• April 29, 2008

First-quarter profit at Verizon Communication increased nearly 10% as the telco's wireless division added 1.5 million new customers for a total of 67.2 million.

In an earnings conference call Tuesday, the company said 13% of its new wireless customers signed up for the $99 unlimited calling plan Verizon Wireless introduced in February. Previously, only 4% of subscribers selected plans costing $99 or more.

Last week, AT&T reported a similar, although smaller, gain in subscribers opting for its $99 flat-rate plan--4% compared with 1.5% who signed up for plans at that price or higher before.

Verizon Wireless also totaled 48.1 million retail data customers in March, representing nearly three-quarters of its retail customers and a 33.8% increase over the prior year. Average revenue per data user was up 33.4% over last year to $11.94.

Verizon Wireless customers sent or received more than 58 billion text messages and 1.1 billion photo or video messages during the first quarter. Subscribers also downloaded 34.6 million music tracks and videos.

--Mark Walsh