US market leader Verizon reported Q3 revenue and profit that was slightly ahead of expectations, but mobile net adds fell short of forecasts and were below the subscriber net gains reported by rival AT&T yesterday.

The firm’s mobile arm – Verizon Wireless – added 882,000 retail postpaid customers, below the average analyst forecast for 1.04 million in a Reuters poll. Total mobile subscribers (including wholesale and other connections) increased by 1.3 million to end the quarter at 107.7 million in total, an increase of 6.5 percent year-on-year. AT&T yesterday reported a 2.1 million net gain in mobile subs to reach 100.7 million in total.

Smartphones accounted for 39 percent of the Verizon Wireless retail postpaid customer base, up from 36 percent in Q2. Retail postpaid churn was 0.94 percent, an improvement of 13 basis points year-on-year.

Profits at the parent firm rose to US$0.49 per share (adjusted to US$0.56), up from US$0.23 a year earlier, on operating revenues of US$27.9 billion, up 5.4 percent.  Analysts had guided for US$0.55 EPS and US$27.88 billion revenue.

"Verizon emerges from the third quarter in a strong position to accelerate growth,” said Lowell McAdam (pictured), Verizon’s president and CEO. “We faced significant challenges in recent months, yet delivered results that keep us on track to meet our 2011 earnings and revenue guidance, with great momentum expected entering 2012."

Total wireless revenue rose 9.1 percent to US$17.7 billion with US$15 billion of this service revenue (up 6.1 percent). Data revenues were US$6.1 billion, up more than US$1 billion (20.5 percent) year-on-year. The firm noted that data now accounts for 40.6 percent of all wireless service revenue.

The increase in wireless revenue offset declines in Verizon’s fixed business, which reported an overall 1.3 percent decline in year-on-year revenue to US$10.1 billion.

Verizon Wireless also updated on its LTE rollout, noting that, as of yesterday, the service “was available in 165 markets covering a population of more than 186 million across the country.” It added that the build-out is ahead of schedule and has already exceeded the company’s 2011 target of covering a population of 185 million.

The operator has introduced five LTE-capable devices: the DROID BIONIC by Motorola, the Pantech Breakout, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, Compaq Mini CQ10-688nr netbook and HP Pavilion dm 1-3010nr notebook. It announced earlier in the week that Motorola’s LTE-enabled DROID RAZR will also be available from next month.