Hearing footsteps? Verizon Wireless thumps chest after AT&T's subscriber gains

Verizon Wireless on Friday said that it added 1.1 million subscribers in the second quarter.

The timing of the news is odd given that Verizon reports earnings on Monday. This news couldn't wait a few more days? Apparently not. After all, AT&T's second quarter highlighted 1.4 million subscriber gains (1.2 million retail).

File this statement in the hearing footsteps category. Verizon Wireless wants to make it real clear it's the biggest dog in the U.S. wireless carrier game.

Verizon Wireless said that it had 87.7 million customers (85.2 million of them retail) at the end of the quarter. AT&T said it had 79.6 million.

Unfortunately, Verizon Wireless held back the number I really want to know---churn. AT&T's churn gains were impressive at 1.09 percent in the second quarter. In any case, a little gamesmanship on Friday is good entertainment.