Sprint Nextel: Wireline revenues dipped 12% in Q3

Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) may have posted its first year-over-year revenue increase in years with the addition of 644K new wireless subscribers, but wireline revenues took a 12 percent hit year-over-year due to reduced voice volume and reduced data and IP service rates.

Overall, Sprint's total revenue rose 1.4 percent to $8.15 billion, the first year-over-year revenue growth in three years.

On a sequential basis, Sprint's wireline revenues two percent lower due again to voice volume reductions and rate and adjustments related to carrier disputes, which were slightly offset by an increase in equipment sales.

Continuing a common trend Sprint's wireline business has seen in recent quarters, the ongoing movement to IP continues to pay off.

During the quarter, Sprint's wireline total operating expenses declined eight percent year-over-year, a factor it attributes to declining service costs as IP becomes a bigger piece of the wireline base and improvement in SG&A expenses. However, operating expenses were up about six percent due to a reduction in access costs recognized in Q2 2010.

One area of innovation that Sprint will likely continue to build on throughout 2010 and into 2011 is expanding the capabilities of its 165 country IP/MPLS network. The ongoing IP/MPLS drive will be used to offer business customers a way to migrate away from legacy ATM and Frame Relay services to IP, but also to enable its wholesale customers to drive increased integration between wireless and wireline services via new services such as its Wholesale Mobile Integration service.   

For more:
- see the earnings release
- here's FierceWireless' take

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