Key Metrics to wireless carriers - why can't everybody learn these simple things? Carriers get hammered daily in the press, in the industry...well..it seems like everywhere. "We can't get further becuase of the carriers"..."It's the slowness of the carriers that's holding back the industry", or even the comments made by Walter Mossberg in his column. However, when wireless internet companies come calling, it's as if they have no idea about the business of the wireless carrier at all. Here's a public service announcment to these groups - read and learn. The key metrics are: ARPU, Additions, CPGA and Churn. Let's start with churn first. Churn is the percentage of total subscribers that deactivated service expressed on a monthly basis. Typical numbers range from 2-4%. Higher numbers for new networks/markets and vice/versa. Churn is going up universally as more and more competitors enter the market and as the subscriber base extends into the lowest income segments. CPGA stands for "cost per gross addition" and is a measure of how much it costs to add a subscriber. These costs include handset subsidy, marketing and sales. Like some other stats, different carriers include different sales and marketing expenses making comparisons difficult. Generally this ranges from $250-$500. ARPU stands for Average Revenue per User, expressed as a monthly figure. This figure is typcially in the $35 - $75 range. It may include data revenue, it may include equipment revenue - but typically it does not. Finally, "Additions" is the number of new subs. "Net Additions" are typically listed (as opposed to Gross Adds) and takes de-activation into account. Analysts have strong opinions of what each carrier should have each quarter, and when those targets are missed....look out.