AT&T reports Q4 mobile data revenues of $3.1 billion

AT&T announced profit dropped 23 percent in the fourth quarter as sales of the iPhone 3G slowed and enterprise spending declined. AT&T's Q4 net income fell to $2.4 billion from $3.14 billion a year earlier, while revenues grew 2.4 percent to $31.1 billion. Full-year revenues totaled $124 billion--net income was $12.9 billion and cash from operating activities amounted to $33.7 billion. The AT&T Mobility unit added 2.1 million subscribers in the fourth quarter--in all, the operator gained 7 million wireless customers in 2008, reaching 77 million.

Total monthly subscriber churn in Q4 came in at 1.6 percent, down from 1.7 percent for both the preceding quarter and the year-ago quarter. Postpaid churn was 1.2 percent, flat compared to results for the preceding quarter and the fourth quarter of 2007. AT&T's wireless postpaid subscriber ARPU increased 3.9 percent versus the year-earlier quarter to $59.59--postpaid mobile data ARPU grew 10.9 percent sequentially and 35.7 percent compared to year-ago totals.

AT&T posted fourth quarter mobile data revenues of $3.1 billion, a 51.2 percent increase compared to year-ago totals and the company's 12th consecutive quarter with wireless data revenue growth above 50 percent. AT&T credits the growth to rapid adoption of wireless integrated devices and increased usage of mobile web access, messaging and related services, adding that the number of wireless integrated devices in service more than doubled over the past year; data represented 26.6 percent of the operator's fourth-quarter wireless service revenues, up from 19.9 percent a year ago. Close to 60 percent of its postpaid net adds in Q4 came from customers selecting an integrated device. According to AT&T, 24.9 percent of its postpaid wireless subscribers now have an integrated device, up from 13 percent a year earlier. Consumers sent and received close to 80 billion text messages in Q4, more than double the total for the year-ago period.

Apple's iPhone 3G continues to drive AT&T's mobile data growth--the operator activated 4.3 million iPhone 3G devices in the second half of 2008, including 1.9 million in the fourth quarter, and reports about 40 percent of those activations were for customers new to the carrier. AT&T adds that the iPhone continues to deliver higher-value subscribers than other devices, with ARPU approximately 1.6 times higher and churn rates significantly lower than the operator's overall postpaid subscriber base.

For more on AT&T's Q4 results:
- read this release

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