T-Mobile USA’s subscribers were more likely to stick with the company in the last three months, a welcome trend for a carrier that’s struggling against larger competitors.

T-Mobile, the US arm of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, said it gained a net 3,000 customers under its own brand in the first quarter. It was the first report of a quarterly gain in years. In the same quarter last year, it lost a net 261,000 branded subscribers.

Customers may have been inclined to stick with T-Mobile because they knew it is getting the iPhone soon, an analyst said. T-Mobile starts selling the iPhone on April 12.