VZW: Who needs the iPhone?

“Our plan is certainly to continue to grow at the kinds of numbers you have seen in this quarter,” he said. “We meet the competition head on. We’re not wedded to just any one iconic device. We’re pleased with our result, and I think you can continue to see similar results.”

VZW is set to surpass AT&T in one all-important category this quarter: total wireless subscribers. Since Cingular merged with AT&T Wireless in 2004, AT&T has held the top spot in the U.S. VZW has been on AT&T’s heels ever since, several times threatening to overtake the GSM juggernaut only to have AT&T fend off the challenge with impressive quarters. Next week, though, the FCC is set to vote on Verizon’s acquisition of Alltel, which would add some 11 million customers to its subscriber base, helping it to overtake AT&T’s current count of 75 million. The recent Wall Street collapse and credit crisis have led to speculation that Verizon may be reconsidering acquiring Alltel, but CEO Ivan Seidenberg stifled those rumors today.

“Obviously financing costs for the deal will be somewhat higher than we thought, and there are a few regulatory issues under consideration by the FCC as we speak,” Seidenberg said. “In our view, absent a surprise or an unexpected condition, we still view this deal as very compelling. We believe it will be accretive in year 1, and we are very focused on trying to complete this transaction as soon as approvals are done.”