Wireless, broadband push Verizon

Verizon Communications has reported a 38% fall in fourth-quarter profit, with the drop attributed to charges related to its disposal of non-core assets. Net profit fell from USD1.66 billion in the final three months of 2005 to USD1.03 billion in the most recent period. The firm’s latest results include charges stemming from its sale of its assets in the Dominican Republic and the spin-off of its telephone directories business.

Fourth quarter revenues climbed 26.1% to USD22.6 billion, driven largely by cellular subsidiary Verizon Wireless. The cellco added 2.3 million net new customers in the three months to the end of December, beating the net adds reported by its main rivals in the US mobile market. It had 59.1 million subscribers at the end of 2006, closing the gap on market leader AT&T/Cingular, which has 61 million customers. Verizon’s fixed broadband business also performed well. Its fibre-to-the-home business FiOS had 207,000 subscribers at end-December and is now available to 2.7 million homes. Its total broadband customer base now stands at seven million, up 36% year-on-year.