Verizon Reports Growth For FiOS

In its 4Q and year-end 2010 results, Verizon provided some statistics on its wireless and wired businesses.

In wireline businesses, Verizon continued to add customers served by its FiOS fiber-optic network in the United States. In the fourth quarter of 2010, Verizon added 197,000 net new FiOS Internet customers and 182,000 net new FiOS TV customers. By year-end, Verizon had 4.1 million FiOS Internet and 3.5 million FiOS TV customers.

FiOS Internet penetration (customers as a percentage of potential customers) was 31.9 percent by the end of the quarter, with the product available for sale to 12.8 million premises. This compares with 28.3 percent and 11.6 million, respectively, at year-end 2009.

FiOS TV penetration was 28.0 percent by the end of the quarter, with the product available for sale to 12.4 million premises. This compares with 24.7 percent and 11.1 million, respectively, at year-end 2009.

FiOS revenues generated approximately 53 percent of consumer wireline revenues in fourth-quarter 2010, compared with approximately 50 percent in third-quarter 2010.

Total wireline broadband and video revenues – including FiOS Internet, FiOS TV and HSI (DSL-based high-speed Internet) – were $1.8 billion in the quarter, up 18.4 percent from fourth-quarter 2009.

Verizon Wireless, in the fourth quarter of 2010, added 872,000 retail postpaid customers, and 803,000 total retail customers, which includes a decrease of 69,000 retail prepaid customers. These additions exclude acquisitions and adjustments.

At the end of the fourth quarter, the company had 87.5 million retail customers, which represented 93 percent of the company’s wireless customers.

The company also added 152,000 reseller customers in the fourth quarter.

The company had a total of 94.1 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter. In addition, the company had 8.1 million other connections – such as machine-to-machine and telematics. This was an increase of 186,000 net other connections in the quarter, and brought the number of total wireless connections to 102.2 million at year-end 2010.

At year-end 2010, 26 percent of Verizon Wireless’ retail postpaid customer base had smartphone devices, up from 15 percent at year-end 2009. In fourth-quarter 2010, more than 75 percent of Verizon Wireless’ postpaid net adds were smartphones.

Retail postpaid churn was 1.01 percent. Total retail and total customer churn levels were 1.37 and 1.34 percent, respectively. All churn levels improved year over year and sequentially.