Verizon Q1 profit rises (USA)

On 04.29.09, In Mobile, By Editor

Verizon Communications Inc. reported a 5.3% increase in profit for the first quarter from the prior-year period, helped by the acquisition of Alltel and strong growth in its wireless segment. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share for the quarter increased 3.3% and beat analysts’ consensus estimate by four cents.

First-Quarter Results

The second-largest U.S. telecommunications company’s income for the first quarter increased 5.3% to $3.21 billion from $3.05 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Net income attributable to Verizon, excluding non-controlling interest, increased to $1.65 billion, or $0.58 per share, from $1.64 billion, or $0.57 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

The results for the latest quarter included $0.03 for acquisition-related charges of $0.03 per share and merger integration costs of $0.02 per share, both primarily in connection with the acquisition of Alltel. The year-ago quarter’s results included costs related to the spin-offs of wireline access lines of $0.03 per share and merger integration costs in connection with the acquisition of MCI in 2006 of $0.01 per share.

Excluding special items, earnings per share for the latest quarter increased to $0.63 per share from $0.61 per share in the same period last year. On average, 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.59 per share for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating revenue for the quarter climbed 11.6% to $26.59 billion from $23.83 billion a year ago, as the company added revenues from its acquisition of Alltel in early January 2009. Analysts expected revenues for the quarter of $26.33 billion.

Commenting on the results, Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon Chairman and CEO said, “Our operational and financial discipline produced continued revenue and earnings growth, as well as an expansion of our already strong operating cash flows. A highlight of the quarter was our successful completion of the Alltel acquisition. We quickly began integration efforts, and we are aggressively pursuing synergies.”

Peer Performance

Among other players in the industry, AT&T Inc. (T | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said its first-quarter earnings dropped 9.7% on pension charges and continuing declines in wireline voice access lines and business voice revenues. Net income attributable to AT&T for the first-quarter was $3.13 billion, or $0.53 per share, compared to $3.46 billion, or $0.57 per share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (S | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) will report financial results for the first quarter before the markets open on May 4. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report a loss of $0.04 per share for the quarter on revenues of $8.28 billion

Segmental Results

Verizon surpassed AT&T as the biggest U.S. mobile service when it bought Alltel in January.

Verizon Wireless, the company’s joint venture with Vodafone Group plc (VOD, VOD.L), posted total quarterly revenues of $15.12 billion, up 29.6% from the same period last year. Service revenues were $13.1 billion, up 28.9% from the prior-year quarter, with continued growing demand for data services. Data revenue surged 56.2% from the year-ago period to $3.6 billion.

The wireless segment ended the quarter with 86.6 million customers, up 28.8% from the same period last year. Total churn rate for the quarter increased to 1.47% from 1.19% in the same period last year. Meanwhile, wireline revenues for the quarter declined 3.8% to $11.57 billion in the previous-year quarter. An increase of 0.7% in mass market revenues was offset by declines in global enterprise, global wholesale and other services. Broadband and video revenues from consumer customers in wireline mass markets totaled $1.3 billion in the quarter, representing year-over-year quarterly growth of 36.3%.

Revenue growth from broadband and video services drove consumer ARPU to $69.97 in the latest quarter, up 13.7% from the prior-year quarter.

For more information, please visit www.verizonwireless.com

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Optus selects SpinVox VoiceMail To Text™ Service for its mobile subscribers (Australia)

On 04.22.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: SpinVox, the leading provider of voice-to-content messaging, today announced an agreement with Optus to launch the SpinVox VoiceMail To Text™ service with the carrier in 2009.

SpinVox quickly converts incoming voicemails to text messages and delivers them as an SMS to the subscriber’s mobile, allowing the user to discretely view the content of the voicemail without having to dial-in and listen to the message.

It is also particularly useful as customers receive the message as an SMS text, meaning they no longer need to write down important information or phone numbers, names and addresses. Once read, the text message can be saved and forwarded. The caller’s number is also included to make it simple to reply with a voice call or text message using click to call or SMS functionality.

