Telecom Lead America: AT&T has recorded 0.2 percent in Q4 2012 revenues to $32.6 billion.
Divested Advertising Solutions business unit as well as Superstorm Sandy affected its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012.
In Q4, AT&T reported net loss of $3.9 billion against net loss of $6.7 billion in Q4 2011.
For full year 2012, AT&T’s revenues grew 2.4 percent to $127.4 billion against $126.7 billion in 2011.
Net income in 2012 grew to $7.3 billion from $3.9 billion in 2011.
Capital expenditures (Capex) were $19.7 billion versus $20.3 billion, including a 10.6 percent increase in wireless-related capital investment versus 2011, as AT&T aggressively deployed next-generation mobile broadband networks.
Led by investments in Project VIP growth initiatives, Capex will be in the $21 billion range with increased spending in wireless and stable wireline investments.
AT&T says LTE build will cover 250 million or more of the U.S. population by yearend.
“Our key growth platforms — mobile data, U-verse and strategic business services — all have good momentum with a lot of headroom,” Stephenson said. “We’re off to a strong start executing Project VIP, our plan to expand our high-growth platforms to millions more customers, and our 4G LTE network deployment is ahead of schedule, delivering outstanding performance,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive officer.
WIRELESS REVENUE
Total wireless revenues, which include equipment sales, were up 5.7 percent to $17.6 billion.
Wireless service revenues increased 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter to $14.9 billion.
Wireless data revenues — driven by mobile Internet access, access to applications, messaging and related services — increased by 14.7 percent from the year-earlier quarter to $6.8 billion.
Data revenue growth was slowed by the growth of Mobile Share plans. Fourth-quarter wireless operating expenses totaled $15.1 billion, up 6.9 percent, driven by smartphone volumes, and wireless operating income was $2.6 billion, down 1.2 percent.
AT&T posted a net increase in total wireless subscribers of 1.1 million in the fourth quarter to reach 107.0 million in service.
Postpaid subscriber ARPU increased 1.9 percent versus the year-earlier quarter to $64.98. When adjusted for the Superstorm Sandy impact, postpaid ARPU grew 2.1 percent.
AT&T sold 10.2 million smartphones in the fourth quarter. Smartphones represented 86 percent of postpaid device sales and 89 percent of postpaid phone sales in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, 69.6 percent, or 47.1 million, of AT&T’s postpaid phone subscribers had smartphones, up from 58.5 percent.
AT&T’s ARPU for smartphones is twice that of non-smartphone subscribers, and about 90 percent of smartphone subscribers are on FamilyTalk, Mobile Share or business plans. Churn levels for these subscribers are lower than for other postpaid subscribers. About 55 percent of AT&T’s postpaid smartphone customers now use a 4G-capable device.
In the quarter, the company activated 8.6 million iPhones, with 16 percent new to AT&T.
The number of subscribers on usage-based data plans (tiered data and Mobile Share plans) continues to increase. More than two-thirds, or 31.7 million, of all smartphone subscribers, are on usage-based data plans. This compares to 56 percent, or 22.1 million, a year ago and 31 percent two years ago. More than three-quarters of customers on tiered data plans have chosen the higher-priced plans.
For the fourth quarter, postpaid churn was 1.19 percent, down when compared to 1.21 percent in the year-ago fourth quarter. Total churn was 1.42 percent versus 1.39 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
WIRELINE REVENUE
Total fourth-quarter wireline revenues were $14.9 billion, down 0.5 percent. Fourth-quarter wireline operating expenses were $13.1 billion, down 0.9 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2011.
Revenues from residential customers totaled $5.5 billion, an increase of 3.0 percent. Continued strong growth in consumer IP data services in the fourth quarter more than offset lower revenues from voice and legacy products. For full-year 2012, consumer revenues were up 1.9 percent versus 2011.
IP revenues now represent 61 percent of wireline consumer revenues, up from 53 percent. Increased AT&T U-verse penetration and a significant number of subscribers purchasing multiple services drove 17.7 percent year-over-year growth in IP revenues from residential customers (broadband, U-verse TV and U-verse Voice) and 4.0 percent sequential growth. Total U-verse revenues grew 36.3 percent compared with the year-ago fourth quarter.
Total U-verse subscribers (TV and high speed Internet) reached 8.0 million in the fourth quarter. U-verse TV added 192,000 subscribers to reach 4.5 million in service. U-verse High Speed Internet delivered a fourth-quarter net gain of 609,000 subscribers to reach a total of 7.7 million. The company has more consumer U-verse High Speed Internet subscribers than DSL subscribers. AT&T wireline broadband subscribers were flat; however, total broadband ARPU was up more than 10 percent.
Fifty-five percent of U-verse broadband subscribers have a plan delivering speeds up to 12 Mbps or higher — up from 46 percent in the year-ago quarter. About 90 percent of new U-verse TV customers also signed up for U-verse High Speed Internet in the fourth quarter. About 70 percent of AT&T U-verse TV subscribers take three or four services from AT&T. ARPU for U-verse triple-play customers was more than $170, up year over year. U-verse TV penetration of customer locations continues to grow and was at 18.7 percent at the end of the fourth quarter.
Revenue from Strategic Business Services Lead Wireline Business were $9.1 billion, down 2.1 percent. Business service revenues declined 2.3 percent. Business revenues were impacted by a slow economy and weak government and business spending.
Revenues from strategic business services, the next-generation capabilities that lead AT&T’s business solutions — including Ethernet, VPN, hosting, IP conferencing and application services — grew 10.6 percent. Total business IP data revenues grew 2.4 percent, continuing the transition from legacy data products to next-generation data services.
