Sprint PCS sees its growth pace slowing the coming year, although the fourth quarter will reverse the subscribership drop it experienced in the previous three months.

That's the word from parent Sprint Corp. in its message today to Wall Street regarding its immediate and longer-term prospects.

Overall, Sprint boosted its fourth quarter earnings outlook to a range of 37-39 cents per share from its earlier forecast of 34-36 cents, citing cost savings from layoffs and other cutbacks. The company's wireline businesses continue to weigh down performance, with total revenue next year expected to decline by about 1 percent next year to $15 billion as both local telecommunications and global market divisions show shrinking sales.

Next year, total company earnings will rise to $1.40-1.45 per share, compared with earlier expectations for a $1.38 per share profit, Sprint says.

Wireless will continue to be Sprint's growth business, with PCS expecting gross adds of 6 million subs next year, a continuing decline in churn from the fourth quarter's 3.5 percent, and operating revenue of $800 million-$900 million in 2003 compared with $500 million-plus this year.

Operating cash flow should rise, to a $3.3 billion-$3.4 billion range from this year's expected total of $2.8 billion. The 2002 figure actually is slightly higher than earlier expectations, boosted by Sprint's earlier moves to kick out or improve collections from deadbeat subscribers.

But total PCS revenue is expected to rise in the mid- to high-teens percentage range from this year's $12 billion, down from this year's growth rate of about 25 percent.

Signs in the fourth quarter point to a relatively slow adoption of next generation, 1X handsets and service. While Sprint will post net subscribership adds for PCS in the fourth quarter - compared with its net decline in Q3 as it churned off customers with bad credit - Sprint says gross adds will grow at a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage rate from the third quarter, compared with its previous expectation of growth in the high teens. That implies the lack of a stampede toward the pricey handsets required for Sprint's PCS Vision 1X services, let alone for basic current-generation products.

Such a scenario would be in keeping with remarks made to analysts earlier this week by Verizon Wireless CEO Dennis Strigl, who said his company would see subscriber additions just flat to slightly higher compared with Q3.

Nevertheless, the financial markets seemed OK with Sprint's outlook: Shares in the parent company and in its PCS group tracking stock were up nearly 6 percent and 8 percent respectively in mid-day Eastern time trading today.