Verizon Communications says two-thirds of its customers who bought into its wireless service as part of a free year-long promotional deal from streamer Disney+ have stayed -- as paying customers.

“We think this is unheard of,” says Hans Vestberg, chairman-CEO of Verizon, speaking on CNBC, in regard to the over-delivered expectations.

“We are getting high-quality customers,” he says. “We will not have hundreds of these types of [streaming] agreements. We will have the absolute best ones. ... [As a result] our churn numbers at at an all-time low.” Vestberg didn’t go into specifics.

Additionally, he touts strong results from other similar premium streaming services deals: Apple TV+ and discovery+.

There was much analysis early on when Disney+ launched in November 2019 with the Verizon Media promotion. It was one of the first of the big free, year-long premium streaming service deal connected with a company’s communications service.

Analysts wondered what would happen after the deal ended for both businesses. After a little more than a year of operations, Disney+'s U.S. subscribers grew to an estimated 35 million by the end of 2020 -- from around 10 million at launch.

Verizon Wireless revenue grew 1.2% in the fourth quarter to $13.6 billion; and slipped 0.3% for the 2020 year overall to $53.6 billion.

Verizon said its FiOS internet (broadband) service grew 5.1% in 2020 to 6.2 million subscribers. It added 92,000 subscribers in the fourth-quarter 2020, some 300,000 for the entire 2020 year.

On the flip side, the Verizon FiOS pay TV-video service lost 72,000 subscribers in Q4 2020. For the year, it sank 7.2% or 298,000 subscribers; this versus a 225,000 decline in 2019 over the year before. The service now has 3.85 million subscribers.

The company says TV-video service losses “reflect the ongoing shift from traditional linear video to over-the-top offerings.”

Total FiOS revenue slipped 0.8% for 2020 to $11.1 billion for 2020, slipping 2.5% in the fourth quarter to $2.8 billion.