |
| |
• | Office space totaling approximately 1,000,000 square feet for our corporate headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. In January 2019, we executed leases totaling approximately 170,000 additional square feet for our corporate headquarters. We use these offices for engineering and administrative purposes. |
| |
• | Office space throughout the U.S., totaling approximately 1,700,000 square feet, for use by our regional offices primarily for administrative, engineering and sales purposes. |
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
None.
PART II.
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “TMUS.” As of December 31, 2018, there were 265 registered stockholders of record of our common stock, but we estimate the total number of stockholders to be much higher as a number of our shares are held by brokers or dealers for their customers in street name.
Performance Graph
The graph below compares the five-year cumulative total returns of T-Mobile, the S&P 500 index, the NASDAQ Composite index and the Dow Jones US Mobile Telecommunications TSM index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment, with the reinvestment of all dividends, from December 31, 2013 to December 31, 2018.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| At December 31, |
| 2013 | | 2014 | | 2015 | | 2016 | | 2017 | | 2018 |
T-Mobile US, Inc. | $ | 100.00 |
| | $ | 80.08 |
| | $ | 116.29 |
| | $ | 170.96 |
| | $ | 188.79 |
| | $ | 189.09 |
|
S&P 500 | 100.00 |
| | 113.69 |
| | 115.26 |
| | 129.05 |
| | 157.22 |
| | 150.33 |
|
NASDAQ Composite | 100.00 |
| | 114.62 |
| | 122.81 |
| | 133.19 |
| | 172.11 |
| | 165.84 |
|
Dow Jones US Mobile Telecommunications TSM | 100.00 |
| | 89.33 |
| | 93.68 |
| | 119.39 |
| | 122.09 |
| | 145.29 |
|
The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
Selected Financial Data
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(in millions, except per share and customer amounts) | As of and for the Year Ended December 31, |
2018 (1) | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 |
Statement of Operations Data | | | | | | | | | |
Total service revenues | $ | 31,992 |
| | $ | 30,160 |
| | $ | 27,844 |
| | $ | 24,821 |
| | $ | 22,375 |
|
Total revenues | 43,310 |
| | 40,604 |
| | 37,490 |
| | 32,467 |
| | 29,920 |
|
Operating income | 5,309 |
| | 4,888 |
| | 4,050 |
| | 2,479 |
| | 1,772 |
|
Total other expense, net | (1,392 | ) | | (1,727 | ) | | (1,723 | ) | | (1,501 | ) | | (1,359 | ) |
Income tax (expense) benefit(2) | (1,029 | ) | | 1,375 |
| | (867 | ) | | (245 | ) | | (166 | ) |
Net income | 2,888 |
| | 4,536 |
| | 1,460 |
| | 733 |
| | 247 |
|
Net income attributable to common stockholders | 2,888 |
| | 4,481 |
| | 1,405 |
| | 678 |
| | 247 |
|
Earnings per share | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | $ | 3.40 |
| | $ | 5.39 |
| | $ | 1.71 |
| | $ | 0.83 |
| | $ | 0.31 |
|
Diluted | 3.36 |
| | 5.20 |
| | 1.69 |
| | 0.82 |
| | 0.30 |
|
Balance Sheet Data | | | | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 1,203 |
| | $ | 1,219 |
| | $ | 5,500 |
| | $ | 4,582 |
| | $ | 5,315 |
|
Property and equipment, net | 23,359 |
| | 22,196 |
| | 20,943 |
| | 20,000 |
| | 16,245 |
|
Spectrum licenses | 35,559 |
| | 35,366 |
| | 27,014 |
| | 23,955 |
| | 21,955 |
|
Total assets | 72,468 |
| | 70,563 |
| | 65,891 |
| | 62,413 |
| | 56,639 |
|
Total debt, excluding tower obligations | 27,547 |
| | 28,319 |
| | 27,786 |
| | 26,243 |
| | 21,946 |
|
Stockholders' equity | 24,718 |
| | 22,559 |
| | 18,236 |
| | 16,557 |
| | 15,663 |
|
Statement of Cash Flows and Operational Data | | | | | | | | | |
Net cash provided by operating activities (3) | $ | 3,899 |
| | $ | 3,831 |
| | $ | 2,779 |
| | $ | 1,877 |
| | $ | 1,957 |
|
Purchases of property and equipment | (5,541 | ) | | (5,237 | ) | | (4,702 | ) | | (4,724 | ) | | (4,317 | ) |
Purchases of spectrum licenses and other intangible assets, including deposits | (127 | ) | | (5,828 | ) | | (3,968 | ) | | (1,935 | ) | | (2,900 | ) |
Proceeds related to beneficial interests in securitization transactions (3) | 5,406 |
| | 4,319 |
| | 3,356 |
| | 3,537 |
| | 2,228 |
|
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (3) | (3,336 | ) | | (1,367 | ) | | 463 |
| | 3,413 |
| | 2,485 |
|
Total customers (in thousands)(4) | 79,651 |
| | 72,585 |
| | 71,455 |
| | 63,282 |
| | 55,018 |
|
| |
(1) | On January 1, 2018, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” and all the related amendments (collectively, the “new revenue standard”), using the modified retrospective method with the cumulative effect of initially applying the guidance recognized at the date of initial application. Comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the standards in effect for those periods. See Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K for further information. |
| |
(2) | In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”) was signed into legislation. The TCJA included numerous changes to existing tax law, including a permanent reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. The rate reduction took place on January 1, 2018. We recognized a net tax benefit of $2.2 billion associated with the enactment of the TCJA in Income tax (expense) benefit in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income in the fourth quarter of 2017, primarily due to a re-measurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities. |
| |
(3) | On January 1, 2018, we adopted ASU 2016-15, “Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments” (the “new cash flow standard”) which impacted the presentation of our cash flows related to our beneficial interests in securitization transactions, which is the deferred purchase price, resulting in a reclassification of cash inflows from Operating activities to Investing activities of approximately $5.4 billion, $4.3 billion, $3.4 billion, $3.5 billion and $2.2 billion for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively, in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The new cash flow standard also impacted the presentation of our cash payments for debt prepayment and debt extinguishment costs, resulting in a reclassification of cash outflows from Operating activities to Financing activities of $212 million, $188 million and $39 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2014, respectively, in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. There were no cash payments for debt prepayment and debt extinguishment costs during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015. We have applied the new cash flow standard retrospectively to all periods presented. |
