Verizon continues to slowly bleed TV subscribers, but also saw a decline in wireless phone subscribers last quarter as well. According to the company's first quarter earnings report released today, Verizon Wireless did manage to add 359,000 subscribers last quarter who are using watches, wearables and other devices, which cost $10 to attach to the company's network. But at the same time the company saw a 24,000 phone customers and 75,000 tablet customers, users who traditionally pay $40 per device to connect to the Verizon Wireless network.
The loss of those customers was reflected by a 2.4% reduction in Verizon Wireless revenues last quarter as the company continues to see defections to T-Mobile.
At the same time, Verizon lost another 22,000 FiOS TV customers during the quarter, largely courtesy to cord cutters looking to avoid soaring traditional cable TV prices. The company offers a so-called "skinny" TV service called Custom TV that may be keeping those numbers from being worse.
Verizon also posted a loss of 14,000 digital voice customers, who are also trimming back on digital home phone services and going wireless only in order to save money. And while the company saw a net gain of 66,000 traditional FiOS subscribers, it saw a 59,000 decline in DSL customers, most of which are stuck in legacy Verizon DSL markets the company simply refuses to upgrade.
While Verizon is eager to focus the conversation on the work its doing to deliver looming fifth-generation (5G) wireless services or its Oath-branded push into digital advertising, most of Wall Street has been more fixated on recent reports that the Justice Department is investigating potential collusion between AT&T and Verizon, allegedly to make it harder than necessary to switch between mobile carriers.