AT&T reported on Wednesday that its third quarter profits were boosted by a larger number of iPhone activations that was initially predicted.

The US iPhone carrier reported a 5.5 percent rise in profits to $3.23 billion and EPS of $0.55. AT&T also noted that it gained an added 2 million subscribers to its network to end the quarter with 74.9 million.

Growth was driven by the activation of 2.4 million iPhone 3Gs, 40 percent of which were new to the network.

“I am particularly pleased with the customer response to the iPhone 3G,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. “The new customers we’re winning are high-value, with attractive revenue and churn profiles.”

Apple announced on Tuesday that it had sold 6.9 million iPhones worldwide in its previous fiscal quarter.