7 percent versus the comparable period
Iridium reported third-quarter total revenue of $107.5 million, which consisted of $81.6 million of service revenue and $25.9 million of equipment, engineering and support revenue. Total revenue increased 7 percent versus the comparable period of 2013, while service revenue grew 8 percent from the year-ago period. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, was 76 percent of total revenue for the third quarter of 2014.
The Company ended the quarter with 726,000 total billable subscribers, which compares to 655,000 for the year-ago period and is up from 705,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. Total billable subscribers grew 11 percent year-over-year, driven by strength in machine-to-machine ("M2M") and commercial voice customers.
"We posted another good quarter today, while also raising our full-year 2014 outlook for service revenue and cash flow," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. "Our M2M business continues to be the industry standard with double-digit subscriber and revenue growth, while our maritime business is again gaining ground, with Iridium OpenPort® revenue expanding 29 percent year-over-year. Iridium GO!™ has been an early market success, and a strong order book proves it, with more than 5,000 units already shipped. We're pleased that early indications suggest a higher ARPU for this product, showing that customers want to stay connected through their smartphones, tablets and other personal devices anywhere in the world."