ARPU for wireless carriers in the United States 2013-2018
Wireless carriers in the United States - additional information
The worldwide telecommunication market is divided into the wireline segment, offering mainly fixed voice telephony and fixed broadband access services, and the wireless segment, which includes mobile voice and mobile broadband access services. The later segment is served by communication services companies known as wireless carriers, wireless service providers, mobile network carriers or MNOs (mobile network operators). As of the last quarter of 2015, the largest wireless carriers in the United States based on the number of subscribers are Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA.
The main revenue stream for wireless carriers is represented by individual user subscription packs and related services, which is usually shown in one of the industry’s key figures – ARPU (average revenue per user). This allows comparisons of wireless carriers in the market. An analysis of the U.S. market for example shows that, as of the last reported quarter, the highest ARPU of wireless carriers was U.S. Cellular’s 55.31 U.S. dollars. As of 2015, the United States came in second in a ranking of countries based on the average monthly revenue per mobile user. Wireless operators’ churn rate, another important industry indicator, which shows the percentage rate at which customers stop subscribing to their service, puts Verizon in first place. Its churn rate of 1.23 percent in the last quarter of 2015 meant that it is the wireless company loosing the least customers on the U.S. market.