Verizon’s shares hit 10-year low on Friday following release of Q3
The largest wireless carrier in the U.S. learned a little about basic economics during the third quarter. After raising the administrative charge for postpaid subscribers by $1.35 to $3.30 per voice line, the number of consumer postpaid phone subscribers declined by 189,000 on a year-over-year basis during the third quarter with a churn rate of .88%. The churn is the percentage of subscribers (sometimes in a specific category) that leave a carrier for another and it rose in the quarter due to the higher administrative charge.
53% of Verizon’s consumer subscribers own a 5G capable handset
![53% of Verizon's consumer subscribers have a 5G phone - Verizon's shares hit 10-year low on Friday following release of Q3 results](https://m-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/394419-image/5gvzcheck.jpg)
53% of Verizon’s consumer subscribers have a 5G phone
On the business side, Verizon added 197,000 net new postpaid phone subscribers during the three months. This allowed it to record its fifth consecutive quarter with at least 150,000 net new postpaid phone subscribers in its business unit. The churn rate for the business sector’s postpaid phone business was 1.10%. Revenue for the Business Wireless group was up 5.7% on an annual basis to $3.3 billion. The increase is due to higher pricing and growth in the customer base.
Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg said, “We took a number of actions in the third quarter that helped drive improved operational and financial performance, but we know there’s still more work to be done. The pricing actions we took earlier this year, as well as our new cost savings program, show that we are being deliberate and strategic in our decisions to strengthen our business. At the same time, we are focused on executing our 5G strategy, as we are covering every major market and accelerating our C-Band network build. We are on track to reach 200 million POPs within first-quarter 2023.”
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