BST 2Q06 numbers

Things are tough over at the RBOC.

1. BellSouth said total access lines were 19.3 million at the end of June, down 460,000 from the end of March, as customers shifted to wireless and cable providers' telephone services.
2. The company added 128,000 new high-speed Internet customers during the second quarter, bringing its total number of broadband customers to 3.3 million.
3. Profit rose to $1.08 billion, or 60 cents a share. A year earlier, profit was $940 million, or 51 cents a share; this including BellSouth's 40 percent share of Cingular Wireless.
4. It said it added 63,000 customers during the second quarter through its partnership with DirecTV Group, resulting in a total of 691,000 customers with DirecTV service.
5. BellSouth said the operating margin for its wireline business rose to 24.9 percent in the second quarter from 23.6 percent in both the first quarter and the year-earlier second quarter.
6. BellSouth said Monday that its merger with AT&T was expected to close this autumn. Shareholders of both companies voted in favor of the deal last Friday.