| |
(4) | We believe current and future regulatory changes have made the Lifeline program offered by our wholesale partners uneconomical. We will continue to support our wholesale partners offering the Lifeline program, but have excluded the Lifeline customers from our reported wholesale subscriber base resulting in the removal of 4,528,000 reported wholesale customers in 2017. |
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Overview
The objectives of our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) are to provide users of our Consolidated Financial Statements with the following:
| |
• | A narrative explanation from the perspective of management of our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect future results; |
| |
• | Context to the financial statements; and |
| |
• | Information that allows assessment of the likelihood that past performance is indicative of future performance. |
Our MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read together with, our audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the three years ended December 31, 2018, included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K. Except as expressly stated, the financial condition and results of operations discussed throughout our MD&A are those of T-Mobile US, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Business Overview
Un-carrier Strategy
We are the Un-carrier. Through our Un-carrier strategy, we’ve disrupted the wireless communication services industry by listening to our customers and providing them with added value and an exceptional experience, including implementing signature initiatives that changed the wireless industry forever. These Un-carrier initiatives include the following launched during 2018:
| |
• | In August 2018, we introduced Un-carrier Next, a new initiative that radically changes the structure of our customer service department and solves several significant pain points for customers. Postpaid customers will get directly through to a human when they call customer support, and that human will be one member of a “Team of Experts” devoted to that customer and other customers in their geographic region. No bots, no bouncing, no BS. |
| |
• | Un-carrier Next also provided customers exclusive access to a free one-year Pandora Plus subscription via the T-Mobile Tuesdays App in August 2018. In addition, we announced an exclusive multi-year partnership with Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company, giving Un-carrier customers rock star status at Live Nation amphitheater and arena concerts, including access to last-minute reserve seats in sold-out sections and discounted tickets. |
In September 2018, in connection with the rebranding of our prepaid brand, MetroPCS, as Metro by T-Mobile, we introduced new unlimited rate plans with tiers that feature added benefits of Google One and Amazon Prime as well as an expanded selection of the latest and greatest smartphones. Gone are the outdated perceptions that prepaid service is synonymous with limited coverage, cheap flip phones or bad credit.
Our ability to acquire and retain branded customers is important to our business in the generation of revenues and we believe our Un-carrier strategy, along with ongoing network improvements, has been successful in attracting and retaining customers as evidenced by continued branded customer growth and improved branded postpaid phone and branded prepaid customer churn.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | 2018 Versus 2017 | | 2017 Versus 2016 |
(in thousands) | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | # Change | | % Change | | # Change | | % Change |
Net customer additions | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Branded postpaid customers | 4,459 |
| | 3,620 |
| | 4,097 |
| | 839 |
| | 23 | % | | (477 | ) | | (12 | )% |
Branded prepaid customers | 460 |
| | 855 |
| | 2,508 |
| | (395 | ) | | (46 | )% | | (1,653 | ) | | (66 | )% |
Total branded customers | 4,919 |
| | 4,475 |
| | 6,605 |
| | 444 |
| | 10 | % | | (2,130 | ) | | (32 | )% |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | Bps Change 2018 Versus 2017 | | Bps Change 2017 Versus 2016 |
2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | |
Branded postpaid phone churn | 1.01 | % | | 1.18 | % | | 1.30 | % | | -17 bps | | -12 bps |
Branded prepaid churn | 3.96 | % | | 4.04 | % | | 3.88 | % | | -8 bps | | 16 bps |
Proposed Sprint Transaction
On April 29, 2018, we entered into the Business Combination Agreement to merge with Sprint in an all-stock transaction at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.10256 shares of T-Mobile common stock for each share of Sprint common stock, or 9.75 shares of Sprint common stock for each share of T-Mobile common stock. The combined company will be named “T-Mobile” and, as a result of the Merger, is expected to be able to rapidly launch a nationwide 5G network, accelerate innovation and increase competition in the U.S. wireless, video and broadband industries. Immediately following the Merger, it is anticipated that DT and SoftBank Group Corp. will hold, directly or indirectly, on a fully diluted basis, approximately 41.7% and 27.4%, respectively, of the outstanding T-Mobile common stock, with the remaining approximately 30.9% of the outstanding T-Mobile common stock held by other stockholders, based on closing share prices and certain other assumptions as of December 31, 2018. The Merger is subject to regulatory approvals and certain other customary closing conditions. We expect to receive regulatory approval in the first half of 2019.
