Verizon Business to team with Accenture

“We more than doubled our TV subscriber base in 2008, adding 975,000 customers and increasing penetration by 500 basis points,” Toben said.

“We significantly expanded the availability of FiOS, with 2.2 million homes open for business in the third and fourth quarters.”

There were 282,000 FiOS Internet adds, and the net loss of DSL customers, at 68,000, was slower than in past months. The loss of access lines also slowed as Verizon lost fewer residential access lines (460,000) and fewer total switched lines (911,000) than it did in the second and third quarters of 2008.

FiOS now passes 40% of Verizon’s total households, and 93% of those households can purchase the triple-play bundle of voice, data and video. Furthermore, FiOS is driving up consumer average revenue per user (ARPU). Verizon saw 2.9% growth in consumer revenue and a 14.3% increase in ARPU driven by broadband and video growth, Toben said. Broadband and video revenues were up 42%, and the average FiOS home is spending $133 per month, she said, with triple-play homes spending more.

Finally, Seidenberg proved even tough financial times haven’t wiped out his sense of humor. Questioned by one analyst about the company’s femtocell plans, given Monday’s announcement of its first product, Seidenberg pronounced femtocells “the secret weapon of the century -- after one day of sales, we can tell you it is the next millennium’s secret weapon.”