Verizon has released their earnings report, which indicates the company's first-quarter earnings fell 8.4% to $1.5 billion -- largely thanks to the spinoff of their directories business and their sale of Puerto Rican assets. The company says they added 416,000 net new broadband connections (which seems a hair low if that's FiOS and DSL) and 1.6 million new wireless phone customers. Their data on FiOSTV:

"Verizon Telecom added a net of 141,000 new FiOS TV customers in the first quarter 2007. Verizon served 348,000 FiOS TV customers as of the end of the quarter, and this growth is accelerating. The company averaged approximately 2,200 FiOS TV net customer additions per business day in the first quarter 2007, about 750 more net additions per business day than the fourth-quarter 2006 average."

According to the company, FiOS deployment diluted earnings by 11 cents per share. The company doesn't list total FiOS customers, but it's creeping toward the million mark; Verizon has set a goal of three to four million FiOS customers by 2010. While AT&T's quarterly earnings were more impressive, analysts still think it could be Verizon who laughs last with their more aggressive FTTH plan:

"Verizon is taking a more expensive approach in getting out of a slower growth area," said Todd Rosenbluth, an analyst for Standard & Poor's. "AT&T is looking to keep everything. For the near term, AT&T is seeing the benefits. A year or two out, we think that what Verizon is doing, while not cost effective, is a better approach towards fighting cable competition."