HOUSTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. telecom giant AT&T on Thursday reported a total revenue of 31.6 billion U.S. dollars for the third quarter, up 2.8 percent from the year-earlier period, thanks to strong sales of Apple's iPhone 4 and e-readers.

The Dallas, Texas-based largest U.S. telecom company said it activated 5.2 million units of iPhones in the third quarter, a significant hike on the 3.2 million iPhones activated during the second quarter, 400,000 units more than analysts had expected. AT& T is the exclusive U.S. carrier for iPhones.

AT&T enjoyed an 11.4-percent growth in wireless revenue in the third quarter, which was largely attributable to sales of integrated devices such as e-readers and global positioning system. The company also added 2.6 million wireless subscribers, taking its total wireless subscribers to 92.8 million.

AT&T is the largest provider of fixed telephony in the United States, the 7th largest company by total revenue, as well as the third largest non-oil company in the country. (yan)