In a recent financial update, Verizon Communications revealed a 2.6 percent decrease in revenue, bringing it to $33.3 billion for the third quarter of 2023.
This decline was attributed to reduced wireless equipment revenue and lower postpaid upgrade activity. The company’s net income also saw a dip of 2.8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2022, with a total of $4.9 billion.
Verizon’s capital expenditures for the year-to-date stood at $14.2 billion, which is a decrease from the $15.8 billion reported during the same period in 2022. Verizon did not reveal the number of 5G customers on its network.
Despite these challenges, Verizon managed to add 100,000 net monthly-bill-paying wireless phone subscribers in the third quarter.
The company reported robust broadband growth, with 434,000 new broadband subscribers, marking the fourth consecutive quarter where Verizon exceeded 400,000 broadband net additions. This included 384,000 fixed wireless net additions, an increase of 42,000 compared to the third quarter of 2022.
Verizon’s total broadband subscribers now amount to approximately 10.3 million, with nearly 2.7 million subscribers on its fixed wireless service. Additionally, the company added 72,000 Fios Internet net subscribers, which was an improvement from the 61,000 additions in the third quarter of 2022.
Wireless service revenue for Verizon reached $19.3 billion, reflecting a 2.9 percent increase. This growth was fueled by targeted pricing actions, the allocation of administrative and telco recovery fees from other revenue into wireless service revenue, and the expansion of fixed wireless offerings.
In terms of postpaid services, Verizon reported 100,000 postpaid phone additions and 581,000 retail postpaid net additions. The total retail postpaid churn was 1.15 percent, and retail postpaid phone churn was 0.90 percent.
Verizon reported wireless retail postpaid ARPA of 133.47 in Q3 2023 as compared with 127.76 in Q3 2022.
Verizon Consumer revenue was $25.3 billion, a 2.3 percent decrease, as wireless equipment revenue declined. However, wireless service revenue increased by 2.9 percent, driven by growth in retail postpaid Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA). Consumer reported 51,000 wireless retail postpaid phone net losses in the third quarter, a notable improvement from previous quarters.
The Consumer segment also reported 207,000 wireless retail prepaid net losses but saw growth in fixed wireless and Fios Internet subscriptions, with 251,000 fixed wireless net additions and 69,000 Fios Internet net additions. Consumer Fios revenue for the quarter was $2.9 billion, a slight decrease of 0.2 percent year over year.
On the business front, Verizon Business revenue reached $7.5 billion in the third quarter of 2023, reflecting a 4.0 percent decrease. This decline was attributed to lower wireline revenue and wireless equipment revenue. However, business wireless service revenue increased by 2.9 percent, driven by strong net additions and pricing strategies.
The company reported 330,000 wireless retail postpaid net additions in the business segment, including 151,000 postpaid phone net additions. This marked the ninth consecutive quarter with more than 125,000 postpaid phone net additions, solidifying Verizon’s position as a wireless market share leader.
Despite some challenges in wireless equipment and postpaid segments, Verizon’s strong performance in wireless services and the expansion of its broadband services suggest a resilient outlook for the company.
