Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Alltel Corp., the mobile-phone company that agreed to a $24.7 billion buyout this year, reported a profit that beat analysts' estimates after customers talked more and used more data services.

Net income rose 51 percent to $282.6 million, or 81 cents a share, from $187.2 million, or 48 cents, a year earlier, the Little Rock, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement. Sales rose 14 percent to $2.28 billion, exceeding the $2.22 billion average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Revenue from text messaging, video and other data services climbed 70 percent after the company introduced plans for mobile-phone Internet access and a music service. New phones, such as the quarter-inch-thick Wafer and the MotoRazr2 with satellite radio, also helped attract 205,000 new customers, the largest increase in the company's history.

``They're taking market share at this point,'' Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Christopher King said in an interview. ``It's a great quarter across the board, no question about it.''

The subscriber gains beat the Baltimore-based analyst's estimate of 175,000. He rates the shares ``hold'' and doesn't own them. Alltel is the fifth-biggest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers, trailing rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

Analysts on average estimated profit would climb to 75 cents a share. Alltel rose 4 cents to $70.75 at 4:03 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has risen 17 percent this year.

Data Revenue

Average monthly bills rose 4.1 percent to $55.96 from a year earlier, with more than a tenth of that going to data services. Customers talked on their phones for an average of 746 minutes a month, compared with 645 minutes a year earlier.

``We are seeing improvement in the sales of all the different applications and we're still seeing increases in the traditional texting plans,'' Chief Financial Officer Sharilyn Gasaway said in an interview.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and TPG Inc. agreed to buy Alltel in May for $24.7 billion, or $27.5 billion including debt. Investors, who will receive $71.50 for each share, approved the buyout in August. The companies are waiting for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to approve the deal. Gasaway declined to comment on when the FCC may make its decision.

Alltel started offering wireless service in 1983 in North Carolina and owns the largest geographic network in the U.S., spanning 35 states.

(The company held a conference call earlier to discuss results. To access a replay of the call, go to http://www.alltel.com/)

To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 19, 2007 16:15 EDT