Centennial looks to 3G deployments, higher ARPU users

Centennial Communications Corp. put out results for its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year that ended May 31, with a consolidated annual revenue exceeding $1 billion.
Consolidated revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $258.7 million, with $142.5 million coming from domestic operations and $116.2 million from its Puerto Rico operations. Consolidated revenue grew 9% and the company ended the quarter and fiscal year with nearly 1.1 million total wireless customers.
During the conference call, Michael Small, Centennial’s CEO, said it continues to tackle competition from the big guys in the U.S. by focusing, like Verizon Wireless does, on post-paid users.
“97% of our customer base is post-paid,” Small said. “We have very few prepaid customers and no reseller relationship. All growth came from the post-paid segment.” Small also said that even though the company’s current data revenues lag in comparison to its larger rivals, he sees a greater opportunity there and expects data revenues to grow as customers migrate to smartphones.
“We still only have 10% of our retail ARPU coming from data,” Small said.
Centennial said its key initiative going forward will be the launch of 3G technology in the Midwest and as the carrier approaches the two-year anniversary of its unlimited plan offerings, Small said they’ll invest more in phone subsidies in hopes of attracting customers to higher ARPU plans.