For more information regarding our Business Combination Agreement, see Note 2 – Business Combinations of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Acquisitions
| |
• | On January 1, 2018, we closed on our previously announced Unit Purchase Agreement to acquire the remaining equity in Iowa Wireless Services, LLC (“IWS”), a 54% owned unconsolidated subsidiary, for a purchase price of $25 million. We accounted for our acquisition of IWS as a business combination and recognized a bargain purchase gain of approximately $25 million as part of our purchase price allocation and a gain on our previously held equity interest of approximately $15 million in Other income, net in 2018. |
| |
• | On January 22, 2018, we completed our acquisition of television innovator Layer3 TV for cash consideration of $318 million. Upon closing of the transaction, Layer3 TV became a wholly-owned consolidated subsidiary. Layer3 TV acquires and distributes digital entertainment programming primarily through the internet to residential customers, offering direct to home digital television and multi-channel video programming distribution services. This transaction represented an opportunity to acquire a complementary service to our existing wireless service to advance our video strategy. We accounted for the purchase of Layer3 TV as a business combination and recognized $218 million of goodwill as part of our purchase price allocation. |
Accounting Pronouncements Adopted During the Current Year
Revenue Recognition
The impact of our adoption of the new revenue standard is presented in Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and in the following table which presents a comparison of selected financial information under both the new revenue standard and the previous revenue standard for the year ended December 31, 2018: |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, 2018 |
| Previous Revenue Standard | | New Revenue Standard | | Change |
GAAP financial measures | | | | | |
Branded postpaid service revenues (in millions) | $ | 20,887 |
| | $ | 20,862 |
| | $ | (25 | ) |
Branded prepaid service revenues (in millions) | 9,608 |
| | 9,598 |
| | (10 | ) |
Net income (in millions) | 2,593 |
| | 2,888 |
| | 295 |
|
Performance measures | | | | | |
Branded postpaid phone ARPU | $ | 46.45 |
| | $ | 46.40 |
| | $ | (0.05 | ) |
Branded postpaid ABPU | 58.49 |
| | 58.44 |
| | (0.05 | ) |
Branded prepaid ARPU | 38.56 |
| | 38.53 |
| | (0.03 | ) |
Non-GAAP financial measure | | | | | |
Adjusted EBITDA (in millions) | $ | 12,000 |
| | $ | 12,398 |
| | $ | 398 |
|
Statement of Cash Flows
On January 1, 2018, we adopted the new cash flow standard which impacted the presentation of our cash flows related to our beneficial interests in securitization transactions, which is the deferred purchase price, resulting in a reclassification of cash inflows from Operating activities to Investing activities in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The new cash flow standard also impacted the presentation of our cash payments for debt prepayment and debt extinguishment costs, resulting in a reclassification of cash outflows from Operating activities to Financing activities in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. We have applied the new cash flow standard retrospectively to all periods presented. For additional information regarding the new cash flow standard and the impact of our adoption, see “Selected Financial Data” and Note 1 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Financial Instruments
In January 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-01, “Financial Instruments (Topic 825): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities.” The standard addresses certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. The standard became effective for us, and we adopted the standard, on January 1, 2018. The standard requires the impact of adoption to be recorded to retained earnings under a modified retrospective approach. The implementation of this standard did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Income Taxes
In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, “Accounting for Income Taxes: Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory.” The standard requires that the income tax impact of intra-entity sales and transfers of property, except for inventory, be recognized when the transfer occurs. The standard became effective for us, and we adopted the standard, on January 1, 2018. The standard requires any deferred taxes not yet recognized on intra-entity transfers to be recorded to retained earnings under a modified retrospective approach. The implementation of this standard did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Derivatives and Hedging
In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, “Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvement to Accounting for Hedging Activities.” The standard modified the guidance for the designation and measurement of qualifying hedging relationships and the presentation of hedge results. We adopted this standard on October 1, 2018, and have applied the standard to hedging transactions prospectively.
Hurricane Impacts
During 2018, we recognized $61 million in costs related to hurricanes, including $36 million in incremental costs to maintain services primarily in Puerto Rico related to hurricanes that occurred in 2017 and $25 million related to hurricanes that occurred in 2018. Additional costs related to a hurricane that occurred in 2018 are expected to be immaterial in the first quarter of 2019.
During 2018, we received reimbursement payments from our insurance carriers of $307 million related to hurricanes, of which $93 million was previously accrued for as a receivable as of December 31, 2017.
We have accrued insurance recoveries related to a hurricane that occurred in 2018 of approximately $5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 as an offset to the costs incurred within Cost of services in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income and as an increase to Other current assets in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The following table shows the impacts of hurricanes to our results, operating metrics and non-GAAP financial measures for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. There were no significant hurricane impacts in 2016.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, 2018 | | Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
(in millions, except per share amounts) | Gross | | Reim- bursement | | Net | | Gross | | Reim- bursement | | Net |
Increase (decrease) | | | | | | | | | | | |
Revenues | | | | | | | | | | | |
