Metro PCS 2009 Annual Report Download - page 40

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A failure to meet the demands of our customers could adversely affect our business, financial condition and
operating results.
Customer demand for our products and services could be impacted by numerous factors including the different
types of products and services offered, service content, technology, coverage, compatible handset options,
distribution, service areas, network operability and quality, customer perceptions, customer care levels and the
prices and range of service plans and products. Managing these factors and customers’ expectations of these factors
is essential in attracting and retaining customers. We continually incur costs in order to improve and enhance our
products and services to remain competitive and to keep up with our customer demand, which include costs to
expand the capacity and coverage of our network, costs to replace or migrate to new technology platforms, vendors
or services, costs to enhance or upgrade our networks, including costs to upgrade to LTE or other fourth generation,
or 4G technologies, costs to purchase additional spectrum and necessary infrastructure equipment, costs to
implement new or different services, service plans, handsets and related accessories to meet customer needs and
costs to secure the necessary governmental approvals and renewals for our operations. Delays or failure to purchase
additional spectrum or to make these enhancements to our products, services or network, could limit our ability to
meet our customer demands or customer expectations. Further, even if we continually upgrade and maintain our
networks and enhance our products and services, there can be no assurance that our existing customers will not
switch to another wireless provider or that we will be able to attract new customers. If we are unable to meet our
customer demands or customer expectations, including providing customers with reliable and compatible network
devices and managing our sales, distribution, advertising, customer support, billing and collection costs, we may
have difficulty attracting and retaining customers, which could increase our churn and operating costs and decrease
our revenue, resulting in an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may not be successful in continuing to grow our customer base.
Our business plan assumes continued growth in our customer base. Our ability to grow our customer base and
achieve the customer penetration levels that we currently believe are possible with our business model in our
markets is subject to a number of risks, including:
• increased competition from existing competitors or new competitors;
• higher than anticipated churn in our markets;
• our inability to increase our network capacity in areas we currently serve to meet increasing customer
demand;
• our inability to upgrade our networks to 4G;
• limitations in our customer service, billing and other systems;
• our inability to manage inventory and adequately forecast our inventory needs, such as handset quantity,
quality and type;
• our inability to meet customer expectations and demands;
• our inability to continue to offer products or services which our current or prospective customers want;
• our inability to launch service in new metropolitan areas;
• our inability to attract and retain indirect agents and dealers for our products and services;
• our inability to increase the relevant coverage areas in our existing markets, to expand our roaming
arrangements to areas that are important to us or to allow us to offer services at rates which are attractive to
our current and prospective customers;
• unfavorable United States economic conditions, which may have a disproportionate negative impact on
certain portions of our customer base;
• changes in the demographics of our markets; and