AT&T 3Q beats expectations
US telco AT&T reported Monday that third quarter earnings increased 73.8 per cent year on year to $2.16bn (£1.15bn), beating analyst expectations. Gains on wireless revenues along with merger integration progress also helped operating revenues jump 51.8 per cent to $15.6bn during the period.
AT&T’s total wireline revenues for the quarter were $14.6bn, up 58 per cent, reflecting a 376,000 increase in consumer connections over the past year to reach 33.1 million.
The telco also continued the initial launch of its U-verse services, which include next-generation television and high speed internet offerings powered by the Project Lightspeed fibre network. Customer totals are at approximately 3,000, or 10 per cent penetration of homes marketed to.
Cingular Wireless achieved a net subscriber gain of 1.4 million in the third quarter to reach 58.7 million, with retail subscribers representing 87 per cent of Cingular’s net additions.
As of this month, Cingular announced that it had completed integration of its nationwide GSM networks, with 99 per cent of Cingular’s minutes now carried on the company’s GSM/3G network.
