Verizon delivers solid numbers & approves DTV delay

Verizon announced solid earnings this morning much to the relief of the analyst community. Wireless came in as the strongest segment as was expected. Wireless revenues for Q4-08 were $12.8B up 12.3% (YoY) compared to the wireline segment which contributed $11.9B to the top line down 2.7%(YoY). Verizon added ~1.2 million post paid wireless subs last quarter compared to ~2 million the quarter before. The only concerning factor was the slight increase in the churn rate which was recorded at 1.35% towards the end of 2008.

Verizon has taken definitive steps towards stemming their losses from land line losses. The recent launch of the 'Hub' is a sound strategy in adding on other broadband enabled services to vanilla VoIP service to present a better value proposition to consumers looking towards wireless substitution.

On a separate note, DTV conversion has been pushed out to June 12. While this makes sense from a consumer point of view, the investors in the spectrum will likely pay dearly in the form of lost quarters. Two quarters is precious time for companies such as Qualcomm and other wireless operators as they work towards stabilizing their new network builds.