One in three Verizon wireless subscribers has a 5G phone
Verizon Wireless is seeing revenue growth, reaching $ 17.8 billion in wireless service revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021. This is a 6.5% year-over-year increase, which the company says is driven by higher average earnings per account, in addition to a contribution from the acquisition of Trackphone Wireless, which closed at the end of November.
In terms of consumer wireless, in particular, the revenue growth of the service was somewhat stronger: 7.7% year-on-year growth, which Verizon said was due to the contribution of TracFone as well as customers accepting unlimited and premium unlimited plans.
Verizon expects strong revenue growth to continue: It provides guidance that by 2022 service revenue will grow by 9-10%, or around 3% excluding TracFone’s contribution.
Verizon added 1.058 million retail postpaid nets for the quarter, including 558,000 phone net additions. Its retail connection base is now 142.8 million. Total retail churn was reported 1.01%, and retail postpaid phone churn was a 0.81%.
For the fourth quarter, Verizon reported 667,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions, comprising 336,000 phone net additions and 369,000 connected devices – as well as loss of 38,000 net tablets. Prepaid Wireless has lost 85,000 net devices, including TracFone’s results since the acquisition.
The carrier has reported the penetration of healthy 5G devices, saying that by the end of 2021, one in three wireless phone subscribers will have 5G-enabled devices.
In terms of broadband, the company reported total net broadband additions (Fios, DSL and fixed wireless access) as 106,000, up 30,000 from the same period last year.
This is steadily increasing from 55,000 in the third quarter of 2021 to 78,000 in the fourth quarter with the addition of FWA net. 2021 has also been the company’s best performance for adding Fios customers since 2014: 360,000 Meanwhile, Fios’ earnings rose 5.7% for the quarter and 4.6% for the year.
Hans Westberg, chairman and CEO of Verizon, called 2021 a “turning year for Verizon that will serve as a catalyst for us.”
“We’ve met all our targets in 2021 and made great strides in our five growth paths, ending the year with strong operating and financial momentum,” he continued. “As we move into 2022, we have the resources we need to realize the strategy we set for 2019. We will be laser-centric, such as 2022, on implementing our 5G strategy and providing value to our customers, shareholders, employees and society. This could be the most exciting year yet for Verizon. “
Total operating revenue for Verizon rose 4.1% year on year to $ 133.6 billion. However, the company’s fourth quarter operating income declined slightly year-on-year due to sales of Verizon Media.
Net income was flat for the fourth quarter, but for the full year 2021, Verizon reported double-digit profit growth of 22 22.6 billion.
Verizon has spent $ 20.3 billion on capital expenditure for the full year 2021, along with its LTE network and the first phase of its C-Band deployment, which covers approximately 95 million people. The carrier reported that in 2021 the C-band-related capex was about $ 2.1 billion.
The company also reported one-time items that resulted in a pre-tax loss of $ 1.2 billion, related to initial debt repayment and separation and pension-related costs.
