• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, January 24, 2012

Verizon Communications Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter loss because of a one-time pension charge and higher subsidy expenses from growing iPhone sales. The telecom giant swung to a net loss of $2.02 billion from a profit of $2.64 billion in the year-earlier period, or a loss per share of 72 cents, compared with earnings of 93 cents.

Earnings excluding some items, fell to 52 cents from 54 cents a year ago, in line with analyst expectations. Revenue increased 7.7% to $28.4 billion in the quarter, also meeting analyst the average analyst forecast. Verizon Wireless reported the largest number of net retail customer additions (1.5 million) in three years, including 1.2 million contract subscribers.

Earlier this month, Verizon said it sold 4 million iPhones during the quarter. That helped the carrier boost sales and add customers but high subsidy costs for the Apple also led to lower margins. Verizon Wireless had total revenue of $18.3 million in the fourth quarter, up 13% from a year earlier. That figure included data revenue of $6.3 billion, up 19.2% from a year ago.