Branded postpaid revenues | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | (37 | ) | | $ | — |
| | $ | (37 | ) |
Of which, branded postpaid phone revenues | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (35 | ) | | — |
| | (35 | ) |
Branded prepaid revenues | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (11 | ) | | — |
| | (11 | ) |
Total service revenues | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (48 | ) | | — |
| | (48 | ) |
Equipment revenues | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (8 | ) | | — |
| | (8 | ) |
Other revenues | — |
| | 71 |
| | 71 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Total revenues | — |
| | 71 |
| | 71 |
| | (56 | ) | | — |
| | (56 | ) |
Operating expenses | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cost of services | 59 |
| | (135 | ) | | (76 | ) | | 198 |
| | (93 | ) | | 105 |
|
Cost of equipment sales | 1 |
| | — |
| | 1 |
| | 4 |
| | — |
| | 4 |
|
Selling, general and administrative | 1 |
| | (13 | ) | | (12 | ) | | 36 |
| | — |
| | 36 |
|
Of which, bad debt expense | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 20 |
| | — |
| | 20 |
|
Total operating expenses | 61 |
| | (148 | ) | | (87 | ) | | 238 |
| | (93 | ) | | 145 |
|
Operating income (loss) | (61 | ) | | 219 |
| | 158 |
| | (294 | ) | | 93 |
| | (201 | ) |
Net income (loss) | $ | (41 | ) | | $ | 140 |
| | $ | 99 |
| | $ | (193 | ) | | $ | 63 |
| | $ | (130 | ) |
Earnings per share | | | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | $ | (0.05 | ) | | $ | 0.17 |
| | $ | 0.12 |
| | $ | (0.23 | ) | | $ | 0.07 |
| | $ | (0.16 | ) |
Diluted | (0.05 | ) | | 0.17 |
| | 0.12 |
| | (0.22 | ) | | 0.07 |
| | (0.15 | ) |
Operating metrics | | | | | | | | | | | |
Bad debt expense and losses from sales of receivables as a percentage of total revenues | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | 0.05 | % | | — | % | | 0.05 | % |
Branded postpaid phone ARPU | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | (0.09 | ) | | $ | — |
| | $ | (0.09 | ) |
Branded postpaid ABPU | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (0.08 | ) | | — |
| | (0.08 | ) |
Branded prepaid ARPU | — |
| | — |
| | — |
| | (0.05 | ) | | — |
| | (0.05 | ) |
Non-GAAP financial measures | | | | | | | | | | | |
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | (61 | ) | | $ | 219 |
| | $ | 158 |
| | $ | (294 | ) | | $ | 93 |
| | $ | (201 | ) |
Results of Operations
Highlights for the years ended December 31, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017
| |
• | Total revenues of $43.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $2.7 billion, or 7%, primarily driven by growth in service and equipment revenues as further discussed below. |
| |
• | Service revenues of $32.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $1.8 billion, or 6%, primarily due to growth in our average branded customer base driven by the continued growth in existing and Greenfield markets including the growing success of new customer segments and rate plans such as T-Mobile ONE Unlimited 55+, T-Mobile ONE Military, T-Mobile for Business and T-Mobile Essentials, along with lower churn, growth in connected devices and the success of our Metro by T-Mobile brand. |
| |
• | Equipment revenues of $10.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $634 million, or 7%, primarily due to a higher average revenue per device sold and a positive impact from the new revenue standard of $393 million, partially offset by a decrease in the number of devices sold, excluding purchased leased devices, lower volumes of purchased leased devices at the end of the lease term and lower lease revenues. |
| |
• | Operating income of $5.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $421 million, or 9%, primarily due to higher Total revenues, partially offset by higher Selling, general and administrative expenses, Depreciation and amortization, Cost of equipment sales, Cost of services and lower Gains on disposal of spectrum licenses. Operating income for the year ended December 31, 2018 included the positive impacts from the adoption of the new revenue standard of $398 million and from insurance reimbursements related to hurricanes, net of costs incurred, of $158 million as well as the negative impact of Costs associated with the Transactions of $196 million. Operating income also included gains on disposal of spectrum licenses of $235 million and the negative impact from hurricanes of $201 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. |
| |
• | Net income of $2.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 decreased $1.6 billion, or 36%, primarily due to higher Income tax (expense) benefit, partially offset by higher Operating income and lower Other income (expense), net. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2018 included the positive impacts from the adoption of the new revenue standard of $295 million and from insurance reimbursements related to hurricanes, net of costs, of $99 million as well as the negative impact of Costs associated with the Transactions of $180 million. Net income also included the negative impact from hurricanes of $130 million and net, after-tax gains on disposal of spectrum licenses of $174 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. |
| |
• | Adjusted EBITDA of $12.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $1.2 billion, or 11%, primarily due to higher Operating income driven by the factors described above. See “Performance Measures” for additional information. |
| |
• | Net cash provided by operating activities of $3.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $68 million, or 2%. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources” for additional information. |
| |
• | Free Cash Flow of $3.6 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased $827 million, or 30%. See “Liquidity and Capital Resources” for additional information. |
Set forth below is a summary of our consolidated financial results:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | 2018 Versus 2017 | | 2017 Versus 2016 |
(in millions) | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | $ Change | | % Change | | $ Change | | % Change |
Revenues | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Branded postpaid revenues | $ | 20,862 |
| | $ | 19,448 |
| | $ | 18,138 |
| | $ | 1,414 |
| | 7 | % | | $ | 1,310 |
| | 7 | % |
Branded prepaid revenues | 9,598 |
| | 9,380 |
| | 8,553 |
| | 218 |
| | 2 | % | | 827 |
| | 10 | % |
Wholesale revenues | 1,183 |
| | 1,102 |
| | 903 |
| | 81 |
| | 7 | % | | 199 |
| | 22 | % |
Roaming and other service revenues | 349 |
| | 230 |
| | 250 |
