Verizon posted its first-quarter results, which included 141,000 net new customers to its FiOS TV service, bringing its total TV subscriber base to 348,000 customers. The service provider also has 618,000 customers through its partnership with DirecTV. Verizon has already announced that it plans to spend $18 billion on the entire FiOS rollout, which has cut into earnings by 11 cents a share in the first quarter. Verizon's Denny Strigl, president and COO, said that he expects the dilution to fall in the second quarter.
Standard & Poor's Todd Rosenbluth said, "AT&T is looking to keep everything. For the near term, AT&T is seeing the benefits. A year or two out, we think that what Verizon is doing, while not cost-effective, is a better approach towards fighting cable competition."
Verizon also announced that it will be adding three more HD channels, HGTV HD, Food Network HD and LMN HD (Lifetime Movie Network) to the FiOS IPTV national channel lineup. The three channels will go live by the end of the week. The service provider's HD channel count now totals 27 in most markets. FiOS TV subscribers that are already HD-enabled will receive the three new channels at no additional cost.
For more on Verizon's Q1:
- see this press release