IPhone competitor buoys AT&T, Verizon T&T and Verizon Wireless, facing concerns that Apple and Google have too tight a grip on the market for smart-phone software, are cozying up to Microsoft and Nokia. When they reported quarterly results this month, both carriers praised Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, which runs the new Nokia Lumia phone. AT&T began offering the Lumia 900 for $99.99 on April 8, and Verizon is preparing to add a new Nokia model to its lineup soon. AT&T declined to give sales figures for its device. The companies are counting on the Lumia and forthcoming Windows models to provide an alternative to Apple's iPhone and Google Android handsets. While AT&T and Verizon sell millions of those devices, the products can be more costly to subsidize, especially the iPhone. The companies also face the risk that an Apple-Google duopoly will erode carriers' ability to distinguish themselves and will further squeeze their profit margins. "We want the Lumia to succeed - we love to have competition in the handset market," said AT&T Chief Financial Officer John Stephens. "It's always better to have more choices for your customers." For now, most of AT&T's smart-phone customers are opting for the iPhone. The Apple device made up 78 percent of the carrier's smart-phone sales in the first quarter. At Verizon, which added the iPhone to its network more recently, the product accounted for 51 percent. The company relies more on models running Android. Apple's profit almost doubled to $11.6 billion last quarter, lifted by the surging popularity of the iPhone, while revenue jumped 59 percent to $39.2 billion. The company sold 35.1 million iPhones in the period. Apple requires carriers to subsidize the phones at a higher level, leaving less room for profit, said John Hodulik, an analyst at UBS AG. "They hope Lumia can take some market share to help lower their subsidy costs, now that so much of the spending is in Apple's favor," he said. Verizon Communications Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo also said there was a need for another player in the smart-phone software arena. Research In Motion, which has served that role, has seen its market share slide. "It is important that there is a third ecosystem that's brought into the mix here, and we are fully supportive of that with Microsoft," Shammo said on Verizon's earnings call last week. Android "is an incredible platform today that we helped create. And we're looking to do the same thing with a third ecosystem." Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/25/BUEH1O8TQS.DTL#ixzz1t7pX98NH