Verizon Communications saw “balanced growth in revenue and profitability” for its Wireless unit in the third quarter of 2013, with growth in user spend driven by its Share Everything price plans and growing smartphone customer base.

The Wireless unit saw EBITDA of $8.95 billion, up 10.7 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of $20.4 billion, up 7.2 per cent. Wireless service revenue of $17.52 billion was up 8.4 per cent.

The company noted a retail contract average revenue per account (ARPA) figure of $155.74, up 7.1 per cent year-on-year, with 42 per cent of postpaid accounts now on Share Everything plans, and smartphone penetration increasing to 67 per cent from 53 per cent.

Share Everything Plans allow customers to share data allowances across multiple devices.

It ended the period with 101.15 million retail connections, up from 95.9 million at the end of the prior-year Q3.

It activated 7.6 million smartphones in the third quarter, of which around 29 per cent were new to Verizon.

Its 4G (LTE) activities are also performing well, with the company stating that 37.8 per cent of retail postpaid connections are for this service. This network carries 64 per cent of its total mobile data traffic.

The company said that it has “substantially completed” buildout of its 4G network, covering more than 99 per cent of its current 3G footprint.

Following its early-September announcement of a $130 billion deal to buy partner Vodafone Group out of this business, Verizon said it had arrange the required financing for the deal, with a $49 billion debt offering and an agreement for up to $12 billion in term loans.

On a group level, the company reported a net profit $5.58 billion, up 30 per cent from $4.29 billion, on operating revenue of $30.28 billion, up 4.4 per cent.

For its fixed line operation, it saw an EBITDA of $2.23 billion, up 3.8 per cent, on operating revenue of $9.81 billion, down 1 per cent from $9.91 billion.

In this unit, the company said it has a “focus on improving long-term profitability”.