Verizon mobile data revenues up 25.5% in Q4 2010

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) reported fourth quarter 2010 revenues of $26.4 billion, down from $27.1 billion a year ago--its Verizon Wireless unit posted a 7.7 percent service revenues increase over Q4 2009, with mobile data revenues surging 25.5 percent year-over-year. Verizon Wireless added 955,000 total net customers in Q4, and now serves 94.1 million customers, with 102.2 million connections in all. More than 75 percent of Verizon's Q4 postpaid net adds were smartphones, the carrier adds--at the end of 2010, smartphone users made up 26 percent of its retail postpaid customer base, up from 15 percent at year-end 2009. Expect that number to grow significantly in 2011: Verizon Wireless will begin offering Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4 next month.

Verizon Wireless reported retail service revenues totaled $13.5 billion in Q4 2010, up 5.1 percent year over year--retail data revenues reached $5.0 billion, up 22.8 percent over year-ago totals. Retail postpaid ARPU grew 2.5 percent over the fourth-quarter 2009 to $53.50, and retail postpaid data ARPU increased to $19.97, up 19.3 percent year over year. Verizon Wireless customers sent or received more than 180 billion text messages during Q4, as well as close to 4.5 billion photo/video messages. In addition, Verizon subscribers completed over 20 million music and video downloads.

For more:
- read this release
- also check out FierceWireless' comprehensive Q4 2010 earnings coverage

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