American telecom network operator Verizon has utilized its $2.9 billion investment in Q3 2015 very effectively – focusing more on LTE networks.
The Capex (capital spending) of Verizon rose 17.6 percent in the third quarter of the current year.
For the first nine months of 2015, Verizon’s Capex program touched $8,466 million. It aims to spend between $17.5 billion and $18 billion during the year.
Verizon Investment programs
In the first nine months of 2015, Verizon invested approximately $22 billion in spectrum licenses and capital for future network capacity, in addition to the $4 billion AOL acquisition.
Wireless capital investment of Verizon totaled $2.9 billion in the third quarter of 2015 and $8.5 billion year to date, up 8.4 percent from a year ago.
Verizon reports 3Q earnings growth driven by customer demand for wireless and fios services. https://t.co/I4A8IbDEI7 pic.twitter.com/cxjKoUYdfp
— Verizon News (@VerizonNews) October 20, 2015
Verizon continues to optimize its telecom network. Densification plans, which include deployment of small cells, DAS (distributed antenna system) nodes and in-building solutions, are improving capacity in the near-term as Verizon prepositions its network for 5G.
4G LTE devices constitute more than 76 percent of the retail postpaid connections base. LTE network handled 89 percent of total wireless data traffic in Q3 2015 – an increase of about 75 percent in network data megabytes in the past year.
In the past year, the number of 4G smartphones in Verizon’s customer base has increased by 34 percent to 64.6 million. The company sees opportunities to upgrade its postpaid connections base of about 15 million basic phones and nearly 7 million 3G smartphones to 4G devices.
Verizon customer additions
Verizon, which competes with AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, added 1.3 million net retail postpaid connections in the third quarter.
Verizon Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam said: “We expect future revenue growth from mobile over-the-top video, including digital advertising, and the Internet of Things.”
Verizon’s acquisition of AOL in June is playing an important role in the growth strategy of the telecom network operator. In September Verizon launched go90, a social entertainment platform.
Total operating revenues of Verizon rose 5 percent to $33.2 billion. Q3 revenues include results from AOL.
Revenue streams from Internet of Things (IoT) business of Verizon was approximately $175 million in Q3 2015 and about $495 million year to date. In August Verizon launched hum, a telematics service that creates a smart, connected driving experience with an addressable market of 150 million vehicles in the U.S.
Verizon added 114,000 net new fios internet connections and 42,000 net new fios video connections in the third quarter of 2015.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
