Small Spectrum Transactions Sought by AT&T; Carrier Q1 Net up
AT&T is looking for small spectrum acquisitions, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said during an earnings call Tuesday. Partly helped by growth in wireless and U-verse, the company’s Q1 income rose to $3.58 billion from $3.4 billion a year earlier.
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AT&T prefers low-band spectrum, de la Vega said. The company has been looking for small spectrum acquisitions and will continue to do so, he said. “We don’t see the data growth slowing … we will look to FCC and others to bring spectrum to markets,” he said. The chief executive declined to speculate what would happen with the Verizon/cable spectrum deal. When asked if AT&T believes it would have to divest spectrum to get things done, similar to the move Verizon is making with its cable spectrum deal, de La Vega said no.
The carrier activated 4.3 million iPhones during the quarter, with 5.5 million smartphones sold overall. About 21 percent of iPhone activations were for customers new to AT&T, the company said. Wireless net adds were 726,000, including 187,000 postpaid. About 30 percent of AT&T’s postpaid customers are using devices that run the carrier’s LTE network. The network covers 35 markets and the carrier’s on track to double its LTE coverage this year and largely complete its rollout by the end of 2013, de la Vega said. Meanwhile, AT&T is a strong, consistent dividend payer and “our philosophy in that regard has not changed,” Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said.
On the U-verse side, the company continues to be optimistic about its growth for the video product, said Stephens. Additionally, it’s optimistic about continuing to shift its 16 million broadband customers from legacy DSL to U-verse broadband, de la Vega said. The company added 200,000 U-verse TV subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total U-verse customer base to 6.2 million. The operator’s number of voice lines declined to 37.8 million at the end of Q1.