AT&T Wireless Tops 70 Million Subscribers

AT&T reported record revenue and profit results for the fourth quarter of this year. Sales for Q4 2007 were $30.1 billion, up from $15.9 million in Q4 2006. Profit climbed to $3.1 billion, up from $1.9 billion a year ago.

The company attributed the growth mainly to its wireless business, which brought in $11.4 billion in sales, up 16%, and net income of $1.9 billion, up 44%.

AT&T said that it added 2.7 million (net) subscribers in Q4 2007. Together with 1.7 million new subscribers added through the acquisition of Dobson Communications, AT&T now claims to have a wireless subscriber base of 70.1 million - which translates into a 27.7% share of the U.S market.

Verizon Wireless currently has 64 million subscribers, Sprint Nextel 54 million and T-Mobile 28 million. The CTIA estimates that there are currently 253.4 million active cellphone accounts in the U.S.