Surpassing even the most optimistic forecasts, Verizon Wireless said it added a record 1.7 million subscribers during the third quarter of this year, ending the first nine months of the year with 42.1 million total subscribers. The customer growth topped estimates of between 1.4 million and 1.5 million net customer additions and nearly equaled the total 1.8 million customers added by four of Verizon Wireless’ competitors, which posted results last week.
Verizon Wireless’ 19-percent year-over-year growth in customer additions was helped by a 4.3 increase in gross subscriber additions to 3.5 million customers this year and a drop in customer churn from 1.9 percent during the third quarter of 2003 to 1.5 percent this year, which was ahead of estimates. Average revenue per user also improved 3.1 percent year-over-year from $50.03 during the third quarter of 2003 to $51.58 this year, which included a 4.7-percent contribution from data services.
Wireless revenues increased 23 percent from $5.9 billion during the third quarter of 2003 to $7.3 billion this year, while operating income jumped 46.4 percent from $1.1 billion last year to $1.6 billion this year.
