Oct. 25, 2002 12:15 PM EST

NEW YORK—Verizon Wirelessicon Inc. reported 1.2 million net customer additions for the third quarter of this year compared with 752,000 net customer additions for the same quarter last year.

The increase came despite the carrier’s loss of all of the 308,000 former WorldCom Wireless Inc. customers that were on its networks before the reseller quit the business this summer, but included 411,000 customers Verizon Wirelessicon added through the closing of its acquisition of Price Communications Corp.

Customer churn for the quarter increased slightly from 2.2 percent last year to 2.3 percent this year, while average revenue per user was said to have increased to nearly $50.

Total wireless revenues increased more than 10 percent from $4.5 billion during the third quarter of 2001 to $5 billion this year. Operating income also increased 41 percent from $688 million last year to $970 million this year.