Verizon adds 1.5 million customers in second quarter

The sign for the Verizon Wireless store is seen in Lakewood, Colorado September 11, 2007.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless, the second-largest U.S. mobile service provider, said on Tuesday it added 1.5 million customers in the second quarter, slightly ahead of some Wall Street expectations.

The venture of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) said the growth took its total subscriber base to 68.7 million, including 66.7 million retail customers.

But Verizon shares fell 61 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $34.54 as the news failed to assuage economic concerns.

"We believe wireless will be the highlight of the quarter for Verizon and the other U.S. mobile carriers. We expect continued declines in the wireline phone business due to the weak economy," said UBS analyst John Hodulik.

In comparison to Verizon's report of 1.5 million additional net subscribers, the average estimate was for just under 1.4 million subscribers, according to six analyst estimates.

Second-quarter growth was in line with Stifel Nicolaus' forecast of 1.5 million subscriber additions, but above a Bank of America forecast for 1.34 million.

In the current quarter, Verizon's biggest rival AT&T Inc (T.N) launched a new iPhone from Apple Inc (AAPL.O).

Verizon Communications is scheduled to release second-quarter results on Monday. Analysts on average expect earnings excluding items of $1.8 billion, or 65 cents a share, on revenue of $24.2 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando and Sinead Carew, editing by

Maureen Bavdek and Gunna Dickson)