| | 119 |
| | 52 | % | | (20 | ) | | (8 | )% |
Total service revenues | 31,992 |
| | 30,160 |
| | 27,844 |
| | 1,832 |
| | 6 | % | | 2,316 |
| | 8 | % |
Equipment revenues | 10,009 |
| | 9,375 |
| | 8,727 |
| | 634 |
| | 7 | % | | 648 |
| | 7 | % |
Other revenues | 1,309 |
| | 1,069 |
| | 919 |
| | 240 |
| | 22 | % | | 150 |
| | 16 | % |
Total revenues | 43,310 |
| | 40,604 |
| | 37,490 |
| | 2,706 |
| | 7 | % | | 3,114 |
| | 8 | % |
Operating expenses | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Cost of services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below | 6,307 |
| | 6,100 |
| | 5,731 |
| | 207 |
| | 3 | % | | 369 |
| | 6 | % |
Cost of equipment sales | 12,047 |
| | 11,608 |
| | 10,819 |
| | 439 |
| | 4 | % | | 789 |
| | 7 | % |
Selling, general and administrative | 13,161 |
| | 12,259 |
| | 11,378 |
| | 902 |
| | 7 | % | | 881 |
| | 8 | % |
Depreciation and amortization | 6,486 |
| | 5,984 |
| | 6,243 |
| | 502 |
| | 8 | % | | (259 | ) | | (4 | )% |
Cost of MetroPCS business combination | — |
| | — |
| | 104 |
| | — |
| | NM |
| | (104 | ) | | (100 | )% |
Gains on disposal of spectrum licenses | — |
| | (235 | ) | | (835 | ) | | 235 |
| | (100 | )% | | 600 |
| | (72 | )% |
Total operating expense | 38,001 |
| | 35,716 |
| | 33,440 |
| | 2,285 |
| | 6 | % | | 2,276 |
| | 7 | % |
Operating income | 5,309 |
| | 4,888 |
| | 4,050 |
| | 421 |
| | 9 | % | | 838 |
| | 21 | % |
Other income (expense) | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Interest expense | (835 | ) | | (1,111 | ) | | (1,418 | ) | | 276 |
| | (25 | )% | | 307 |
| | (22 | )% |
Interest expense to affiliates | (522 | ) | | (560 | ) | | (312 | ) | | 38 |
| | (7 | )% | | (248 | ) | | 79 | % |
Interest income | 19 |
| | 17 |
| | 13 |
| | 2 |
| | 12 | % | | 4 |
| | 31 | % |
Other income (expense), net | (54 | ) | | (73 | ) | | (6 | ) | | 19 |
| | (26 | )% | | (67 | ) | | NM |
|
Total other expense, net | (1,392 | ) | | (1,727 | ) | | (1,723 | ) | | 335 |
| | (19 | )% | | (4 | ) | | — | % |
Income before income taxes | 3,917 |
| | 3,161 |
| | 2,327 |
| | 756 |
| | 24 | % | | 834 |
| | 36 | % |
Income tax (expense) benefit | (1,029 | ) | | 1,375 |
| | (867 | ) | | (2,404 | ) | | (175 | )% | | 2,242 |
| | (259 | )% |
Net income | $ | 2,888 |
| | $ | 4,536 |
| | $ | 1,460 |
| | $ | (1,648 | ) | | (36 | )% | | $ | 3,076 |
| | 211 | % |
Statement of Cash Flows Data | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 3,899 |
| | $ | 3,831 |
| | $ | 2,779 |
| | $ | 68 |
| | 2 | % | | $ | 1,052 |
| | 38 | % |
Net cash used in investing activities | (579 | ) | | (6,745 | ) | | (2,324 | ) | | 6,166 |
| | (91 | )% | | (4,421 | ) | | 190 | % |
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | (3,336 | ) | | (1,367 | ) | | 463 |
| | (1,969 | ) | | 144 | % | | (1,830 | ) | | (395 | )% |
Non-GAAP Financial Measures | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 12,398 |
| | $ | 11,213 |
| | $ | 10,639 |
| | $ | 1,185 |
| | 11 | % | | $ | 574 |
| | 5 | % |
Free Cash Flow | 3,552 |
| | 2,725 |
| | 1,433 |
| | 827 |
| | 30 | % | | 1,292 |
| | 90 | % |
NM - Not Meaningful
The following discussion and analysis is for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017 unless otherwise stated.
Total revenues increased $2.7 billion, or 7%, as discussed below.
Branded postpaid revenues increased $1.4 billion, or 7%, primarily from:
| |
• | Higher average branded postpaid phone customers, primarily from growth in our customer base driven by the continued growth in existing and Greenfield markets including the growing success of new customer segments and rate plans such as T-Mobile ONE Unlimited 55+, T-Mobile ONE Military, T-Mobile for Business and T-Mobile Essentials, along with lower churn; and |
| |
• | Higher average branded postpaid other customers; partially offset by |
| |
• | Lower branded postpaid phone Average Revenue Per User (“ARPU”). See “Branded Postpaid Phone ARPU” in the “Performance Measures” section of this MD&A; and |
| |
• | The negative impact of the new revenue standard of $25 million, primarily due to the impact of certain promotions previously recognized as a reduction in equipment revenues now recognized as a reduction in branded postpaid revenues, partially offset by certain equipment revenues reclassified to branded postpaid revenues. |
Branded prepaid revenues increased $218 million, or 2%, primarily from:
| |
• | Higher average branded prepaid customers driven by the success of our Metro by T-Mobile brand; partially offset by |
| |
• | Lower branded prepaid ARPU. See “Branded Prepaid APRU” in the “Performance Measures” section of this MD&A; and |
| |
• | The negative impact of the new revenue standard of $10 million, primarily due to the impact of certain promotions previously recognized as a reduction in equipment revenues now recognized as a reduction in branded prepaid revenues. |
Wholesale revenues increased $81 million, or 7%, primarily from the continued success of our MVNO partnerships.
Roaming and other service revenues increased $119 million, or 52%, primarily from an increase in international and domestic roaming revenues.
Equipment revenues increased $634 million, or 7%, primarily from:
| |
• | An increase of $1.1 billion in device sales revenues, excluding purchased leased devices, primarily due to: |
| |
• | Higher average revenue per device sold due to an increase in the high-end device mix; and |
| |
• | A positive impact from the new revenue standard of $393 million primarily related to: |
| |
▪ | Commission costs of $438 million previously recorded as a reduction in Equipment revenues now recorded as Selling, general and administrative expenses and certain promotions previously recorded as a reduction in Equipment revenues now recorded as a reduction in Service revenues; partially offset by |
| |
▪ | Certain promotional bill credits now capitalized as contract assets and certain Equipment revenues now recognized as Service revenues; partially offset by |
| |
• | A 6% decrease in the number of devices sold, excluding purchased leased devices; partially offset by |
| |
• | A decrease of $310 million from lower volumes of purchased leased devices at the end of the lease term; and |
| |
• | A decrease of $185 million in lease revenues from JUMP! On Demand customers preferring affordable device options on leasing programs with lower monthly lease payments and shifting focus to our EIP financing option for high-end devices. |
Under our JUMP! On Demand program, upon device upgrade or at lease end, customers must return or purchase their device. Revenue for purchased leased devices is recorded as equipment revenues when revenue is recognition criteria have been met.
