New York, Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Bell Atlantic Corp. said it added 874,000 wireless customers in the fourth quarter,
bringing its total to 7.7 million, as customers snapped up digital cellular phones as holiday gifts.
The increase includes 452,000 subscribers from Bell Atlantic's purchase of Frontier Cellular and the addition of 363,000
customers at Bell Atlantic Mobile, the unit's best quarter ever, the company said.
The fourth quarter typically is one of the strongest for wireless phone companies, as promotions, gift-giving and new pricing
plans draw customers into stores. In addition, Bell Atlantic may be benefiting from customer frustration with busy signals at
competitors like AT&T Corp., which has been swamped by higher-than-expected demand and use in some markets.
Bell Atlantic said it added 20 percent more wireless subscribers than in the year-earlier quarter, and added more than 1
million new customers in the full year. It ended 1999 with 24 percent more customers than in 1998.
The company also said more than 70 percent of new customers choose digital wireless service. Typically, digital subscribers
use three to four times as many minutes each month as analog subscribers.
In September, Bell Atlantic agreed to combine its U.S. wireless assets with those of Vodafone AirTouch Plc. When the
$84.7 billion purchase of GTE Corp. is completed, the company's wireless division will be the largest in the U.S., with about
22 million subscribers, Bell Atlantic said.
Shares of Bell Atlantic fell 5/16 to 58 1/2 in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Jan/10/2000 17:22
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