Metro PCS 2008 Annual Report Download - page 53

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• introduction of new products and services by us or our competitors or changes in service plans or pricing
by us or our competitors, including the introduction of unlimited fixed-rate plans by our competitors;
• challenges to our intellectual property rights or claims that we infringe the intellectual property rights of
others;
• conditions and trends in the communications and high technology markets;
• mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances or significant agreements by us or by our competitors;
• sales of our common stock by our directors, executive officers or affiliates or significant stockholders;
• volatility in stock market prices and volumes, which is particularly common among securities of
telecommunications companies;
• the general state of the U.S. and world economies;
• the announcement, commencement, bidding and closing of auctions for new spectrum or acquisitions of
other businesses; and
• recruitment or departure of key personnel.
In addition, in recent months, the stock market has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. This
volatility has had a significant impact on the trading price of securities issued by many companies, including
companies in the telecommunications industry. The 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.
Your ownership interest could be diluted by future issuances of shares that our Board has the authority to
issue, and such future issuances or sales of such shares may adversely affect the market price of MetroPCS’
common stock.
We have registered all shares of common stock that we may issue under our stock option and performance award
plans; thus, when we issue shares under these plans, the shares can be freely sold in the public market subject to any
requirements under the Securities Act. We also have granted certain of our stockholders the right to require us to
register their shares of our common stock. If we propose to register any additional securities under the Securities
Act, either for our own account or for the account of security holders exercising registration rights, the number of
shares subject to registration could increase and your interest could be significantly diluted and the sale of these
shares may have a negative impact on the market price for our common stock. Further, the sale of a substantial
amount of our common stock, or the possibility of such a sale, including sales by significant stockholders or
executives of the Company, may reduce the market price of our common stock and could impede our ability to raise
future capital through the issuance of equity securities at a time and at a price we deem appropriate.
If we fail to manage our planned growth effectively and maintain an effective system of internal controls, we
may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.
We have experienced rapid growth and development in a relatively short period of time and expect to continue to
experience substantial growth in the future. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable
financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. Because of inherent limitations, internal controls over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future
periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the
degree of compliance with the policies and procedures may deteriorate. Previously, we failed to adequately
implement financial controls and management systems. We publicly acknowledged deficiencies in our financial
reporting as early as August 2004, and have made changes in our controls and systems that are designed to address
these deficiencies. Our expected growth will also require stringent control of costs, diligent management of our
network infrastructure and our growth, increased capital requirements, increased costs associated with marketing
activities, the ability to attract and retain qualified management, technical and sales personnel and the training and
management of new personnel, and the design and implementation of financial and management controls. Our