A "reciprocal exchange" is an insurance enterprise in which all insurance subscribers contract directly with one another, promising to pay a share of any losses the others suffer.
In 2010 alone, AT&T activated 15.2 million iPhones on its network, of which 3.9 million went to new subscribers, accounting for the bulk of the company's growth in subscribers with contracts, Mr. Moffett estimated.
The wireless division added 1.5 million contract subscribers, its most valuable type of customer, in the third quarter, bringing the total number of subscribers on contracts to 34.8 million.
Even so, its market share of subscribers on contracts dropped to 13 percent in 2010, down from 17 percent in 2008, according to Barclays Capital.
Verizon Wireless on Tuesday reported adding more than twice as many subscribers under contract.
Sprint posted a net loss of 114,000 subscribers on contract-based plans, which are more lucrative.
Sprint continued to lose subscribers on contract-based plans, which are the most lucrative, because of the decline of Nextel.
But shares of Sprint Nextel, the telecommunications company, added 2.8 percent after the company said it gained subscribers under contract for the first time in about four years.
Although they have the same number of subscribers and contracted data rate, they are different SLAs as follows: VNO GB, the allocated data rates for services are guaranteed to be in a range [50, 100]% of the service data rate.
The company in a statement posits that the decline of subscribers under contract is "likely due to customer expectations of a fourth quarter iPhone launch".
