The following charts the top 10 U.S. wireless carriers in the first quarter of 2010 by subscriber base, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, and includes major metrics--such as churn, ARPU and revenue--of each carrier. The subscriber figures include both retail and wholesale customers.
And click here [1] for our analysis of the major trends among U.S. carriers in the first quarter.
Also, don't forget to see how these figures stack up against first quarter [2], second quarter [3], third quarter [4] and fourth quarter 2009 [5] figures. Finally, make sure to check this summary of the world's handset makers' performance in the first quarter [6] and this look at first quarter earnings reports from the world's wireless players [7].
| Top US Wireless Carrier Metrics Q1 2010 (ranking by subscribers, retail + wholesale) | |||||||
| Carrier | Subscribers (millions) | Net Adds (millions) | Churn (Avg Monthly) |
Service Revenue (US$ millions) | Data % of Service Revenue | ARPU | |
| 1 | Verizon Wireless | 92.801 | 1.548 | 1.40% | $13,845 | 33.3% | $50.15 |
| 2 | AT&T | 86.987 | 1.857 | 1.30% | $12,850 | 32.1% | $49.81 |
| 3 | Sprint Nextel* | 47.818 | -0.082 | 3.03% | $6,432 | 35.3% | $48.14 |
| 4 | T-Mobile USA | 33.713 | -0.077 | 3.10% | $4,578 | 24.1% | $45.22 |
| 5 | MetroPCS | 7.331 | 0.692 | 3.70% | $853 | n/a | $39.83 |
| 6 | US Cellular | 6.147 | 0.006 | 1.91% | $965 | 20.9% | $52.42 |
| 7 | Leap Wireless | 5.400 | 0.446 | 4.5% | $585 | n/a | $37.96 |
| 8 | Clearwire | 0.971 | 0.283 | 3.0% | $107 | 100.0% | $42.77 |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bell | 0.523 | -0.010 | 3.3% | $69 | 24.4% | $43.42 |
| 10 | Ntelos | 0.445 | 0.007 | 3.1% | $96 | 21.1% | $51.25 |
| 11** | Cellular South** | n/a | |||||
| *Sprint Nextel subscribers and net adds excluding estimated number of affiliate subscribers, but including wholesale; service revenues excluding wholesale and affiliate **Cellular South is a private company and does not reveal its metrics, but is presumed to be in top 10 but have under 1 million subscribers Source: Strategy Analytics, based on carrier reports |
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Strategy Analytics plans to release its 2010 U.S. carrier outlook report and forecast next week.
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/appraising-u-s-wireless-operators-first-quarter/2010-05-13
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/slideshow/grading-top-7-u-s-carriers-first-quarter-2009
[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/slideshow/grading-top-10-u-s-carriers-second-quarter-2009
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/pages/grading-top-10-u-s-carriers-third-quarter-2009
[5] http://www.fiercewireless.com/pages/grading-top-10-u-s-carriers-fourth-quarter-2009
[6] http://www.fiercewireless.com/global-handset-market-first-quarter-2010
[7] http://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless-first-quarter-2010