Dallas, Texas  - US telecoms giant AT&T saw profits and sales dip in the third quarter of 2009, the Dallas-based firm said Thursday, although it also saw a strong upswing in its mobile phone business.

Profits fell to 3.19 billion dollars for the three months to September, compared with 3.23 billion in the same period last year.

Sales were also down at the US's largest provider of landlines, to 30.9 billion dollars, a drop of 1.6 per cent.

Although the fixed-line business remains sluggish, business was booming in the mobile sector, AT&T reported. In the third quarter the firm won 2 million new mobile customers.

That makes it No 2 in the US mobile market, with a total of 81.6 million customers.

The company put this boost down to the Apple iPhone, to which AT&T has exclusive distribution rights in the US. It recorded 3.2 million activations in the third quarter.(dpa)