* Q4 wireless revenue up 3.6 pct, slowing from 5.6 pct in Q3
* Operating profit up 1.8 pct to 343 mln euros
* Telefonica Deutschland shares indicated down 0.2 pct
BARCELONA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Telefonica Deutschland said fourth-quarter revenue growth from its wirelessbusiness slowed further due to lower income from text messagesas customers increasingly switch to smartphones and tablets.
Wireless revenues rose 3.6 percent to 793 million euros($1.04 billion) from a year earlier, less than the 5.6 percentincrease in the third quarter and 8.6 percent in the second.
Telefonica Deutschland Chief Executive Rene Schuster toldReuters on Tuesday that customer behaviour fundamentally changedin the fourth quarter of last year.
"In technology the Germans are slow adopters, but thisconsumer behaviour is surprising," he said.
Telefonica Deutschland, spun off from Spain's Telefonica last year, is the smallest of four operators inGermany, after Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom andKPN's E-Plus.
The change in customer behaviour prompted TelefonicaDeutschland - which uses the O2 brand - to focus on mobile datapackages. It will give free voice and text messages as of March1.
It also said fourth-quarter operating income beforedepreciation and amortization (OIBDA) rose 1.8 percent to 343million euros. Estimates of three analysts polled by StarMineranged from 335 million euros to 353 million euros.
In premarket trading, Telefonica Deutschland shares wereindicated to open 0.2 percent lower, while the German blue chipindex is seen opening 0.6 percent higher.