But there's one bright spot: , America's largest wireless network, boosted revenue by 12 percent. (Verizon Wireless is a partnership owned 55% by Verizon and the rest by the Vodafone Group.) There were three factors behind the gain:

-- Verizon Wireless added 1.4 million net subscribers in Q4, not as hot as last year's 2 million increase, but good enough in this economy.

-- The average customer's monthly bill crept up 1.4 percent from last year, to $51.72. With new customers hard to find, wireless carriers obsess on raising their average revenue per user, by getting existing customers to spend more.

-- Wireless operations profit margins jumped from last year's 43.6 percent to 47.2 percent.

By contrast, Verizon's $18 billion high-speed fiber optic network got a skeptical eye from analysts. The company says it added over a half million customers in the fourth quarter, but Sanford C. Bernstein & Company analyst Craig Moffet , "What they have to show for it are slightly lower revenue declines than they otherwise would, but even further margin compression." Translation: Compared to FiOS, landlines were a pretty good business to be in.