A pair of carriers shared the top spot in N. Moore Capital Ltd.’s ranking of 20 North American wireless operators’ first-quarter financial results as Verizon Wireless and Canadian operator Telus Mobility both posted the lowest overall score and soundly outpaced the competition. The first-place finish was old ground for Verizon Wireless, which was the highest ranked carrier for all of last year, but marks the first appearance by Telus Mobility, which has consistently posted top results but until now failed to garner the limelight.
The rankings are based on five criteria: subscriber growth as measured by penetration gain; average revenue per user; customer churn; pre-interest expense free-cash-flow per subscriber; and cost of acquisition. The carrier posting the highest ranking in the categories, and thus the lowest combined score, gets the top ranking.
Verizon Wireless, which has been a mainstay at the top of the rankings for more than a year, again posted consistent results including a first-place finish in subscriber growth, with a measure of 1.9-percent penetration gain during the quarter, and top 10 finishes in cost of COA (fifth), churn (fourth) and piFCF per subscriber (eighth). The only category that eluded the carrier’s top 10 show was ARPU coming in 13th overall, but it was not a big enough hit to knock the carrier out of the top spot with 31 total points.
“Some things never change, and Verizon starts 2004 just where it ranked for all of 2003: at the top of the charts as the best performing operator in our sample group,” N. Moore Capital noted in the report.
While not leading any one category, Telus Mobility posted similar trends to Verizon Wireless including top 10 finishes in subscriber growth (eighth), COA (third), churn (second) and piFCF per subscriber (third), weighted down only by a 15th-place showing in ARPU. The results were enough for 31 total points and a share of the winner’s glory.
“Nothing new to report here as Telus continued to be one of the best performing wireless operators in all of North America-albeit finally breaking to the top of the charts with a first-place ranking,” the report said.
The remaining three carriers in the ranking’s top five were only separated by two points, led by Nextel Communications Inc. with 39 points. Nextel posted three top 10 results, including top finishes in both ARPU at $68.92 and piFCF per subscriber at $15.89 and only missed a higher placing due to a 12th-place finish in subscriber growth and a last-place finish in COA at $575.
Hot on Nextel’s heels was Sprint PCS affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc., which followed up the previous quarter’s first top 10 placing by a Sprint PCS affiliate in the rankings at ninth place. Alamosa earned a solid fourth-place finish during the first quarter with 40 points, backed by a trio of top 10 results in subscriber growth (fifth), ARPU (seventh) and piFCF per subscriber (fourth).
Alamosa’s strong quarter was just enough to eke past Western Wireless Corp., which used a second-place finish in piFCF per subscriber and sixth-place customer churn result on its way to 41 total points and a fifth place overall on the list.
Rounding out the ranking’s top 10 were Alltel Corp. with 45 points; Sprint PCS affiliate US Unwired Inc., which moved up from last place in the fourth-quarter 2003 rankings to a tie for seventh with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. with 46 points; Canadian operator Bell Mobility with 49 points; and Nextel Partners Inc. in 10th with 50 points. Cingular posted the lowest COA results at $205, while Bell Mobility posted the ranking’s lowest customer churn at 1.3 percent.