Optus is the second Australian carrier to launch a SpinVox-powered voicemail to text service. Telstra launched its Voice2Text service to its business users in November 2007, followed by rollout to its consumer base in February 2009.

“SpinVox voicemail to text gives Optus customers the opportunity to enjoy a real visible voicemail experience,” said Christina Domecq, co-founder and CEO of SpinVox.

“Australians are already embracing SpinVox and this deal adds to the millions of SpinVox users on five continents who are already enjoying the power of reading their voice messages,” adds Domecq. “Automatic conversion of voice to text is a truly exciting category of voice services which is spreading across the globe at an impressive rate and is now the fastest growing network service since SMS.”

Prices and details for the service will be revealed at launch.

About SpinVox

SpinVox® is the world’s largest privately-held speech technology company, providing the only voice to text messaging services which are used daily by millions of people and whose user base has grown over twenty-fold in the last 12 months.

Through significant innovations in voice and network technologies which are protected by over 70 patents worldwide, SpinVox has converged the two most natural forms of communication – voice and text – to create the fastest-growing form of messaging: Voice-to-Content™.

SpinVox services are available directly on www.spinvox.com and through leading carriers and through new media, Unified Communications and other service providers globally.

Implemented as a carrier-class cloud service, SpinVox is proven to able to easily create value from everyday user behaviour using voice and deliver rapid and easy implementation of low input, sustained high reward services.

At the heart of SpinVox is its ground-breaking Voice Message Conversion System™ (VMCS), which works by combining state-of-the-art speech technologies with a live-learning language process. Developed by the Cambridge, UK- based SpinVox Advanced Speech Group; VMCS now serves users across five continents in English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and Italian.

SpinVox is now live with Alltel, Cincinnati Bell, Sasktel, Rogers Wireless, Telus, Telstra, Vodacom South Africa, Vodafone Spain, Movistar Chile, Skype and Livejournal.

About Optus

Optus is an Australian leader in integrated communications. The company specializes in a broad range of communications services including mobile, local, national and long distance telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and subscription television. For more information please visit www.optus.com.au.

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Verizon keen on global expansion of its enterprise business (USA)

On 04.17.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Verizon is reportedly interested in expanding its enterprise business, though it is unlikely to make any major network deals like its $28 billion acquisition of Alltel earlier this year. The firm is interested in Qwest Communication International’s long-haul network, and could possibly continue to takeover smaller wireless carriers, CEO Ivan Seidenberg, reportedly said.

Seidenberg said that the company is unlikely to pursue the remaining 45% stake in Verizon Wireless owned by Vodafone. The company has improved its wired and wireless networks, and Seidenberg said he is confident in the company’s ability to provide nearly unlimited bandwidth. He condemned Sprint’s Boost Mobile $50 unlimited plan for the potential network strain that could be induced by an influx of customers interested in cheap wireless connectivity.
Further, Seidenberg said that Apple would be more likely to work with Verizon when the network rolls out its 4G network, built on the same standards as AT&T’s 4G network.

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Alltel includes five additional numbers to My Circle (USA)

On 03.30.09, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Alltel Wireless, the USA based mobile operator, has expanded its current My Circle offering enabling the subscribers to have five more additional numbers to make unlimited calls. With five new additions, Alltel subscribers in the 91 Cellular Market Areas in 22 states will enjoy unlimited calling to more people. The “My Circle 10″ has changed to “My Circle 15″ and “My Circle 20″ is now known as “My Circle 25″ at same tariffs. The My Circle 15 offering is priced at USD 59.99/month and includes 900 anytime minutes whereas “My Circle 25″ starts at USD 99.99/month and includes 2,100 anytime minutes. The five additional numbers will automatically be available to the current “My Circle” subscribers.

