Verizon announced that its mobile customer growth remained strong throughout the fourth quarter of 2014. This included sustained customer demand for 4G smartphones and tablets, which helped grow retail postpaid gross additions both sequentially and year over year. Customer phone upgrades approached 10 percent, higher than the 9.5 percent previously expected, as upgrade volumes trended higher in the course of December.
Verizon said it expects Q1 2015 wireless margins to return to historical levels, after the earlier forecast dip in Q4. The strong customer volumes, together with promotional offers, put pressure on its wireless EBITDA margins in the past quarter. Churn also increased in Q4 due to the intense competition. Verizon said it focused on accelerating upgrades of high-quality customers to 4G smartphones on its More Everything shared data plans.
In wireline, the company reiterated its commitment to achieve full-year expansion of the wireline segment EBITDA margin. Verizon will report fourth-quarter 2014 results on 22 January.