Other revenues increased $240 million, or 22%, primarily due to revenue share agreements with third parties, the positive impact from $71 million in insurance reimbursements related to the hurricanes, and higher amortized imputed discount on EIP receivables due to continued growth in EIP sales.
Our operating expenses consist of the following categories:
| |
• | Cost of services primarily includes costs directly attributable to providing wireless service through the operation of our network, including direct switch and cell site costs, such as rent, network access and transport costs, utilities, maintenance, associated labor costs, long distance costs, regulatory program costs, roaming fees paid to other carriers and data content costs. In addition, certain costs for customer appreciation programs are included in Cost of services. |
| |
• | Cost of equipment sales primarily includes costs of devices and accessories sold to customers and dealers, device costs to fulfill insurance and warranty claims, costs related to returned and purchased leased devices, write-downs of inventory related to shrinkage and obsolescence, and shipping and handling costs. |
| |
• | Selling, general and administrative primarily includes costs not directly attributable to providing wireless service for the operation of sales, customer care and corporate activities. These include commissions paid to dealers and retail employees for activations and upgrades, labor and facilities costs associated with retail sales force and administrative space, marketing and promotional costs, customer support and billing, bad debt expense, losses from sales of receivables and back office administrative support activities. |
Operating expenses increased $2.3 billion, or 6%, primarily from higher Selling, general and administrative expenses, Depreciation and amortization expense, Cost of equipment sales, Cost of services, and lower Gains on disposal of spectrum licenses as discussed below.
Cost of services increased $207 million, or 3%, primarily from:
| |
• | Higher lease, employee-related and repair and maintenance expenses associated with network expansion; and |
| |
• | The impact from the new revenue standard of $74 million primarily related to certain contract fulfillment costs reclassified to Cost of services from Selling, general and administrative expenses; partially offset by |
| |
• | Lower regulatory program costs; and |
| |
• | The positive impact from insurance reimbursements related to hurricanes, net of costs, of $76 million in the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to costs incurred related to hurricanes, net of insurance recoveries, of $105 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. |
Cost of equipment sales increased $439 million, or 4%, primarily from:
| |
• | An increase of $947 million in device cost of equipment sales, excluding purchased leased devices, primarily due to: |
| |
• | A higher average cost per device sold, primarily due to an increase in the high-end device mix; partially offset by |
| |
• | A 6% decrease in the number of devices sold, excluding purchased lease devices. This increase was partially offset by |
| |
• | A decrease of $342 million in leased device cost of equipment sales, primarily from lower volumes of purchased leased devices at the end of the lease term; and |
| |
• | A decrease of $178 million primarily due to lower inventory adjustments and lower warranty program costs. |
Under our JUMP! On Demand program, upon device upgrade or at the end of the lease term, customers must return or purchase their device. The cost of purchased leased devices is recorded as Cost of equipment sales. Returned devices transferred from Property and equipment, net are recorded as inventory and are valued at the lower of cost or market with any write-down to market recognized as Cost of equipment sales.
Selling, general and administrative expenses increased $902 million, or 7%, primarily from:
| |
• | Higher employee-related costs and costs related to managed services; |
| |
• | Higher commissions driven by compensation structure and channel mix changes; and |
| |
• | Costs associated with the Transactions of $196 million; partially offset by |
| |
• | The positive impact from the new revenue standard of $96 million, primarily due to: |
| |
• | Capitalized commission costs in excess of the related amortization of $495 million; and |
| |
• | Certain contract fulfillment costs reclassified to Cost of services from Selling, general and administrative expenses partially offset by |
| |
• | Commission costs of $438 million previously recorded as a reduction in Equipment revenues now recognized in Selling, general and administrative expense; |
| |
• | Lower bad debt expense and losses from sales of receivables reflecting our ongoing focus on managing customer quality; |
| |
• | Lower promotional and advertising costs; |
| |
• | Lower handset repair services costs due to lower demand for repaired phones for the fulfillment of warranty and insurance claims following the introduction of the AppleCare+ Program in the third quarter of 2017; and |
| |
• | The positive impact from insurance reimbursements related to hurricanes, net of costs, of $12 million in the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to costs incurred related to hurricanes of $36 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. |
Depreciation and amortization increased $502 million, or 8%, primarily from:
| |
• | The continued build-out of our 4G LTE network and deployment of low band spectrum and 5G compatible radios; and |
| |
• | The implementation of the first component of our new billing system; partially offset by |
| |
• | Lower depreciation expense related to our JUMP! On Demand program resulting from an increase in the affordable device mix. Under our JUMP! On Demand program, the cost of a leased wireless device is depreciated to its estimated residual value over the period expected to provide utility to us. |
Gains on disposal of spectrum licenses were $0 for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to $235 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, due to gains from spectrum license transactions with AT&T and Verizon in 2017.
