(Telecompaper) Verizon reported a slowdown in mobile customer growth and a drop in wireless services revenues in the first quarter, amid intense competition in the US market. Total mobile revenues were up 6.9 percent year-on-year to USD 22.3 billion, as its new handset pricing Verizon Edge helped offset a 0.4 percent fall in service revenues to USD 17.9 billion. Sales through Edge increased to 39 percent of phone activations in the quarter from 25 percent in Q4 2014, and Verizon said the figure has since risen to nearly 50 percent. The wireless operating margin was flat year-on-year at 35.0 percent, and the EBITDA margin fell by 0.1 percent point to 44.8 percent. Verizon Wireless added 565,000 retail postpaid customers in the three months, while losing 188,000 prepaid users. Total retail connections were up 5.1 percent year-on-year to 102.6 million. Retail postpaid churn was at 1.03 percent in the quarter, down from 1.07 percent a year ago. At the bottom line, Verizon reported earnings of USD 1.02 per share, down from USD 1.15 a year ago when it booked one-time gains on its buy-out of Verizon Wireless. Excluding these items, EPS was USD 0.84 a year ago.