Despite a loss in roaming revenues due to Verizon Wireless’ acquisition of Alltel, U.S. Cellular increased its first-quarter service revenues and reported strong gains in data revenue.
U.S. Cellular reported net income of $84.6 million in the first quarter compared with $70.6 million a year ago. ARPU increased 1 percent, to $52.54. Postpaid churn was a respectable 1.5 percent.
The postpaid segment represents 95 percent of U.S. Cellular’s retail base.
Sales of smartphones and premium devices, including BlackBerry and Windows Mobile solutions, have nearly tripled year over year, the company said. New handsets released in the quarter included the HTC Touch Pro.