Verizon Wireless saw solid results for the second quarter of 2013, with subscriber growth and increased spending driving service revenue growth.

According to figures released by parent Verizon Communications, operating income in the Wireless business was $6.46 billion, compared with $5.71 billion in Q2 2012.

Total Wireless revenue for the period was $19.98 billion, up 7.5 per cent year-on-year. Service revenue was $17.08 billion, up 8.3 per cent.

It ended the period with 100.12 million retail connections, a 6.3 per cent increase year-on-year, including 94.27 million retail postpaid connections.

Retail postpaid ARPA (average revenue per account) increased 6.4 per cent, to $152.50 per month.

Wireless operating income margin was 32.4 per cent, compared with 30.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2012.

According to the company, smartphone penetration was around 64 per cent, up from 50 per cent a year ago. Some 7.5 million smartphones were activated by the company during the quarter.

It also saw some 6.4 million LTE device activations during the period, with 59 per cent of its total data traffic now using this network.

Its 4G coverage buildout has been completed (reaching more than 99 per cent of its existing 3G footprint), with availability in 500 markets hitting more than 95 per cent of the US population.

Some 33 per cent of its retail postpaid connections are now LTE, taking its total to 31.1 million – compared with 12.2 per cent and 10.9 million in Q2 2012.

More than 36 per cent of retail postpaid accounts are now for its “Share Everything” plans, enabling customers to share data among multiple devices.

On a group level, Verizon Communications reported a net profit of $5.2 billion, up 21.3 per cent year-on-year, on operating revenue of $29.79 billion, up 4.3 per cent.

For its fixed line operations, operating income fell to $74 million from $188 million, on operating revenue of $9.73 billion, down 2 per cent from $9.93 billion.