Qwest Communications International Inc. reported a 1.6-percent drop in first-quarter wireless revenues from $126 million during the first quarter of 2004 to $124 million this year. Qwest’s wireless revenues made up less than 4 percent of the company’s total revenues during the first quarter of this year.
The decline in wireless revenues was driven by an 8.9-percent year-over-year drop in its wireless customer base from 816,000 subscribers at the end of the first quarter of 2004 to 743,000 customers this year. The company did report a 7-percent increase in average revenue per user from $43 last year to $46 this year.
Qwest noted that the drop in its wireless customer base included the loss of 11,000 customers during the first three months of this year. The company said that nearly all of the customer losses happened during the first part of the quarter prior to the migration of its customer base from its own network to Sprint Corp.’s wireless network as part of a mobile virtual network operator arrangement that was completed by mid-quarter. Qwest added that it has since seen a drop in customer churn and an increase in customers selecting high-end national rate plans.
Qwest also closed on the sale of its wireless network assets and spectrum to Verizon Wireless for $418 million during the quarter. The deal was originally announced last summer and was dependent on Qwest transferring its customer base to Sprint’s network.
