T-Mobile, Which Was Bleeding Customers A Little Over A Year Ago, Is Now Growing Faster Than Its Rivals

A new report from research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) shows that T-Mobile increased its customer base by a higher percentage than AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The carrier grew 8% relative to its total share of subscribers in the wireless market, the report says.

"In the mobile world, 8% is enormous," said Michael Levin, one of the authors of CIRP report said in an interview with Business Insider.

The results come from interviews with 500 people who activated a new phone during the fourth quarter of 2013. In the report, CIRP says T-Mobile's adoption of the iPhone, contract-free service plans, and smartphone leasing plans all contributed to the carrier's gains that quarter.

Out of all the smartphone activations during the period, AT&T accounted for the most with 29%. The CIRP report also says that Sprint was the only carrier that lost customers during the period.

To be clear, T-Mobile is still much smaller than AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. But the fact that the carrier has been able to retain and even add new subscribers is impressive, especially since it was bleeding subscribers before the new CEO John Legere took over. The important thing to note is that T-Mobile appears to be growing faster than its rivals.