Verizon Loses More Subscribers Than Expected in Tight Market
Verizon is the first of the big three US telecom companies to report first-quarter results.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/BloombergVerizon Communications Inc. reported a larger-than-expected decline in mobile-phone subscribers in the first quarter, the result of heavy competition and less spending by government agencies.
The largest US wireless provider recorded a loss of 289,000 monthly phone subscribers, according to a statement Tuesday, more than the 185,500 loss estimated by analysts on average. That’s a significant reversal from the 568,000 subscribers added in the fourth quarter and more than double the decline recorded at the same point last year. Verizon attributed some of the loss to reductions at some federal agencies, as the Trump administration moves to slash thousands of jobs.