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Verizon Wireless Ranked Number One in Benchmark Report

Verizon Wireless has been ranked No. 1 in Technology Business Research's 4Q 02 mobile operators benchmark report, while Nextel Communications' improved financial performance boosted the company to the No. 2 position.

"Verizon Wireless improved to the No. 1 position in TBR's 4Q02 mobile operator competitive benchmark, thanks to consistent profitability metrics, an improved subscriber churn rate and strong net subscriber additions," according to analyst Jay Slattery. Verizon Wireless tied Nextel for lowest subscriber churn rate of 2.1% during 4Q02. The company's total subscriber base increased to 32.5 million, adding 970,000 net new subscribers, trailing only T-Mobile USA during the fourth quarter. Market share improved 40 basis points to 22.9% during 4Q02 based on TBR's estimate of 142 million subscribers in the United States. The company remains the best positioned U.S. wireless carrier due to its subscriber base of more than 32 million, continued strong profitability and its expansive network. The network is currently being upgraded to cdma2000 1X for increased voice capacity and high-speed data services. Verizon Wireless' cdma2000 1x network now covers more than 80% of its PoPs.

Nextel is in the No. 2 position in TBR's wireless operator benchmark due to its consistent subscriber growth, profitability and industry-leading ARPU. The company continues to show financial improvement on a quarterly basis because of its revenue growth, reduced debt and Direct Connect differentiation.

"Nextel's focus on the business market and its costs saving initiatives over the past year are paying dividends for the company," said analyst Chris Foster. "The company has done a solid job of differentiating itself in a competitive market while leading the industry in reducing operating costs."

  Verizon Wireless Nextel Cingular Wireless Sprint PCS AT&T Wireless T-Mobile USA

NBQ Mobile Operators Benchmark

NBQ Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 (tied) 5 (tied)
NBQ Score 5.49 5.40 5.14 4.78 4.69 4.69

Market Dynamics

Subscriber Market Share 22.9% 7.5% 15.4% 10.4% 14.7% 7.2%
Year-to-Year Subscriber Growth 10.5% 22.4% 1.5% 8.9% 13.7% 41.8%
ARPU US$49 US$69 US$51 US$62 US$60 US$50

Business Model

Year-to-year Revenue Growth  16.30% 23.90% 0.60% 10.60% 14.70% 57.60%
Profitable Yes Yes Yes No No No
Cash Position ** $1.8 billion $898 million $394 million $2.4 billion $36.5 million
Long-term Debt ** $12.1 billion $12.5 billion $15.7 billion $11.1 billion $8.3 billion

Network Infrastructure

2G Network CDMA iDEN/TDMA TDMA/GSM CDMA TDMA GSM
2.5/3G Migration Path cdma2000 TBD GSM/GPRS to EDGE/UMTS cdma2000 GSM/GPRS to EDGE/UMTS GSM/GPRS to EDGE/UMTS

Network Infrastructure

Investors Verizon Comm. & Vodafone Motorola SBC Communications and and BellSouth Sprint NTT DoCoMo Deutsche Telekom
Legal Status Private joint venture Public Private joint venture Public Public Subsidiary

* Partial metrics from NBQ benchmark methodology displayed in table above.
** Not reported directly; Verizon Communications has $1.4 billion in cash and $44.8 billion in long-term debt."

Posted to the site on 15th April 2003

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