Verizon Communications' operating revenues for the third quarter grew 5.4 percent to USD 27.9 billion from USD 26.48 billion in the year-ago quarter. EBITDA rose to 19.2 percent to USD 8.8 billion, and net profit increased to USD 3.54 billion or USD 0.49 per share, from USD 2.69 billion or USD 0.23 per share in the same period last year. At the mobile unit Verizon Wireless, service revenues grew 6.1 percent to USD 15 billion, led by data revenues up 20.5 percent to USD 6.1 billion (40.6 percent of all service revenues). Total revenues rose 9.1 percent year over year to USD 17.7 billion. Retail postpaid ARPU grew 2.4 percent to USD 54.89, supported by data ARPU of USD 22.22, up 15.7 percent year over year. Mobile EBITDA increased 7.5 percent to USD 7.2 billion. Verizon Wireless added 1.3 million total connections, including 882,000 retail postpaid customers and 367,000 wholesale and other connections. The company had a total 107.7 million connections at the end of September, an increase of 6.5 percent year over year, consisting of 90.7 million retail customers and 17.0 million wholesale and other connections. Smartphones were used by 39 percent of the Verizon Wireless retail postpaid customer base, up from 36 percent at the end of Q2. Retail postpaid churn was 0.94 percent, an improvement of 13 basis points year over year. Total retail churn was 1.26 percent, an improvement of 17 basis points year over year.
At the fixed-line unit, revenues declined 1.3 percent to USD 10.1 billion. Consumer revenues grew 1.1 percent, and consumer ARPU for fixed-line services grew 8.8 percent to USD 94.20. Revenues for Verizon's FiOS services to consumer retail customers generated nearly 60 percent of consumer wireline revenues, compared with approximately 50 percent in Q3 2010. Global enterprise revenues totalled USD 3.9 billion, up 2.1 percent. International revenue grew 9.8 percent year over year. Verizon added 138,000 net Fios internet connections and 131,000 net Fios TV connections. Verizon had a total of 4.6 million Fios internet and 4 million Fios TV connections at the end of Q3. With the clearing of FiOS installation backlogs caused by the storms and strike, Verizon expects to add at least 200,000 Fios internet and 200,000 Fios TV customers in the fourth quarter. Fios internet penetration grew to 35 percent from 31 percent in the same period last year. Also Fios TV penetration rose to 31 percent from 27 percent, respectively. Broadband connections totalled 8.6 million, a 2.8 percent year-over-year increase. Fios internet connections offset a decrease in DSL connections, resulting in a net increase of 20,000 broadband connections from Q2. Total voice connections, which measures Fios Digital Voice connections in addition to traditional switched access lines, declined 7.6 percent to 24.5 million.
