e-commerce
Q1-2016: Verizon reports growth in video subscribers, Fios revenue up 5 per cent
BENGALURU: Verizon Communications Inc., (Verizon) added 98,000 net new Fios internet connections and 36,000 net new Fios video connections in the first-quarter of 2016 (quarter ended 31 March 2016, Q1-2016, current quarter) as compared the 133,000 net new and 90,000 net new respective adds duringQ1-2015. Year-on-year (YoY), video subscribers grew 2.2 per cent to 5.863 million in Q1-2016 as compared to 5.739 million in Q4-2015.
Fios digital voice connections in the current quarter increased to 4.800 million as compared to 4.661 million in Q1-2015. Total Fios digital connections increased in Q1-2016 to 17.795 million as compared to 17.194 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.
Verizon’s operations are divided into four business units: wireless services, residential and small business services, enterprise services, and partner programs. Consumer retail, small businesses, mass markets, global enterprise, global wholesale and other are a part of wireline services. Under consumer retail, residential services are a part of wireline services under the brand Fios.
Total Fios revenues grew 5.0 percent YoY to $3,521 million, compared to $3,352 million in Q1-2015., including consumer Fios revenue growth of 4.7 percent. In Q1-2016, consumer revenues were $4,022 million, an increase of 0.8 percent compared with $3,992 million in Q1-2015.
Wireline segment operating income was $589 million (6.3 percent margin) for Q1-2016 as compared to $405 million (4.3 per cent margin). In Q1-2016, wireline generated $2,177 million (23.4 per cent margin) in EBITDA, a YoY increase of 1.2 percent over $2,151 million (22.7 per cent margin) in Q1-2015.
The company says that by the end of first-quarter 2016, about 78 per cent of consumer Fios internet customers subscribed to data speeds of 50 megabits per second or higher. Customer demand remained strong for Custom TV, which represented about 38 per cent of Fios video sales in the quarter.
Verizon informs that during the first quarter, Verizon Enterprise Solutions entered into new agreements with or began servicing a number of clients, including 1-800-Flowers, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Dana Holding Corporation, the Florida Sheriffs Association, Promeditec, PSE&G, South Australia Health & Medical Research Institute, and Wyndham Worldwide.
In the wireline segment, Fios fiber-optic-based services remain the driver of revenue growth and now represent about 81 percent of consumer revenues.
Verizon consolidated numbers
Verizon’s total operating revenues in Q1-2016 were $32,171 million, a 0.6 percent YoY increase compared with $31,884 million in Q1-2015. Excluding AOL, which was not part of Verizon a year ago, total operating revenues declined 1.5 percent. AOL had its highest first-quarter revenues at $669 million in the last five years says Verizon
The company says that new revenue streams from IoT (Internet of Things) are growing, with revenues of approximately $195 million in Q1-2016, a year-over-year increase of about 25 percent.
Verizon’s operating income in Q1-2016 at $7,942 million (24.7 per cent margin) was 0.2 per cent lower YoY as compared to $7,960million (24.9 percent margin). Net Income attributable to Verizon in Q1-2016 totalled $4,310 million (13.4 per cent margin), which was 2.1 per cent more than $4,219 million (13.2 per cent margin) in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Company speak
“Verizon’s strong first-quarter results demonstrate our capacity to compete effectively, while executing on our plan of continued network leadership and seeding new growth markets in mobile video and the Internet of Things,” said Verizon chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam.
e-commerce
ONDC names Vibhor Jain MD and CEO; Rohit Lohia joins as CBO, Manoj Thakur as CTO
Leadership formalised as open commerce network sharpens focus on scale and user value
The Open Network for Digital Commerce has formalised Vibhor Jain as managing director and chief executive officer, cementing a leadership transition at India’s ambitious open commerce platform as it pushes for scale and relevance.
Jain, who had been serving as acting chief executive officer since April last year following the exit of Thampy Koshy, steps into the role with effect from 7th April , according to a report by The Economic Times. He previously served as chief operating officer at the government-backed network, which enables buyers and sellers to transact across applications through an open, interoperable system.
Setting out his strategy, Jain underscored the network’s differentiated architecture. “Going forward, we are concentrating on what open, interoperable infrastructure can uniquely enable, things that no single platform has the incentive or the architecture to do,” he said.
He added that the immediate priority is to widen ONDC’s impact across user cohorts often underserved by platform-led commerce. “My priority is to deepen the value ONDC creates for the people it exists to serve: kisaans, karigars, kiranas, gig workers, first-time investors, and daily commuters across India,” he said.
Jain also flagged leadership reinforcement within the organisation, noting that ONDC has “a strong and exciting leadership team in place”, with Rohit Lohia joining as chief business officer and Manoj Thakur as chief technology officer.
With over 18 years of experience spanning entrepreneurship and consulting, Jain brings a track record in technology-led, large-scale transformation programmes and internet businesses. At ONDC, he has been closely involved in shaping strategy and operations as the network seeks to move digital commerce away from platform-centric models towards an open network approach.
Before ONDC, Jain worked with JUMO, where he helped set up the fintech firm’s India operations, and led the India launch of Mobike, handling regulatory, policy and operational aspects of its market entry. Earlier, he co-founded Atlanta Healthcare, an air quality management company, and spent more than a decade in consulting roles at Andersen and EY, advising governments on public policy and technology-driven reforms, including work on the Aadhaar programme and tax systems.
The mandate is clear but the path is complex. As ONDC attempts to rewrite the rules of digital commerce, Jain now carries the burden of turning open architecture into mass adoption, in a market still dominated by platform power.