Operating income, the components of which are discussed above, increased $421 million, or 9%, for the year ended December 31, 2018 and included:
| |
• | The net positive impacts from the new revenue standard of $398 million; and |
| |
• | The positive impact from insurance reimbursements related to hurricanes, net of costs, of $158 million, compared to a negative impact of $201 million in the same period in 2017; partially offset by |
| |
• | Gains on disposal of spectrum licenses of $235 million in 2017. There were no gains on disposal of spectrum licenses in 2018; and |
| |
• | Costs associated with the Transactions of $196 million. |
Interest expense decreased $276 million, or 25%, primarily from:
| |
• | Redemption in April 2017 of aggregate principal amount of $6.8 billion of Senior Notes, with various interest rates and maturity dates; |
| |
• | Redemption in January 2018 of $1.0 billion of 6.125% Senior Notes due 2022; |
| |
• | Redemption in April 2018 of aggregate principal amount of $2.4 billion of Senior Notes due 2023, with various interest rates and maturity dates; and |
| |
• | Increase in capitalized interest costs of $100 million primarily due to the build out of our network to utilize our 600 MHz spectrum licenses in the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to the year ended December 31, 2017; |
partially offset by
| |
• | Issuance in March 2017 of aggregate principal amount of $1.5 billion of Senior Notes, with various interest rates and maturity dates; |
| |
• | Issuance in January 2018 of $1.0 billion of public 4.500% Senior Notes due 2026; and |
| |
• | Issuance in January 2018 of $1.5 billion of public 4.750% Senior Notes due 2028. |
See Note 8 – Debt of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
Interest expense to affiliates decreased $38 million, or 7%, primarily from:
| |
• | A decrease from lower interest rates achieved through refinancing in April 2017 of a total of $2.5 billion of Senior Reset Notes; |
| |
• | A decrease from lower interest rates achieved through refinancing in April 2018 of a total of $2.5 billion of Senior Reset Notes; and |
| |
• | Increase in capitalized interest costs of $126 million primarily due to build out of our network to utilize our 600 MHz spectrum licenses in the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to the year ended December 31, 2017; partially offset by |
| |
• | Issuance in January 2017 of $4.0 billion of Incremental Secured Term Loan facility, which refinanced $1.98 billion of outstanding senior secured term loans; |
| |
• | Issuance in May 2017 of aggregate principal amount of $4.0 billion of Senior Notes, with various interest rates and maturity dates; |
| |
• | Issuance in April 2017 of aggregate principal amount of $3.0 billion of Senior Notes, with various interest rates and maturity dates; and |
| |
• | Issuance in September 2017 of aggregate principal amount of $500 million of 5.375% Senior Notes due 2027. |
See Note 8 – Debt of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
Other income (expense), net decreased $19 million, or 26%, primarily from:
| |
• | A $30 million gain on sale of certain investments; |
| |
• | A $25 million bargain purchase gain as part of our purchase price allocation of the IWS acquisition; and |
| |
• | A $15 million gain on our previously held equity interest in IWS; partially offset by |
| |
• | A $36 million increase in losses on early redemption of debt, including: |
| |
◦ | An $86 million loss on early redemption of $2.5 billion in DT Senior Reset Notes in April 2018; and |
| |
◦ | A $32 million loss on early redemption of $1.0 billion of 6.125% Senior Notes due 2022 in January 2018; partially offset by |
| |
◦ | A $73 million net loss on early redemption of aggregate principal amount of $8.25 billion in Senior Notes, with various interest rates and maturity dates, during the year ended December 31, 2017; and |
| |
◦ | A $13 million loss on refinancing of $1.98 billion of outstanding senior secured term loans in January 2017. |
Income tax expense increased $2.4 billion, or 175%, primarily from:
| |
• | The impact of the TCJA, which resulted in a net tax benefit of $2.2 billion in 2017, substantially due to a re-measurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities; and |
| |
• | Higher income before taxes in 2018. |
Net income, the components of which are discussed above, decreased $1.6 billion, or 36%, and included:
| |
• | The impact of the TCJA as discussed above; |
| |
• | Costs associated with the Transactions of $180 million; and |
| |
• | Gains on disposal of spectrum licenses of $174 million in 2017. There were no gains on disposal of spectrum licenses in 2018; partially offset by |
| |
• | The net positive impact from the new revenue standard of $295 million; and |
| |
• | Insurance reimbursements related to the hurricanes, net of costs, of $99 million, compared to costs of $130 million in the same period in 2017. |
Guarantor Subsidiaries
The financial condition and results of operations of the Parent, Issuer and Guarantor Subsidiaries is substantially similar to our consolidated financial condition. The most significant components of the financial condition of our Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries were as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| December 31, 2018 | | December 31, 2017 | | Change |
(in millions) | $ | | % |
Other current assets | $ | 645 |
| | $ | 628 |
| | $ | 17 |
| | 3 | % |
Property and equipment, net | 297 |
| | 306 |
| | (9 | ) | | (3 | )% |
Goodwill | 218 |
| | — |
| | 218 |
| | NM |
|
Tower obligations | 2,173 |
| | 2,198 |
| | (25 | ) | | (1 | )% |
Total stockholders' deficit | (1,142 | ) | | (1,454 | ) | | 312 |
| | (21 | )% |
NM - Not Meaningful
The most significant components of the results of operations of our Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries were as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | Change |
(in millions) | 2018 | | 2017 | $ | | % |
Service revenues | $ | 2,339 |
| | $ | 2,113 |
| | $ | 226 |
| | 11 | % |
Cost of equipment sales | 1,011 |
| | 1,003 |
| | 8 |
| | 1 | % |
Selling, general and administrative | 985 |
| | 856 |
| | 129 |
| | 15 | % |
Total comprehensive income | 193 |
| | 28 |
| | 165 |
| | 589 | % |
The change to the results of operations of our Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2018 was primarily from:
| |
• | Higher Service revenues primarily due to an increase in activity of the non-guarantor subsidiary that provides device insurance, primarily driven by growth in our customer base and higher average revenue related to the new device protection product launched at the end of August 2018; partially offset by |
| |
• | Higher Selling, general and administrative expenses primarily due to operating costs from the non-guarantor Layer3 TV subsidiary acquired in the first quarter of 2018, an increase in customer notification expenses related to the new insurance product launched at the end of August 2018, and an increase in program expenses related to Apple Care Service Fees, partially offset by lower valuation losses in the non-guarantor subsidiary involved in the EIP sale arrangement; and |
| |
• | Higher Cost of equipment sales primarily due to an increase in higher cost devices used for device insurance claims fulfillment, partially offset by an increase in device liquidations and a decrease in device non-return fees charged to customers. |
All other results of operations of the Parent, Issuer and Guarantor Subsidiaries are substantially similar to the Company’s consolidated results of operations. See Note 17 – Guarantor Financial Information of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Performance Measures
In managing our business and assessing financial performance, we supplement the information provided by our financial statements with other operating or statistical data and non-GAAP financial measures. These operating and financial measures are utilized by our management to evaluate our operating performance and, in certain cases, our ability to meet liquidity requirements. Although companies in the wireless industry may not define each of these measures in precisely the same way, we believe that these measures facilitate comparisons with other companies in the wireless industry on key operating and financial measures.
