Cingular Wireless added 1.7 million net subscribers in Q1, giving it a total base of 55.8 million cellular/PCS subscribers at quarter’s end. This compares to 1.4 million net additions a year ago.
Overall monthly subscriber churn of 1.9 percent, its lowest ever. This represents an improvement of 30 basis points over the year-ago first quarter and a sequential improvement of 20 basis points. Postpaid churn improved by 30 basis points both year-over-year and sequentially to 1.6 percent, another record low.
Gross additions were 4.7 million, which was flat versus the year-ago first quarter and compares to 5.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) in the first quarter of 2006 was $48.48, which was down 2.3 percent from the year-ago first quarter (when ARPU declined 3.3 percent year over year) and down 0.8 percent
versus the fourth quarter of 2005.
Cingular’s data ARPU was $5.22, up more than 41 percent over the year-ago first quarter and nearly 11 percent sequentially. The company’s Business Markets Group signed more than 800 new and renewed high-end service contracts in the quarter.
Capital expenditures for first quarter were $1.4 billion. These were driven by, among other developments, continued progress in merger integration, the rollout of UMTS/HSDPA 3G technology, and improvements in network coverage and quality in markets around the country.
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