BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless added more than 518,000 new customers during the first quarter, bringing its total customer base to 28 million subscribers.
While Verizon Wireless was pleased with the additions, the carrier noted net additions were negatively impacted by the company’s ongoing plan to remove non-revenue-producing analog prepaid customers from its base. As a result, the company posted a total churn rate of 2.8 percent including prepaid and 2.3 percent postpaid churn for the quarter.
Analysts had expected the wireless carrier to add between 575,000 customers and 750,000 customers for the quarter.
“This was a solid quarter in terms of gross additions, which were in line with our expectations,” said Denny Strigl, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless. “Our net addition subscriber mix of mostly digital contract customers resulted in continued service revenue per-sub accretion. While total churn increased slightly from the fourth quarter, it was primarily due to analog pre-pay churn as we focus on adding customers to more profitable segments.”
