T-Mobile Q4: Growth Lagging AT&T, Verizon Wireless (DT)

T-Mobile released is falling further behind its competitors. The fourth-place wireless carrier released its Q4 subscriber stats today, which show it growing at a slower pace than rivals AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless. The good news: Like everybody else, it's not doing as poorly as Sprint Nextel.

T-Mobile added 951,000 net subscribers during the period, finishing the year with 28.7 million subs. AT&T, though, added 2.7 million subs and Verizon Wireless added 2.0 million. Sprint, meanwhile, managed to lose customers during Q4.

Some good news: T-Mobile's Q4 growth ticked up 5.5% year-over-year, while Verizon Wireless' Q4 growth decreased 13% year-over-year. (AT&T's Q4 growth increased 13.5% year-over-year because of strong sales of Apple's iPhone.)

And T-Mobile improved its retention among subscribers with long-term contracts. The carrier's churn -- the percentage of subscribers who leave the service each month -- decreased from 2.1% during 4Q06 to 1.8% in 4Q07. T-Mobile reports full financial results on Feb. 28. Release