Verizon just reported that the number of its subscribers using Infospace's wireless data services was 1 million for the quarter just ended, which is huge. Compare that with Infospace's goal of having 5 million subscribers for the year from all of the two dozen carriers using their services worldwide and you can see that Infospace's five million target number will be exceeded by a huge margin. Verizon alone already accounts for one fifth of Infospace's year end goal, and Verizon still has three fourths of the year ahead of it--and that's not including subscriber numbers from AT&T Wireless, Alltel, Virgin Mobile, thet Brazilian Carriers, AustriaOne (Austria has the highest mobile phone market penetration rate of any country), etc. Here's a news report stating Verizon's subscriber numbers.
Verizon Wireless Fights Churn
Dan McDonough, Jr.
Wireless NewsFactor
April 5, 2001
Verizon Wireless said its subscriber base in the first quarter grew 14 percent from last year's levels to a total of 28 million.
According to the United States' largest wireless carrier, demand for wireless services in the first quarter was strong as it added more than 518,000 net new customers in the quarter.
Particularly hearty was the company's wireless data service, which ended the quarter with more than 1 million subscriptions.
"This was pretty much in line with our expectations -- maybe a little bit more," Verizon Wireless spokesman Jim Gerace told Wireless NewsFactor about the growth in data services. "That's pretty good," he added.
Churn Inches Up
Verizon said gross customer additions rose 8 percent over the year-ago quarter. Net additions, which are reduced by subscriptions lost, were hurt by prepay customers' removal from the customer list.
"This is an issue the entire industry is dealing with," said Gerace.
Before Verizon Wireless' formation by Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. -- now Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) -- the standards for dropping prepay customers from the list were not uniform.
Now, according to Gerace, Verizon Wireless has established a standard way to account for these customers: The company removes them from the rolls after 60 days of inactivity and adds them to the company's churn.
As a result of this new system, the company posted a total churn rate of 2.8 percent including prepay customers, marginally higher than the fourth quarter's rate, and a post-paid churn rate of 2.3 percent, down slightly from the fourth quarter's rate.
Rising Revenue
Verizon Wireless said its efforts to improve its customer base -- specifically, getting customers on contract -- is paying off.
The company said its net customer additions under contract increased by more than 50 percent from last year, with nearly all net customer additions in the quarter under contract.
Also, service revenue per subscriber rose more than 2.5 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Public Plans on Hold
Though Verizon Wireless seems to have its financial house in order, there is no indication of when it finally will go public as originally planned.
Gerace said market conditions are keeping the company from bringing its stock to market. He also said there is no rush for an IPO right now.
When an investing frenzy heats up the market, that is when Verizon Wireless will start trading. As long as it takes. |
