Metro PCS 2009 Annual Report Download - page 58

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System failures, security breaches and the unauthorized use of or interference with our network could cause
delays or interruptions of service, increase our cost of operations, and result in harm to our business
reputation, which could cause us to lose customers.
To be successful, we must provide our customers reliable, trustworthy service. We rely upon our networks and the
networks of other providers to provide and support all of our services. Some of the risks to our networks and
infrastructure, which may prevent us from providing reliable service, include:
• physical damage to outside plant facilities;
• power surges or outages;
• equipment failure;
• vendor or supplier failures or delays;
• software defects;
• viruses and other attacks by hackers;
• fraud;
• unauthorized use of our or our provider’s networks;
• human error;
• disruptions beyond our control, including disruptions caused by terrorist activities, theft, natural disasters,
such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, or fire; and
• failures in operational support systems.
Network disruptions, whether from natural causes or manmade, may cause interruptions in service or reduced
capacity for customers, either of which could cause us to lose customers and incur expenses. Some of our network is
not fully redundant and our disaster relief plans may not be adequate or timely. The resulting interruption or failure
to provide our services could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating
results.
Further, our administrative and capital costs associated with detecting, monitoring and reducing the incidence of
fraud, or the costs to replace or repair the network or facilities (or portions thereof), may be substantial, thus causing
our costs to provide service to increase. Fraudulent use of our network may also impact interconnection and long
distance costs, capacity costs, administrative costs, fraud prevention costs and payments to other carriers for such
fraud. We believe we have instituted safeguards to protect, detect and control such fraud; however, if such
safeguards are not successful, such fraud or increased costs could have a material adverse impact on our financial
results and impair our service resulting in higher churn as our competitors systems may not experience similar
problems.
Additionally, our physical facilities and information systems may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, computer
viruses, theft, attacks by hackers, or similar disruptive problems. If hackers gain improper access to our databases,
they may be able to steal, publish, delete, misappropriate or modify confidential personal information concerning
our subscribers. Due to the evolving techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to our systems, we may not be
able to implement adequate preventive measures timely or prevent such unauthorized access. In addition, misuse of
our customer information could result in harm to our customers and legal actions against us and to additional harm
perpetrated by third parties who are given access to the consumer data. The actual or perceived failure to our
network security could damage our reputation and public perception of our ability to provide a secure service, which
could adversely affect our ability to retain customers, expose us to significant liability, sanctions, fines and litigation
and have a resulting material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.