Editor’s Note: The companies listed below represent the 20 largest cellular carriers in the United States. Company rankings are based on the total number of subscribers for their majority-held or controlled markets. All subscriber numbers reflect year-end 1999 figures reported by each company.
Triton Cellular Partners L.P.’s and Wireless One Network’s subscriber information was derived from information provided in quarterly financial reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
AT&T Wireless Services Inc., SBC Wireless Inc. and Vodafone AirTouch plc do not distinguish between their cellular and personal communications services customers. AT&T Wireless reported 12.2 million worldwide wireless subscribers; SBC said it had 11.4 million total domestic wireless subscribers; and Vodafone AirTouch reported 9.7 million domestic wireless customers.
During 1999, AT&T Wireless acquired Vanguard Cellular Systems Inc. and its estimated 660,000 wireless customers. AT&T Wireless also purchased Wireless One this February-a deal which is expected to close at the end of the second quarter-as well as BellSouth Corp.’s Hawaiian assets and half of American Cellular. Dobson Cellular Systems owns the other half of American Cellular, and those subscribers are reflected in Dobson’s subscriber total.
SBC completed its acquisition of Ameritech Corp. in October, increasing its wireless customer base by approximately 3.6 million. GTE Wireless acquired several Ameritech properties as well, the largest being St. Louis and Chicago. SBC also bought Comcast Cellular Communications Inc. and is in the process of purchasing Radiofone Inc., which serves more than 200,000 wireless customers in Louisiana and Michigan. Vodafone Group plc completed its acquisition of AirTouch Communications Inc. in June of 1999, and the newly formed Vodafone AirTouch plc completed its acquisition of CommNet Cellular Inc. this January, securing an additional 336,000 customers.
Prior to this, in September, Vodafone AirTouch and Bell Atlantic Corp., which is still in the process of acquiring GTE Wireless, agreed to create a new wireless business comprised of Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch and PrimeCo Personal Communications’ U.S. wireless assets. Bell Atlantic/GTE will own 55 percent and Vodafone AirTouch will own 45 percent. This February, Bell Atlantic, GTE Corp. and Alltel agreed to exchange wireless interests in 13 states, clearing the way for the Bell Atlantic/Vodafone AirTouch merger, expected to close within a year, and eliminating possible overlapping cellular operations.
Alltel completed its acquisitions of Aliant Communications, Durango Cellular and Liberty Cellular during the year, and in July of 1999, Frontier Corp. sold its wireless interests to Bell Atlantic Mobile, giving the company another 400,000 customers. Rural Cellular Corp. is expected to close its acquisition of Triton Cellular Partners this spring.
The RCR Top 20 list is the property of RCR and should not be construed as an endorsement. Ranking information obtained from this feature cannot be reprinted with permission from the company. Copyright 2000 RCR.
