Metro PCS 2009 Annual Report Download - page 17

5
PART I
Item 1. Business
General
We are the fifth largest facilities-based wireless telecommunications provider in the United States measured by
the number of subscribers served. We offer wireless broadband mobile services under the MetroPCS® brand in
selected major metropolitan areas in the United States over our own licensed networks or networks of entities in
which we hold a substantial non-controlling ownership interest. We provide a variety of wireless communications
services to our subscribers on a no long-term contract, paid-in-advance, flat-rate, unlimited usage basis. As of
January 2010, we now offer service plans on a flat-rate basis inclusive of applicable taxes and regulatory fees. As of
December 31, 2009, we had over 6.6 million subscribers.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc., or MetroPCS, was incorporated in 2004 by MetroPCS, Inc. in the state of
Delaware, and MetroPCS maintains its corporate headquarters in Richardson, Texas. In July 2004, as a result of a
merger between a wholly-owned subsidiary of MetroPCS and MetroPCS, Inc., with MetroPCS, Inc. being the
surviving corporation, and MetroPCS, Inc. and all of its subsidiaries became wholly-owned subsidiaries of
MetroPCS. In April 2007, MetroPCS consummated an initial public offering of its common stock, par value
$0.0001 per share, and became listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PCS.”
Our web site address is www.metropcs.com. Information contained on, or accessible from, our web site is not
incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this report or
any other filing we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. We file with, or furnish to, the
SEC, all our periodic filings and reports, including an annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q,
current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments thereto, as well as other information. Certain information in our
periodic filings and reports may incorporate by reference other filings and reports we have filed with or furnished to
the SEC. All of our reports and filings with the SEC are available free of charge through the Investor Relations page
of our web site as soon as practicable after providing such information to the SEC. Copies of any of our reports and
filings also may be requested, without charge, by sending a written request to Investor Relations, MetroPCS
Communications, Inc., 2250 Lakeside Blvd., Richardson, Texas 75082.
Business Overview
We currently provide our wireless broadband mobile services primarily in selected major metropolitan areas in
the United States, including the Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New
York, Orlando/Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco and Tampa/Sarasota metropolitan areas. As
of December 31, 2009, we hold, or have access to, wireless spectrum covering a total population of approximately
144 million people in over 11,000 cities and towns in the United States. In addition, we have roaming agreements
with other wireless carriers that allow us to offer our customers service in certain areas when they are outside our
service area. We provide our services using code division multiple access, or CDMA, networks using 1xRTT
technology. We have publicly announced that we are in the process of upgrading our networks in certain
metropolitan areas to LTE.
Competitive Strengths
We believe our business model has the following competitive strengths that distinguish us from our principal
wireless competitors:
xOur Fixed Price Unlimited Service Plans. We currently offer our services on a no long-term contract,
paid-in-advance, flat-rate, unlimited usage basis. Starting in January 2010, we began offering our
services on a flat-rate basis that includes all applicable taxes and regulatory fees. We believe we offer a
compelling value proposition to our customers through our service offerings that provide unlimited
usage from within our service area for a low fixed price. Our average per minute cost to our customers
for our service plans is significantly lower than the average per minute cost of other traditional wireless
broadband mobile carriers. We believe our low average cost per minute has and will continue to
position us very well for the growing trend of wireline displacement.