Verizon's growth occurred primarily in the wireless divisions, with wired service revenue actually shrinking by 2% for the quarter. That doesn't sound like much, but consider that 43% of Verizon's wired service comes from broadband data services like DSL or FIOS lines. Add to that the fact that these wired data services were up by 15% during the quarter. That spells a significant loss of revenue from traditional wired phone services. This suggests that more and more American households are abandoning wired telephone service in favor of cell phones. Indeed, Verizon reported that the company added 2.1 million new wireless customers during the period for a total of more than 70 million wireless customers.

Another trend evidenced in the Verizon numbers is the move toward more and more smart phones. As customers become more and more reliant on constant connectivity with cellular web, texting, and instant messaging applications, Verizon is taking full advantage of this. The report included a 42% gain in wireless data revenue for the third quarter. This also suggests that Verizon is working to maximize their revenue per customer with additional data-based products beyond basic wireless telephone service.
Back to wired customers for a moment. Verizon reported a net loss of 96,000 DSL customers during the quarter but an offsetting gain in FIOS customers. FIOS is a better vehicle for packaging additional services, and is more likely to have higher satisfaction among internet users than the slower DSL lines, so even though the total number of customers was roughly even, the transfer from one service to the other can be viewed as positive.

As more and more customers rely upon their cellular phone service as their only phone, the more expensive and contract locked wireless business becomes more and more a necessity rather than a luxury and may be somewhat less sensitive to the effects of a recession, although a flagging economy may mean fewer high priced add-on features until the country works its way back to prosperity.