Total Customers
A customer is generally defined as a SIM number with a unique T-Mobile identifier which is associated with an account that generates revenue. Branded customers generally include customers that are qualified either for postpaid service utilizing phones, DIGITS or connected devices which includes tablets, wearables and SyncUp DRIVE, where they generally pay after receiving service, or prepaid service, where they generally pay in advance. Wholesale customers include M2M and MVNO customers that operate on our network but are managed by wholesale partners.
The following table sets forth the number of ending customers:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| December 31, 2018 | | December 31, 2017 | | December 31, 2016 | | 2018 Versus 2017 | | 2017 Versus 2016 |
(in thousands) | | # Change | | % Change | | # Change | | % Change |
Customers, end of period | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Branded postpaid phone customers (1)(2) | 37,224 |
| | 34,114 |
| | 31,297 |
| | 3,110 |
| | 9 | % | | 2,817 |
| | 9 | % |
Branded postpaid other customers (2) | 5,295 |
| | 3,933 |
| | 3,130 |
| | 1,362 |
| | 35 | % | | 803 |
| | 26 | % |
Total branded postpaid customers | 42,519 |
| | 38,047 |
| | 34,427 |
| | 4,472 |
| | 12 | % | | 3,620 |
| | 11 | % |
Branded prepaid customers (1) | 21,137 |
| | 20,668 |
| | 19,813 |
| | 469 |
| | 2 | % | | 855 |
| | 4 | % |
Total branded customers | 63,656 |
| | 58,715 |
| | 54,240 |
| | 4,941 |
| | 8 | % | | 4,475 |
| | 8 | % |
Wholesale customers (3) | 15,995 |
| | 13,870 |
| | 17,215 |
| | 2,125 |
| | 15 | % | | (3,345 | ) | | (19 | )% |
Total customers, end of period | 79,651 |
| | 72,585 |
| | 71,455 |
| | 7,066 |
| | 10 | % | | 1,130 |
| | 2 | % |
Adjustments to branded postpaid phone customers (4) | — |
| | — |
| | (1,365 | ) | | — |
| | — | % | | 1,365 |
| | (100 | )% |
Adjustments to branded prepaid customers (4) | — |
| | — |
| | (326 | ) | | — |
| | — | % | | 326 |
| | (100 | )% |
Adjustments to wholesale customers (4) | — |
| | — |
| | 1,691 |
| | — |
| | — | % | | (1,691 | ) | | (100 | )% |
| |
(1) | As a result of the acquisition of IWS, we included an adjustment of 13,000 branded postpaid phone and 4,000 branded prepaid IWS customers in our reported subscriber base as of January 1, 2018. Additionally, as a result of the acquisition of Layer3 TV, we included an adjustment of 5,000 branded prepaid customers in our reported subscriber base as of January 22, 2018. |
| |
(2) | During 2017, we retitled our “Branded postpaid mobile broadband customers” category to “Branded postpaid other customers” and reclassified 253,000 DIGITS customers from our “Branded postpaid phone customers” category for the second quarter of 2017, when the DIGITS product was released. |
| |
(3) | We believe current and future regulatory changes have made the Lifeline program offered by our wholesale partners uneconomical. We will continue to support our wholesale partners offering the Lifeline program, but have excluded the Lifeline customers from our reported wholesale subscriber base resulting in the removal of 4,528,000 reported wholesale customers in 2017. |
| |
(4) | As a result of the MVNO transaction, we included an adjustment of 1,365,000 branded postpaid phone customers and 326,000 branded prepaid customers to wholesale customers on September 1, 2016. Prospectively from September 1, 2016, net customer additions for these customers are included within wholesale customers. |
Branded Customers
Total branded customers increased 4,941,000, or 8%, in 2018 primarily from:
| |
• | Higher branded postpaid phone customers driven by the growing success of new customer segments and rate plans such as T-Mobile ONE Unlimited 55+, T-Mobile ONE Military, T-Mobile for Business and T-Mobile Essentials and continued growth in existing and Greenfield markets, along with lower churn, partially offset by competitive activity; |
| |
• | Higher branded postpaid other customers primarily due to higher gross customer additions from wearables; and |
| |
• | Higher branded prepaid customers driven by the continued success of our Metro by T-Mobile brand due to promotional activities and rate plan offers. |
Wholesale
Wholesale customers increased 2,125,000, or 15%, in 2018 primarily due to the continued success of our M2M and MVNO partnerships.
Net Customer Additions
The following table sets forth the number of net customer additions:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | 2018 Versus 2017 | | 2017 Versus 2016 |
(in thousands) | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | # Change |
| % Change | | # Change | | % Change |
Net customer additions | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Branded postpaid phone customers (1) (2) | 3,097 |
| | 2,817 |
| | 3,307 |
| | 280 |
| | |