   

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3 Sweden/Denmark Chooses Vidiator Xenon hosted Delivery Platform (XHP) to power Its Planet3 Portal

On 03.16.09, In Mobile, By Editor

3 Sweden/Denmark has selected Vidiator Xenon Hosted Delivery Platform (XHP) to power its Planet3 Portal and enable more efficient access to applications and downloads for subscribers, the two companies announced today.

Xenon Mobile Streaming Platform has become the industry’s de-facto standard, adopted by more than 20 operators and content providers in 20+ countries around the world including: ‘3,’ PCCW, Vodafone, NTDoCoMo, Sprint, KTH, LG Telecom, BSkyB, Onsetel, CNN and AT&T to name a few.

“Vidiator provides 3 Sweden/Denmark with a complete, end-to-end solution for mobile content delivery. This enables us to fully focus on the ‘campaign’ and driving revenue, rather than having to focus on the technology. Moreover, the Xenon technology allows us to differentiate our content offering while delivering great mobile experience,” said Andreas Cedborg, head of innovation for 3 in Sweden and Denmark.

“With Vidiator we do not have to worry about the ingestion, adaption and delivery and can focus our efforts on the creative and commercial aspects. Xenon is a proven, key component of our services, and really helps us maintain our market leadership,” continued Cedborg.

XHP manages all facets of encoding, asset management, dynamic bandwidth adaptation, billing integration, device adaptation and mobile streaming and download deliveries “out of the box.” In just a few clicks content managers can upload content, while XHP automatically and seamlessly adapts delivery to any number of multiple devices. XHP supports streaming to the majority of handsets available today and the technology can detect which encoding is optimal to what device automatically.

“Opening up walled gardens and letting in content owners directly address targeted subscribers is quickly becoming a cost-effective and efficient model. As more and more content and services come online, operators increasingly are turning to hosted, 3rd-party platforms like Vidiator to deliver their branded services because they can do this with huge time-to-market gains,” said Connie Wong, Vidiator CEO.

“Moreover, we see mobile streaming and content at a positive tipping point — mobile network capacity and speed are improving the quality of delivery. Operators know that they can depend upon Vidiator Xenon streaming and encoding technologies, which have gone through nearly ten years of aggressive R&D, rigorous testing and proven itself via highly successful and large-scale operator deployments and industry awards,” continued Wong.

About Vidiator

Vidiator is changing the way people use mobile with technology that enables carriers and content providers to deliver live and on-demand TV, music and 3G multimedia services and targeted content to mobile devices. The company’s flagship product Xenon has become the industry’s de-facto standard with deployments in 20+ countries on four continents, with customers including AT&T, Sprint, NTT DoCoMo, “3,” Vodafone, PCCW, Sprint, KTH, LG Telecom, BSkyB, Onsetel, CNN and Alltel. Vidiator is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, USA, with offices in England, China, Korea, Spain and Italy. For more information please visit www.vidiator.com.

   

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Verizon mimics Alltel’s “My Circle” scheme, dubs it as “Friends & Family” (USA)

On 02.13.09, In Mobile, By Editor

Verizon Wireless, USA’s leading mobile operator by subscribers, has come up with a a new scheme which will enable the subscribers to choose 5-10 phone numbers and call them for free, without cutting minutes of their plan. This service will be available for free of charge and is reportedly a copy of Alltel’s “My Circle” scheme. (more…)

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Verizon adds Alltel subscribers to M2M network (USA)

On 01.22.09, In Mobile, By Editor

The deal that made Alltel a part of Verizon Wireless’s empire was finalized earlier this month, and customers of both companies have been wondering how long it will take for Alltel’s systems to fully merge with Verizon’s. As we saw with Sprint and Nextel, it can take a long time – months or even years! – for all of the effects of a big merger or acquisition to be completed, so most people were not expecting to see many changes right away.

