SBC Communications reported a return to positve wireline revenue growth, following nearly three years of declines. During Q2, traditional wireline revenue growth was 1.1%, compared to -6.7% for Q2 2003. However, DSL activations were below expectations, which the company attributed to seasonality (end of the school year) and the labor strike at the end of May.
Some highlights for Q2 2004:
- Data revenues – SBC’s data revenues increased 9.5 percent to $2.7 billion in the quarter, SBC’s best-ever quarterly data revenue total and its strongest year-over-year growth in data revenues in more than two years. Data growth was driven by gains in DSL Internet services and expansion in the large-business market.
- Bundles – SBC’s penetration of consumer retail lines with at least one key service – long distance, DSL, Cingular Wireless or SBC / DISH Network video – increased to 54 percent at the end of the quarter, up from 31 percent at the end of the year-earlier second quarter.
- Long distance – SBC’s long distance revenues grew 33.2 percent in the second quarter, driven by strong line growth over the past year. SBC ended the quarter with 18.4 million long distance lines in service, up from 9.8 million a year earlier. In the second quarter, SBC’s total long distance lines increased by 1.4 million, including an upward adjustment of approximately 100,000 lines to align long distance counting methodology with that used for other products.
- DSL – SBC’s net gain in DSL lines totaled 315,000. giving the company a total of 4.3 million DSL lines in service, up 54 percent over the past year. SBC’s DSL penetration is about 11%
- Retail access lines – SBC’s retail consumer line base declined by 558,000 in the second quarter, reflecting typical seasonality due to the end of the school year. This compares with declines of 721,000 in the year-earlier second quarter and 305,000 in the first quarter of this year. SBC’s retail business access line base declined by 228,000 in the quarter, compared with declines of 401,000 in the second quarter of 2003 and 242,000 in the first quarter of this year.
- Video – At the end of June, SBC had 121,000 SBC / DISH Network subscribers in service, 100,000 of them added in Q2. SBC began marketing its integrated SBC / DISH Network satellite TV service in March, expanding from a soft launch to full sales-channel coverage in April.
- Cingular Wireless – Cingular Wireless’ net subscriber additions in the second quarter totaled 428,000, bringing its nationwide cellular/PCS customer base to 25 million, an increase of 2.4 million over the past four quarters.
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