Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) says its Spectrum Mobile service reached 1.1 million subscriber lines at the end of 2019. Some 288,000 mobile lines were added in the fourth quarter of 2019, an uptick from third quarter line additions.
"Our mobile business is a strategic extension of our core connectivity capabilities today and in the future," said Chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge. "We now have well over 1 million mobile lines, with 948,000 of those added in 2019 at an accelerating pace. While it's still early, we believe that our results so far indicate our mobile product drives core connectivity, customer satisfaction and will generate standalone profitability at scale."
Spectrum Mobile launched in June of 2018 and was available in all Spectrum markets by September that year.
"The acceleration of mobile line net adds through 2019 was encouraging and was driven by the value of Spectrum Mobile's product offers, growing brand and product awareness, and increased sales effectiveness," said Chief Financial Officer Chris Winfrey.
Spectrum Mobile's subscriber base includes a mix of unlimited and By the Gig lines.
"Over time, we not only expect Spectrum Mobile to become a meaningful driver of our connectivity sales and retention, we also expect it to be profitable on a standalone basis once it reaches scale," said Winfrey. "And beyond that, we believe there will be opportunities to further improve the economics of our mobile business and offer unique connectivity services."
Spectrum Mobile 5G, where available, currently uses high-band millimeter wave coverage in dense urban pockets of select cities, including New York, Charlotte, Dallas and Los Angeles. 5G coverage maps are available at SpectrumMobile.com.
The company plans to expand 5G coverage using high-band and low-band spectrum, as the technology becomes more widely available.