Wireless firm revenue rose dramatically from $92 billion in 2002 ...
Wireless firm revenue rose dramatically from $92 billion in 2002 to $104 billion in 2003, while wireline revenue fell sharply, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tues. in a report that also looked at broadcasting and cable revenue. Cable network…
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revenue increased 12% to $27 billion, with advertising revenue increasing 14% to $11 billion. Taken as a group, the bureau said, revenue from broadcasting and telecommunications information firms increased 2% in 2003 to $490 billion. The 13.9% wireless growth came on top of a 17% increase the previous year. In contrast to strong wireless growth, revenue for wireline telecom was down 6.2% to $223 billion. That’s on top of a fall of $23 billion (8.7%) the previous year. Not surprisingly, long distance revenue fell relatively hard, down 13% to $53 billion. On the wireline side, carriers cut expenses 3% to total operating expenses of $197 billion in 2003. Payrolls remained flat at $43 billion after falling 16.3% in 2002. The bureau provides a relatively complete breakdown of other expenses. The biggest other than payroll in 2003 were depreciation at $42.5 billion and access charges at $29.7 billion. Despite declining revenue, taxes rose 11.6% to $6 billion. Among wireless carriers, operating expenses were up 6.2% to $87 billion, compared to the 13.95 billion revenue growth. Annual payroll shot up 14.9% to $11.3 billion for the year, after falling 6.5% the previous year. Advertising was up 11.1% to $4.9 billion. Expenses for cable increased 9% to $19 billion, led by program and production costs, which increased 14% to $10 billion. Depreciation was up 19.2% to $18.4 billion. Wireless carriers reported paying only $6.4 billion in access charges. Taxes rose 12.9% to $729 million. Cable and other program distribution revenues increased 12% between 2002 and 2003 to $63 billion; basic programming revenue increased 10% to $38 billion and revenue from Internet access services increased 79% to $7 billion. Expenses increased 6% to $56 billion with program and production costs increasing 15% to $17 billion. - HB, AV