Cellular Numbers

"VZW leads in a number of key benchmarks. Growth is stronger, costs are lower, fewer customers drop service and the company is adding more premium subscribers than its rivals. At the same time, Sprint and Cingular have to devote lots of time and money to integrate large acquisitions - not a problem for VZW. As a result, Verizon Wireless generates sharply higher operating profit margins..... At the most basic level, all three companies are growing quickly and are only separated by a few million subscribers. Cingular Wireless, jointly owned by AT&T and BST , leads the trio with 55.8 million customers. VZW is second in the nation at 53 million and Sprint is third with more than 51 million, including customers who will be obtained in several pending acquisitions... Behind the headline numbers, however, VZW has set the tone in a number of areas. The company has applied most of its energy to improving customer service and network quality in a simple dual-pronged strategy to attract customers."