Verizon has reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue, as its mobile and fibre business units continued to flourish despite the economic downturn. Verizon earned US$3.21 billion, or 58 cents per share, during the quarter compared with US$3.05 billion, or 57 cents per share, a year ago, a rise of 5.3 percent. Excluding special items (most notably charges related to Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel last year), earnings reached 63 cents per share, which – according to an Associated Press report – beat analyst estimates of 59 cents per share. Revenues also surpassed expectations, reaching US$26.59 billion, compared to Wall Street estimates of US$26.32 billion. The figure represented annual revenue growth of 11.6 percent, which was largely due to the addition of Alltel. Verizon said that if it had owned Alltel a year ago, growth would have been 3.3 percent.

Like its great rival AT&T – which reported first-quarter figures last week – Verizon’s results were driven by strong growth at its mobile unit, Verizon Wireless, which is 45 percent-owned by Vodafone. Verizon Wireless – which became the largest mobile operator in the US following the Alltel acquisition –  grew its customer base to 86.6 million customers by the end of the quarter, an increase of 28.8 percent year over year including the 13.2 million net total customers added via the Alltel acquisition. It added 1.3 million net retail customers (excluding customers acquired in the Alltel acquisition), slightly better than the 1.2 million added by AT&T in the same period. Revenues totalled US$15.1 billion, up 29.6 percent year-on-year and up 9 percent on a pro forma basis, while service revenues were US$13.1 billion, up 28.9 percent year-on-year and up 10.5 percent on a pro forma basis. ARPU decreased 0.3 percent, to US$50.74. Verizon also saw success at its ‘FiOS’ fibre business, reporting a 83.8 percent annual rise in FiOS TV customers (to 2.2 million), and a 55.5 percent rise in FiOS Internet customers (to 2.8 million). The operator also confirmed that it was on track to launch commercial LTE-based services in the US next year, noting that field trials are already under way.