(Reuters) – Verizon Communications added more wireless subscribers than expected in the second quarter, it reported on Monday, boosted by strong demand for its flexible plans that also have streaming services, including Netflix and Disney+, at discounted prices.
The telecom firm said it added 148,000 net monthly bill-paying wireless phone subscribers from April to June, beating analysts’ estimates of 127,870 additions, according to Visible Alpha. It lost 68,000 subscribers in the prior quarter.
Launched in May last year, Verizon’s myPlan allows customers to pay for only what they need and has helped the company compete better with AT&T and T-Mobile US in the tightly controlled U.S. telecom market.
Verizon also partnered with streaming services to offer promotional bundles from platforms such as Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery’s Max and Disney’s services.
It even raised the price of some older plans in March to prompt customers to switch to the new plans.
The company’s consumer business reported 8,000 wireless retail postpaid phone net losses in the latest quarter, compared with 136,000 losses a year ago.
Still, its revenue of $32.8 billion fell short of analysts’ estimates of $33.06 billion, according to LSEG data.
Analysts have said Verizon is reeling from a historically low number of people upgrading their phones, although that could change when Apple releases its latest iPhones later this year.
Shares of New York-based Verizon were down about 1% in premarket trading. The company’s stock price has risen 10% so far this year.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
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