AT&T Q1 earnings beat estimate on wireless data sales

AT&T said its first quarter net income dipped 1.2 % to $3.65 billion as expenses rose but robust demand for its more expensive wireless data plans drove quarterly revenue higher.

Revenue totaled $32.5 billion for the three-month period ending March 31, up 3.6% from in 2013. Customers "are choosing to move off device subsidies to simpler pricing while at the same time, they are continuing to move to smartphones with larger data plans," said AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson.

Revenue for the wireless unit, which runs the nation's second largest wireless carrier, grew 7% year-over-year to $17.9 billion as it added more than 1 million subscribers. About 625,000 new customers signed up for postpaid plans -- contract-based wireless voice-data plans that are considered the most profitable in the industry -- during the quarter.

U-Verse had 11.3 million customers in the first quarter, including 201,000 new TV customers who signed up during the quarter. Its Internet service gained 634,000 subscribers. About two-thirds of U-verse TV subscribers take "three or four services" from AT&T, the company said. The average revenue per U-verse triple-play customer continues to be more than $170.