EDINBURGH, VA.—Shenandoah Telecommunications Co.’s first quarter net income was boosted by a one-time tax gain, but excluding the tax gain net income was down $200,000 from last year’s first quarter. However, the company’s wireless unit posted strong growth.
The Sprint Nextel Corp. CDMA affiliate’s wireless revenues grew strongly, up 20 percent from 2005’s first quarter to $26.2 million. Its net customer additions posted even better figures, at 6,150 net new subscribers—a leap of almost 43 percent from the first quarter of last year. In addition, Shentel said it added another 1,072 wholesale prepaid customers who used nearly 18 million minutes on its network, and that it ended the first quarter with almost 40,000 wholesale prepaid customers.
Shentel also cut its first quarter churn rate from 2.1 percent in 2005 to 1.9 percent last quarter. Its wireless operating income was $2.6 million, up from $1.8 million in last year’s first quarter.
Shentel’s tax gain came from the liquidation of its Rural Telephone Bank. Meanwhile, the company lost about $1.6 million on its converged services offering that primarily provides voice, video and/or data services to off-campus college students. Shentel also lost nearly 600 Internet customers, though it increased its number of DSL customers by about 75 percent.
Shentel recently announced that it is in negotiations over the terms of its affiliate agreement with Sprint Nextel, and that it is considering the sale of its wireless operations. Shentel is one of four remaining independent Sprint Nextel CDMA affiliates.
