By Sarah Krouse

Verizon Communications Inc.'s core wireless business lost lucrative phone customers in the first quarter, as it offered fewer promotions and focused on upgrading to a faster 5G network.

The carrier said it lost a net 44,000 postpaid phone connections during the period. Those losses were worse than some analysts expected and more severe than the same time last year, when it lost 24,000 postpaid phone connections. Verizon added a net 653,000 new postpaid phone connections during the fourth quarter of 2018.

Wells Fargo analysts said last week that they expected Verizon to lose 15,000 postpaid phone connections during the period because it had been less generous with promotions than some of its rivals.

The largest U.S. carrier by subscribers said it continued to build out its 5G network and earlier this month began offering 5G service in Chicago and Minneapolis. It has said it plans to roll out the service in 30 cities before the end of the year.

Write to Sarah Krouse at sarah.krouse@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 23, 2019 08:10 ET (12:10 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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