AT&T misses fourth-quarter phone subscriber estimates

(Reuters) - AT&T Inc on Wednesday missed fourth-quarter Wall Street estimates for net new wireless subscribers who pay a monthly bill, as the company struggled to attract customers in a saturated U.S. phone market.

The second-largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers faces competition from companies such as T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp, who offer lower-priced phone plans.

AT&T gained a net 134,000 phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill, smaller than analysts' estimates of 208,000 subscribers, according to research firm FactSet.

Total revenue in the fourth quarter rose 15.2 percent to $47.99 billion from $41.68 billion, missing analysts' estimates of $48.5 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

 

(Reporting by Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru and Sheila Dang in New York)