Surewest Communications reported revenue and net income growth in the third quarter as broadband growth offset access line losses.

The West Coast competitive local exchange carrier reported $56.9 million in revenue for the third quarter, up 2% from a year earlier. Its net revenue was up 10% from a year earlier to $2.2 million.

The company’s total access lines were down less than 1% from a year earlier to 146,484, as its broadband lines grew 19% to 20,135, and its telecom lines dropped 3% from a year earlier to 126,349. Surewest attributed its access line loss to DSL penetration and wireless substitution. As a result of that line loss, revenue from the company’s “telecom” segment was down 2% from a year earlier (but up 3% sequentially) to $33.1 million.

The company’s broadband subscriber base grew 15% from a year earlier to 55,183. Voice revenue-generating units (RGUs) grew 20% from a year earlier to 17,729, data RGUs were up 16% to 52,777 and video RGUs were up 18% to 18,578.

The average monthly revenue Surewest received from its broadband customers in the third quarter (ARPU) was $76.12, up 3% from a year earlier. The company attributed part of that ARPU growth to a 33% increase in high-definition television (HDTV) subscribers during the third quarter. Surewest has been offering HDTV since late last year.

Surewest can now market its fiber-to-the-home service to 96,181 homes, 14% more than a year earlier. And it has penetrated 22.9% of that market, only slightly more than the 22.5% penetration it reported a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the company now has 52,393 wireless subscribers, down 3% from a year earlier. Its wireless contract churn was 3.28% in the quarter (up from 2.93% a year earlier). And its wireless ARPU was down 1% from a year earlier to $49.51.

“As we move away from pre-paid options, we lose that small segment of our customer base, but the long-term impact is positive to [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] and net income because of the high costs associated with maintaining pre-paid customers,” said Fred Arcuri, Surewest’s senior vice president and chief operating officer.