Verizon data revenue tops $3.6 billion in 1Q

Verizon Wireless appears to be weathering the poor economic climate remarkably well. Parent company Verizon Communications, which reported its first quarter earnings this morning, had total operating revenues of $26.6 billion, up 11.6 percent from first quarter 2008. In addition, it reported $6.4 billion in cash flow, up $1 billion, or 19.1 percent, year over year. 

As usual, the company's wireless unit remains its crown jewel. In the first quarter, Verizon had net customer adds of 1.3 million, excluding acquisitions and adjustments, for a total subscriber base of 86.6 million. 

Data revenue: Verizon's data revenue was $3.6 billion, up 56.2 percent, or 36.8 percent on a pro forma basis, from the first quarter of 2008. 

Data ARPU: Total data ARPU was $14.16, up 20.8 percent over the previous year. During its earnings call this morning, Verizon executives said the main drivers of wireless data are email, broadband usage and messaging. However, non-messaging revenue is up 47 percent year over year.

BlackBerry ARPU: Verizon President and COO Denny Strigl said on the earnings call that the average ARPU for a BlackBerry user at Verizon is $100. 

Verizon and the iPhone? Responding to a question about news reports that Verizon is contemplating a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone, Strigl said the company is always open to discussions with any suppliers. "We have no announcements to make today relative to Apple. Historically we have not been dependent upon one device," Strigl said.

Smartphones: At the end of first quarter, Verizon had 19.3 million integrated devices in the core Verizon base. Smart phone and PDA sales were strong in first quarter and accounted for 41 percent of direct device sales.

For more:
- See this press release [1]

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