Verizon (VZ) wireless, fiber businesses up; overall profit down

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), reported Q3 earnings that dropped by 33% compared to the year-ago quarter, mainly based on tax-related charges. The telecom stalwart did see earnings reach $1.27 billion ($0.44 per share) in the July-to-September quarter, however. That figure compares to $1.92 billion ($0.66 per share) from 2006's Q3 period. Outside of Q3 charges, earnings would have been $0.63 per share, one-upping the consensus estimates of $0.62 per share.

Q3 revenue for the telecom carrier crept up almost 6% from the year-ago quarter, finishing at $23.8 billion, and as usual, Verizon's cellphone business saved the day (an all-too-common occurrence). Wireless operations are becoming the consistent engines of both Verizon and larger competitor AT&T (NYSE: T), as the two companies control the two largest cellular carriers in the U.S. for all the right profit reasons.

Verizon's wireless operations added 1.6 million new customers in the quarter, giving the company a total of 63.7 million customers. Verizon is catching up to AT&T's 65.7 million customers, although AT&T is not sitting still, and continues to add over a million new subscribers every quarter as well -- propelled nicely by being the only carrier to offer Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iPhone.

Outside of the cellphone arena, Verizon's FiOS business, which is the program to replace aging copper telephone lines with fiber optic lines directly to homes and businesses, did very well in the quarter. The company added 229,000 FiOS customers in the quarter, up quite a bit from the 203,000 it added in the Q2 period. It also began providing television service over those new fiber lines to 202,000 new customers in the quarter.

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