Verizon claims most new subscribers in Q1 results
updated 01:15 pm EDT, Mon April 28, 2008
Verizon adds subscribers
Verizon is claiming to have had extremely healthy financial results in its first quarter, despite intense competition and a failing American economy. Total revenues increased 5.5 percent to $23.8 billion, while operating income went up 14.1 percent to $4.3 billion. The company notably claims that its Wireless division gained more customers than any of its rivals, at a net increase of 1.5 million; this is despite the threat posed by Sprint's Simply Everything plan, and the iPhone carried by AT&T.
AT&T's wireless revenues grew by 18.3 percent in the most recent quarter and are believed to be at least partly supported by Apple's handsets. Over 1.7 million sold in the same quarter and were primarily sold in the US market, though unlocking attempts have made it difficult to determine how many are official AT&T subscribers.
Verizon is also highlighting its FiOS fiber-optic services, which have been gradually expanding to more US regions during the past year. Net subscriptions to FiOS TV increased by approximately 263,000, to 1.2 million; this was actually faster than the adoption of the core FiOS Internet package, which rose by 262,000 to 1.8 million. In total Verizon now has about 8.5 million broadband customers, a jump of 14.9 percent.
