T-Mobile U.S.A loses subscribers in second quarter

NEW YORK — T-Mobile U.S.A continued to lose wireless customers in the second quarter, but did a better job of keeping them than in the first three months of the year, when subscribers fled in record numbers.

The No. 4 wireless carrier in the U.S. says it lost 50,000 subscribers in the April to June period, to end with 33.6 million.

Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG has agreed to sell its T-Mobile U.S.A business to AT&T Inc. for $39 billion. The deal could close next year, if regulators clear it.

The ailing nature of T-Mobile U.S.A's business is being held up as one reason it should be approved. As the smallest of the four national carriers, Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile U.S.A seems to have a hard time competing, as does No. 3 Sprint Nextel.