BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Verizon Wireless reeled in 1.8 million net new customers last quarter, all of which the company says were retail customers—and the second-largest national carrier now claims that “based on publicly available information, that it has the most retail customers of any wireless carrier.” Retail customers are considered subscribers that sign up for wireless service directly through a carrier and not through resellers or mobile virtual network operators.
According to Verizon Wireless, 52.6 million of its 54.8 million customers are direct retail customers.
Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless’ European parent company, Vodafone Group plc, reported customer growth of 10.6 percent, or 4.5 million proportionate customers during the quarter ended June 30, and mobile revenue growth of 6.4 percent compared to the same quarter in 2005. The figures were in line with Vodafone’s guidance.
Verizon Wireless is scheduled to release its full operating results on Aug. 1.
