AT&T wireless data revenues surge 37.2% in Q2

Although AT&T reported a 15 percent decline in second quarter net income due to ongoing struggles in the wireline business, the operator still beat analyst estimates for the period thanks to surging demand for wireless services and products. AT&T posted income of $3.2 billion, or 54 cents a share, down from $3.77 billion, or 63 cents a share, a year earlier--analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecasted earnings of 51 cents on revenue of $30.67 billion. AT&T's wireless subscriber total grew 1.4 million in Q2 to 79.6 million, with 2.4 million new iPhone activations--about a third of those activations were from subscribers new to the company, and AT&T adds that it experienced its best retail store sales day ever on June 19, when Apple's new iPhone 3G S made its debut. Churn dropped to a record-low 1.09 percent, down from 1.2 percent the previous quarter.

According to AT&T, the total number of 3G integrated devices in service on its network increased by more than 3.5 million in the second quarter, and 36 percent of its 62.1 million postpaid subscribers now own integrated devices. Wireless data growth increased 37.2 percent year-over-year to $934 million, with data representing 28.7 percent of AT&T's Q2 wireless services revenues, up from 22.9 percent a year ago. Postpaid wireless subscriber ARPU increased 2.3 percent versus the year-earlier quarter to $60.21, topping $60 for the first time, and postpaid data ARPU grew to $17.72, up $3.66 over Q1 totals. Text messages increased to 108 billion for the quarter, an average volume of more than 1 billion per day and nearly double year-ago totals.  

For more on AT&T's Q2 results:
- read this release

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