NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Communications on Monday reported a fall in first-quarter profit due to discontinued operations, although profit from continuing operations rose in line with expectations amid strong wireless and Internet growth.Quarterly profit fell to $1.5 billion, or 51 cents a share, from $1.6 billion or 56 cents a share a year earlier. The year-ago figures included a directories business that it has since spun off and assets in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico that it has since sold.Earnings per share from continuing operations was 51 cents, or 54 cents on an adjusted basis, compared to 46 cents in the first quarter of 2006, the No. 2 U.S. phone company said.That was in line with analysts' expectations of 54 cents in adjusted earnings per share before discontinued items, according to Reuters Estimates.Verizon, like its rival AT&T Inc., has benefited from strong growth in Internet and mobile phone subscribers, which has helped ease the impact of declining fixed-line use.Verizon Wireless, a 55 percent owned joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc, added 1.7 million subscribers. It now has a total 60.7 million customers, it said.Churn, the industry term for customer cancellations, fell to 1.08 percent in the first quarter from 1.14 percent from the fourth quarter.Verizon has also been investing heavily in FiOS, the company's new high-speed Internet and video service, aiming to compete with cable television companies.The cost of deploying Fios services diluted earnings by 11 cents per share, as previously forecast.Most analysts have said the investment, while costly, was necessary to offset a decline in traditional phone subscribers to wireless services and cable companies' packages of voice, wireless and television services.
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