UPDATE, 6:45 AM: CFO Fran Shammo, the only Verizon exec on today's call with analysts, blasted commentators who said yesterday that the telecom giant was forced announce that it will auction off some of its airwave spectrum — if the government approves its deal to buy licenses held by Comcast and other cable companies. "This is nothing near a fire sale," he says. If Verizon doesn't like the offers it receives "then we won't go through with the sale." He also denied charges that the company was forced to sell the spectrum "because we ran into a roadblock at the FCC," which — along with the Justice Department — must approve the cable deal in order for it to close. "We're being good stewards" of the publicly owned airwaves, he said. Most of the questions dealt with Verizon's growing smartphone and wireless data business. The company says it now offers its speedy 4G LTE service in 230 markets, about two-thirds of the country. About 9.1% of its wireless customers have 4G devices, up from 0.6% a year ago.