Verizon capped off 2015 with a strong quarter, bolstered by continued additions to its wireless subscriber base and the ever increasing demand for broadband internet. Overall, the company saw revenue grow 3.6 percent year over year with earnings reaching $131.6 billion for 2015.
In 2015 Verizon was neck and neck with T-Mobile for the largest growth in mobile customers, with Sprint and AT&T trailing far behind. Part of that success was Verizon's low churn, meaning customers who signed up for their wireless service stuck around. On its investor call the company said it was hard at work on deploying the technology needed for 5G wireless connectivity, and promised it would be the first to deploy it in the United States.
customers who signed up for verizon's wireless service stuck around
Signaling a move away from traditional TV subscriptions and toward cord cutting, Verizon added 99,000 Fios internet subscribers, roughly five times the 20,000 Fios video subscribers it gained in the past quarter. That matches a trend seen across the industry, as customers move away from large, expensive cable bundles. Customers are also increasingly dropping the voice portion of triple play packages that Verizon offers, keeping video and internet, but ditching their landlines.
Verizon's fastest growing division was a relatively new one, connected devices from the Internet of Things. This quarter revenue for that segment increased 18 percent year over year to $200 million. In total IoT accounted for $690 million in revenue in 2015, a small but promising new line of business.