Surprisingly, Verizon has already announced one change that effects both Verizon and Alltel cell phone customers: Verizon has updated their In Calling network to include certain Alltel subscribers. Verizon’s Mobile to Mobile calling and messaging program allows any subscriber with a monthly calling plan of $39.99 and above or a messaging plan that is at least $10/month make free calls, text and picture messages to other Verizon subscribers, and now they will be able to do so with certain Alltel customers, too! By incorporating some Alltel subscribers into the network, Verizon Wireless now offers an In Calling network of 80 million subscribers.

For more information, please visit www.verizonwireless.com

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Verizon becomes USA’s largest mobile operator, completes Alltel acquisition (USA)

On 01.13.09, In Mobile, By Editor

Verizon Wireless has reportedly completed Alltel acquisition worth $28.1 billion. The deal has made Verizon Wireless USA’s largest mobile operator with a subscriber base of 83.7 million. Up to 3,000 Alltel executives are likely to face redundancy as Verizon looks to trim the enlarged company’s workforce. Both Verizon and Alltel operate using its CDMA-based networks so subscribers will be largely unaffected by the tie-up; the Alltel brand will be retained for the next few months, with a rebranding programme to commence in 2Q09.

   

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m-Wise launches new Web and Mobile Microsite Development Kit for Mobile Content

On 01.07.09, In Mobile, By Editor

Mobile content technology vendor, m-Wise  announces the commercial launch of its new web and mobile microsite development kit.

The new mobile content product consists of an easy to use software package that allows effortless configuration and setup of fully branded, ready to launch web and WAP microsites for promotion and selling of mobile digital content such as ringtones, graphics, video clips, full-tracks and games.

The web and WAP microsites support various channels, such as an on-deck mobile portal, via a mobile phone’s web browser, a web portal, SMS communication, as well as MMS messaging, and it supports all major US carriers such as Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Alltel, Boost & Suncom.

The automated microsite solution provides a rich end user experience via web and WAP (mobile browsing) including: fast content discovery, free text content search, content navigation, built-in audio and video players for playback of music and video clips, three-steps content purchase wizard, content gifting, flexible promotions, landing pages, integrated infotainment services and various business models such as pay-per content, subscription plans, bundled content, loyalty plans, etc.

The microsite development kit further contains a designer’s kit providing all the necessary instructions, templates and resources for graphic designers to simplify the generation of branded designs.

Asaf Lewin, m-Wise Chief Technological Officer, said, “The new microsite development kit has drastically simplified the process of setting up and launching new mobile fan clubs and mobile content storefronts, allowing us to deliver a quick time-to-market for the increasing demand of such services from our customers worldwide, including music labels, sport icons, Hollywood stars, content publishers and mobile carriers.”

About m-Wise

Founded in 2000, m-Wise has rapidly established itself as a leading international provider of enabling technologies for the mobile entertainment nd marketing industries, powering market leaders such as Thumbplay, Bertelsmann’s Arvato Mobile and Universal Records. m-Wise is the developer of MOMA platform, the de facto content management and service delivery platform used on or through over 50 mobile networks throughout Europe, North and Latin America, and Asia.

MOMA is an integrated “one stop shop” for mobile operators, wireless ASPs, content providers, and media producers to always deliver end-users with a state-of-the-art mobile experience. MOMA makes it easy not only to manage and deliver content like entertainment, music, games, and video without specific regard to handset compatibility but also adds real-time end user capabilities like voting, mobile marketing, advertising and access to live data. Better yet, MOMA includes transactional billing, customer care, and even marketing capabilities — all built in.

For more information, please visit www.m-wise.com

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Verizon to complete Alltel acquisition on 9 Jan’09 (USA)

On 01.05.09, In Mobile, By Editor

Verizon Wireless, according to Verizon filings with the SEC, will complete Alltel’s acquisition on 09 January’09. Verizon will pay $5.9 billion and acquire $22.2 billion in Alltel debt,along with 13 million subscribers, becoming the largest wireless phone company of USA with a subscriber base of 83 million.
   

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