UPDATE: VZW Q3: Revenues strong despite modest customer metrics: Apple option still on the table

Verizon Communication Inc.’s wireless division continued to drive growth for the telecom giant during the third quarter, posting 58% of the company’s total revenues and maintaining its position as the wireless industry’s largest operator.
During the third quarter, Verizon Wireless posted nearly $15.8 billion in operating revenues, which was a 24.4% increase compared with the $12.7 billion posted during the third quarter of 2008. Verizon Wireless’ 2008 results accounted for just over 51% of Verizon’s total revenues for that quarter.
On top of the strong revenue growth, Verizon Wireless’ operating income jumped more than 29% year-over-year to $4.5 billion during the third quarter, with its operating income margin climbing from 27.3% during the third quarter of 2008 to 28.3% this year.
Verizon Wireless’ robust revenue results were even more amazing as its customer growth numbers plunged 38% during the quarter from more than 2.1 million net additions during the third quarter of 2008 to 1.3 million in 2009. Direct customer additions dropped more than 50% year-over-year as all of the customers added in 2008 were through direct channels, while 20% of customers during the third quarter of this year were added through indirect channels. Verizon Wireless said it ended the quarter with 89 million total customers on its network.
Verizon Wireless rival AT&T Mobility reported last week that it added just over 2 million customers during the third quarter, fueled by strong sales of Apple Inc.’s iPhone. AT&T Mobility ended the quarter with 81.6 million customers.
Increased customer churn accounted for some of the drop in net customer additions as Verizon Wireless’ blended churn rate climbed from 1.33% during the third quarter of 2008 to 1.49% this year. Average revenue per user dipped 2.2% year-over-year to $51.04 during the third quarter, while revenues from data services total $4.1 billion during the quarter and contributed $15.59 to the carrier’s total ARPU. Data services accounted for 30.5% of wireless revenues during the quarter, an increase from the 25.1% during the third quarter of 2008.
Verizon Wireless added that customers sent more than 153 billion text messages, 2.8 billion multimedia messages and completed nearly 38 million music and video downloads during the quarter.
Verizon also announced that it was on track to cut around 8,000 jobs during the second half of this year. The company said it cut 5,000 jobs during the third quarter, with 4,000 of those job cuts coming from its wireline business.
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg also said the company was still interested in selling Apple products, but that the decision was currently in Apple’s court. Rumors have been circulating that Apple was looking to expand its carrier partnerships in the U.S. beyond the current exclusive agreement with AT&T Mobility, which is reported to run through the middle of 2010. AT&T Mobility hinted during its third quarter earnings call that it was making plans for the arrangement to end.