US number two AT&T reported Q3 results today that were broadly in line with analysts’ expectations as the company continued to add mobile subscribers, surpassing the 100 million mark in the quarter.

“Mobile broadband growth continues to be robust, execution was strong across the business, and we delivered another solid quarter,” declared CEO Randall Stephenson. “Smartphones, connected devices and tablets all posted impressive gains.”

The operator posted a net gain in total wireless subscribers of 2.1 million, to reach 100.7 million in service, driven – the company said – by “gains in every customer category.”

While the company reported 2.7 million iPhone activations in the quarter, it also highlighted strong sales of Android devices, which doubled year-on-year, and now account for “almost half” of all smartphone sales. The company sold 4.8 million smartphones in the quarter, representing nearly two-thirds of postpaid device sales. At the end of the quarter, 52.6 percent of AT&T's 68.6 million postpaid subscribers had smartphones, up from 39.1 percent a year earlier.

iPhone activations at AT&T are forecast to almost double in the current quarter following the introduction of the new iPhone 4S last week.

AT&T's consolidated revenue totaled US$31.5 billion, down US$103 million, or 0.3 percent, from a year ago. Net income came in at US$3.6 billion, or US$0.61 per diluted share, compared to US$12.3 billion, or US$2.07 per diluted share, a year earlier – a period that included one-time gains (earnings were US$0.54 per share a year ago with these excluded). Analysts in a Bloomberg poll had guided for EPS of US$0.61 on revenue of US$31.6 billion.

Total wireless revenue, which includes equipment sales, rose 2.8 percent to US$15.6 billion, while wireless service revenue increased 4.3 percent to US$14.3 billion. Wireless data revenues increased 18 percent to US$5.6 billion.

On the fixed side, revenues came in at US$15 billion, down 2.2 percent versus the year-earlier quarter but up slightly sequentially.