Verizon adds more cellphone customers in 3Q

Verizon added more cellphone customers after trimming prices for unlimited plans this summer.

The country's largest wireless company said Friday that it gained 444,000 phone customers who pay a monthly bill in the third quarter, up from a gain of 295,000 in the same period last year.

Verizon, like the country's other wireless carriers, is upgrading its phone network to the next-generation “5G,” which promises faster internet service. 5G availability is scattershot, and it's possible to use it only with a handful of new phone models.

While Verizon's main competitor AT&T has bought entertainment companies like HBO owner Timer Warner and satellite TV provider DirecTV to buttress its wireless services, Verizon has for now skipped such major media deals.

It has announced media partnerships, however, including a deal to offer a free year of the upcoming streaming service Disney Plus to many of its wireless and home-internet customers.

Overall, Verizon Communications Inc. on Friday reported third-quarter profit of $5.19 billion, or $1.25 per share, up from $4.92 billion, or $1.19 per share, a year ago. That topped Wall Street expectations by a penny.

The New York-based company's revenue rose less than 1 percent to $32.89 billion. That also beat expectations.

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Verizon shares edged up 22 cents to $60.80 in late morning trading. They had increased roughly 8% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 20%.

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Parts of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on VZ at https://www.zacks.com/ap/VZ

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