Top Telecom Players Last Year: Wireless Service Revenue Trends

In this part, we’ll look at the two important components of US telecom carriers’ wireless revenues. The larger component is wireless service revenues, and the smaller component is wireless equipment revenues.

Service revenues represent a stable revenue stream common to wireless carriers like Verizon Communications (VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS), AT&T (T), and Sprint (S).

Verizon generated wireless service revenues of $47.2 billion in the first nine months of 2017—a ~6.0% reduction YoY (year-over-year). This reduction in wireless service revenues was primarily driven by lost overage revenues and pricing plan optimization, largely by single-line users after the launch of its unlimited offering.

T-Mobile’s wireless service revenues grew ~8.8% on a YoY basis to $22.4 billion in the first nine months of 2017. This growth in service revenues was primarily due to an increase in the company’s customer base in existing and expansion markets, driven by its UN-Carrier plan initiatives and its MetroPCS brand.

Sprint’s wireless service revenues fell ~6.1% YoY to reach $11.4 billion in the first two months of fiscal 2017 (ended March 2018). This decline in wireless service revenues was due to changes to the company’s device insurance program as well as to lower postpaid phone ARPU (average revenue per user).

AT&T’s wireless service revenues from its combined domestic operations fell ~2.4% YoY to $43.6 billion in the first nine months of 2017, due to the continued adoption of unlimited plans as well as to intense wireless competition.