Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications Inc. again led the wireless industry in N. Moore Capital Ltd.’s ranking of wireless carriers during the third quarter of this year, with the carriers’ garnering a first-place tie in the ranking of five select operational metrics with 31 points and just nipping Canadian wireless operator Telus Mobility, which produced a third-place finish with 33 points.
The three operators also represented the top three positions in N. Moore Capital’s second-quarter rankings, with Verizon Wireless and Telus Mobility tied for first and Nextel a close third.
“Some things never change, and Verizon Wireless and Nextel remain in a tight race, along with Canadian cousin Telus at the top of the charts,” said Jeffrey Hines, president of N. Moore Capital.
The rankings cover 21 North American wireless operators and are based on a handful of operational metrics: subscriber growth as measured by penetration gain, average revenue per user, customer churn, pre-interest expense free-cash-flow per subscriber (piFCF) per month and cost of acquisition. Carriers are ranked from first to 21st in each category with the lowest overall score taking the top prize.
Verizon Wireless posted its fourth straight first-place finish in the rankings with 31 total points due to its industry-leading subscriber growth, and top 10 finishes in cost of acquisition, churn and piFCF per subscriber. The carrier’s only non-top 10 finish was a 12th place ARPU ranking.
Following a first-place tie with Verizon Wireless during the first quarter, Nextel bounced back from its third-place showing in the second quarter to pull even with the nation’s largest operator. In addition to its industry-leading ARPU results during the third quarter, Nextel posted second-place finishes in churn and piFCF per subscriber, a fifth-place finish in subscriber growth and repeated last-place cost of acquisition.
Despite slipping from a tie for first to third, Telus Mobility with 33 total points again placed itself well ahead of its Canadian competitors as well as most of the U.S.-based operators. The carrier’s results included an industry-leading customer churn result, fourth-best in subscriber growth, fifth-best cost of acquisition, eighth-best piFCF per subscriber and 15th place in ARPU.
Western Wireless Corp., which bounced back from a disappointing 11th-place finish in the second quarter, placed a strong fourth place in the third quarter with 44 points. The carrier posted a first-place finish in piFCF per subscriber and was in the top 10 in subscriber growth and customer churn, which was enough to offset a 12th-place ranking in cost of acquisition and 14th-place finish in ARPU.
Canadian operator Rogers Wireless Inc. finished one point behind Western Wireless to garner a fifth-place finish in the ranking with 45 points. Rogers, which recently announced it was dropping AT&T from its name, posted a pair of third-place finishes in subscriber growth and cost of acquisition and an eighth-place customer churn result, along with a 13th-place finish in piFCF per subscriber and an 18th-place finish in ARPU.
Rounding out the top 10 was Dobson Communications Corp. with 49 points, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. with 50 points, Canadian operator Bell Mobility with 51 points, Nextel Partners Inc. with 52 points and Alltel Corp. in 10th place with 53 points.
Of the remaining U.S.-based nationwide operators, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. was the next highest ranked in 11th place with 54 points, followed by Sprint PCS in 12th place with 55 points and T-Mobile USA Inc.’s 14th-place finish with 62 points.
The tail end of the rankings were held by four Sprint PCS affiliates that have continued to suffer from well-documented operational challenges and Leap Wireless International Inc., which recently emerged from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
N. Moore Capital’s Hines noted that net subscriber additions from the 21 carriers in its sample group increased 75 percent year-over-year during the third quarter to more than 4.5 million subscriber additions this year and was the highest subscriber addition total produced by its sample group since the fourth quarter of 2001.
