According to Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam, the three-month period ended 31 December 2012 was ‘the best fourth quarter in the history of Verizon Wireless’. McAdam made the admission during the 2013 Citi Global Internet, Media & Communications Conference in Las Vegas, and Fierce Wireless quotes him as crediting its ‘Share Everything’ data-sharing plan as key to luring 2.1 million net registrations to the carrier during the quarter. ‘It is a big hit from the customers’ perspective, as well as ours,’ he noted. Although Verizon is not slated to announce its 4Q12 earnings until 22 January, McAdam confirmed that 85% of devices sold during 2012’s final three months were smartphones, driving the number of LTE users in Verizon’s customer total from 16% to 23% quarter-on-quarter.
Meanwhile, quizzed on the arrival of Japan’s Softbank Corp – which agreed a USD20.1 billion deal for 70% of Sprint Nextel in October – McAdam welcomed the fresh competition, saying: ‘Softbank could go to any country in the world and make an investment. They came to the US. [Three or four strong carriers] is far better than two strong carriers and bunch of weak carriers that are having a hard time meeting their capital demands’.