Caitlin McCabe

Verizon Communications, the largest US wireless carrier, exceeded profit estimates on stronger customer gains even as rivals including T-Mobile US brought more price competition to the industry.

While subscriber growth drove the profit gains, wireless margins and the size of customers’ phone bills were smaller than analysts expected. More than 82 percent of those new customers were tablet buyers, Verizon said.

With the company selling more tablets than phones and offering discounts on data plans, customers’ monthly phone bills will likely shrink, putting more pressure on wireless margins, said Kevin Smithen, an analyst with Macquarie Securities USA.

The average size of customers’ monthly bills grew 4.7 percent to $159.73. Verizon’s wireless service margins expanded to 50.3 percent. Verizon’s Edge plan spreads the phone charges over 20 months and lowers service plan charges by $10 or $25 a month depending on the data allotment.

While the shift threatens to erode wireless service revenue and margins, the move may help keep customers from switching to T-Mobile, which was the first carrier to offer phone financing in early 2013.

For cord cutters who want to ditch their cable service, watching broadcast TV on a computer or tablet is still possible even if Aereo disappears. Companies like TiVo and SiliconDust USA make products that work with TV antennas to turn live programs into digital bits and bytes.

And online, many shows from networks like NBC and Fox are available through Hulu. Still, those alternatives don’t offer the same combination of ease of use, affordability and up-to-the-minute programming that Aereo does.

The potential demise of Aereo’s $8-a-month service eliminates one of the easiest options for viewers who wanted to watch live football and basketball games, late-night talk shows and local news at a fraction of the cost of cable, which can cost $75 a month. That’s presenting a challenge to a new generation of consumers who have grown accustomed to viewing the programs they want on any device at any time, not just on a television on a network’s schedule.

“I should be able to get on my phone or any device and watch what’s on TV, and that’s been difficult for so many years,” said Jason Gaylor, a 38-year-old freelance application designer from Springfield, Missouri, where Aereo isn’t available. “If I want to watch the Super Bowl or the Oscars or anything that’s a huge part of American culture, I should be able to get it as easily as possible.”