CINCINNATI-Regional telecommunications provider and former AT&T Wireless Services Inc. affiliate Cincinnati Bell Inc. reported $61 million in wireless revenues during the first quarter of this year, which was a 4-percent drop compared with the $64 million the company reported last year. Cincinnati Bell attributed the decline to lower subscriber voice revenue and a $2 million drop in roaming revenue related to AWS’ acquisition by Cingular Wireless L.L.C. that closed last October.
Wireless operating income also plunged from $1.1 million during the first quarter of 2004 to a loss of $20.1 million this year. Cincinnati Bell attributed the drop to a $23 million non-cash writedown of TDMA assets taken out of service during the quarter due to faster-than-expected migration of customers to its GSM network. The company added that 53 percent of its customer base was on its GSM network at the end of the first quarter.
Cincinnati Bell noted that it lost 2,000 subscribers during the first quarter of this year as the loss of 7,000 postpaid subscribers offset a net gain of 5,000 prepaid customers. The company ended the quarter with 479,000 total subscribers, including 299,600 postpaid and 179,400 prepaid customers.
Postpaid customer churn dropped sequentially from 2.78 percent during the fourth quarter of 2004 to 2.64 percent during the first quarter of this year. Prepaid average revenue per user also improved 3 percent year-over-year to $22 during the first quarter, while postpaid ARPU was reported at $48.
