iWorld
Q4-2015: Verizon reports 5.8 million Fios video connections
BENGALURU: US communications major Verizon, Inc., reported 5.8 million subscribers for its Fios wireline video services for the quarter and year ended 31 December, 2015 (Q4-2015, current quarter, FY-2015, current year). The company reported an increase of 20,000 net Fios wireline video services subscribers in the quarter. Verizon also added 99,000 new Fios internet wireline connections in Q4-2015 taking the total to seven million.
The company says that Fios wireline internet connections increased 6.8 per cent YoY and Fios video connections increased 3.2 per cent YoY. For FY-2015, more than 70 per cent of consumer Fios internet customers subscribed to data speeds of 50 megabits per second or higher. Verizon says that customer interest continued to grow for Custom TV, which represented about one-third of Fios video sales in Q4- 2015.
The company says that Q4-2015 wireline consumer revenues were $4.1 billion, an increase of 2.6 per cent compared with Q4- 2014. Fios revenues represented 80.4 per cent of the total. Comparing Q4-2015 with Q4-2014, total Fios revenues grew 6.8 per cent, to $3.5 billion, and consumer Fios revenues grew 6.6 per cent. Wireline operating income margin was 7.3 per cent in Q4- 2015, up from 4.4 per cent in Q4- 2014. Segment EBITDA margin (non-GAAP) was 24.2 per cent in Q4-2015, compared with 23.9 per cent in the corresponding quarter of last year.
“In 2015, Verizon delivered strong and balanced results in a dynamic competitive environment while returning more than $13.5 billion to shareholders. At the same time, Verizon built and acquired next-generation network capabilities that position the company to be an innovator in the digital-first mobile world in 2016 and beyond,” said Verizon chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam.
Overall revenues in Q4-2015 were $34.3 billion, a 3.2 per cent increase compared with Q4-2014. For the full year, Verizon reported total consolidated revenues of $131.6 billion. FY-2015 revenues grew 3.6 per cent, compared with FY-2014. Current-quarter and third-quarter revenues include results from AOL. New revenue streams from IoT grew, with revenues of approximately $200 million in Q4- 2015 and about $690 million for FY-2015. This is a year-over-year increase of 18 per cent, says the company.
Verizon’s other segment, wireless, reported total revenues of $23.7 billion in Q4-2015, up 1.2 per cent compared with Q4-2014. Service revenues totalled $17.2 billion, down 5.6 per cent year over year. Over the same period, equipment revenues increased to $5.4 billion, up from $4.2 billion, as more customers chose to buy new devices with instalment pricing. For the year, total revenues were $91.7 billion, a 4.6 per cent increase compared with 2014.
Verizon Wireless reported 1.5 million retail postpaid net additions in Q4- 2015 and 4.5 million for the full year. These net additions do not include any wholesale or IoT connections.
The company says that customer retention remained high, with retail postpaid churn at a low 0.96 per cent in Q4-2015, a year-over-year improvement of 18 basis points. Churn was also 0.96 per cent for the year, an improvement of 8 basis points from full-year 2014.
Verizon added 906,000 4G smartphones to its postpaid customer base in Q4-2015. Postpaid phone net adds totalled 449,000 as net smartphone adds of 713,000 were partially offset by a net decline of basic phones. Tablet net adds totalled 960,000 in the quarter, and net prepaid devices declined by 157,000. At year-end 2015, the company had 112.1 million retail connections, a 3.6 per cent year-over-year increase, and 106.5 million retail postpaid connections, a 4.4 per cent year-over-year increase.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
