Tier 2 carrier U.S. Cellular today reported its first-quarter operating income rose 55 percent to $108.5 million up from $70 million in first quarter 2006. In addition, net adds increased 89 percent. The carrier attributed the increase to strong retail net customer adds for the quarter of 146,000 and service revenue growth of 12 percent. "We are concentrating our effects on growing our existing markets and improving profitability as well as integrating several properties acquired last year and early this year," said John Rooney, president and CEO. Here are some other notable metrics:
Subscribers: The total number of customers increased 6 percent year-over-year to 5,973,000. The number of retail customers increased 7 percent to 5,377,000.
ARPU: Average revenue per user increased 5 percent to $48.69.
Churn: U.S. Cellular continues to consistently have low churn. The postpay churn for the quarter was 1.5 percent, which is the same as first quarter 2006.
For more on U.S. Cellular's Q1:
- see this release