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Verizon Communications

6/19/2013, 9:21 PM ET

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Wednesday, June 19, 2:31 PM Verizon (VZ) broadband subs are complaining about receiving low-quality Netflix (NFLX) streams, and the culprit appears to be Verizon's unwillingness to upgrade its network to handle more Netflix traffic from fellow carrier and Netflix bandwidth supplier Cogent (CCOI). The dispute drives home the thorny relationships Netflix, which now makes up ~1/3 of U.S. Web traffic during peak hours, has with many ISPs, in spite of its efforts to relieve congestion via its Open Connect CDN (some ISPs are on board, some aren't). In Verizon's case, the carrier's efforts to compete with Netflix via its Redbox Instant JV could also be a factor. 2 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, June 19, 4:34 AM Verizon (VZ) is interested in acquiring Canadian peer Wind Mobile, the U.S company has said. Verizon has reportedly held talks for Wind, which is a relatively new entry into the Canadian market and is struggling. VimpelCom (VIP), Wind's largest owner, wants around $500M, although Verizon may then have to pump in another $1-2B for spectrum purchases, network upgrades and consolidation costs. RBC analyst Drew McReynolds is not sure the deal makes sense. 7 Comments [Tech, Consumer, M&A, Top Stories]
Monday, June 17, 4:03 PM Sprint (S -1.6%) adds 22 markets to its 4G LTE network, including Miami, New Orleans, and Tampa, increasing the network's total reach to 110 markets. The carrier expects the network to cover 200M people; AT&T (T) is looking to cover 250M by year's end, and Verizon (VZ), which already covers 90% of the U.S. population (~280M people), has said it will finish its LTE buildout by mid-2013, after which it will turn its attention to improving capacity. Comment! [Tech]
Monday, June 17, 9:33 AM Verizon (VZ) wants to enter the Canadian mobile market, and has "held exploratory talks" with minor local carrier Wind, The Globe and Mail reports. The Canadian government, fresh off relaxing foreign investment limits, is said to view Verizon "as the most likely foreign option" for bolstering competition in a market dominated by Telus (TU), Rogers (RCI), and Bell (BCE); ideally, Verizon would buy a small local carrier, then take part in upcoming spectrum auctions. Russia's VimpelCom (VIP), the biggest investor in Wind, wants to sell its stake for $500M+. Telus' efforts to buy another small rival, Moblicity, were recently blocked by Ottawa. Comment! [Tech, M&A]
Friday, June 14, 1:49 PM Pres. Obama gives his support to a plan to allow large chunks of government-owned spectrum good for mobile (1700 and 1800 MHz. bands) and Wi-Fi (5 GHz. bands) use to be shared by federal agencies and U.S. carriers. The feds would get priority, but carriers could use the spectrum at other times. The NTIA has been given 6 months to come up with tests to guarantee feasibility. Comcast (CMCSA), which is hungry for more Wi-Fi spectrum, is applauding the move, but mobile carriers (VZ, T, S) haven't been crazy about the idea, arguing the logistics will be tough. Could they also be worried about the spectrum enabling competition? (fact sheet - .pdf) 2 Comments [Tech]
Friday, June 14, 6:15 AM T-Mobile USA (DTEGF.PK) and Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD) are reportedly not part of the NSA's program to collect metadata about the phone calls on their networks, partly due to their ownership ties to foreign companies. However, it's likely that the NSA is still able to scoop up the metadata, as the the calls eventually travel on infrastructure operated by U.S. companies that do work with the NSA. 4 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, June 7, 2:01 PM Calendar Q2 iPhone (AAPL +0.6%) sales are trending towards ~30M (above a ~27M consensus), says Jefferies' Peter Misek in an info-packed note. Misek also: 1) Believes Apple has set aggressive Q3 and Q4 iPhone build plans, with nearly half the Q4 builds involving a cheaper iPhone. 2) States the iPad Mini is "cannibalizing more than expected," and expects the current model to be kept and discounted after a retina model launches. 3) Expects the 5th-gen iPad to be ~50% lighter and 30%-40% thinner. 4) Thinks AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are talking with Chinese white-box OEMs about selling carrier-branded phones, in an effort to cut subsidy costs. 5) Believes consumer BlackBerry Z10 (BBRY +0.5%) sales have slowed, but that Q10 sales are better than expected. 43 Comments [Tech]
Friday, June 7, 3:48 AM More on NSA tracking: the agency reportedly monitors call data from AT&T (T) and Sprint (S), as well as from Verizon (VZ) (as reported yesterday). Together, the service providers have 314.6M wirelesss and landline accounts. The NSA's operations also encompass purchase information from unnamed credit-card providers. 17 Comments [Tech, Consumer, Top Stories]
Thursday, June 6, 6:43 PM Verizon (VZ) -1.2% AH after AT&T forecasts 500K wireless postpaid net adds for Q2, along with a flat wireless EBITDA margin on a Q/Q basis. Shares had risen 3.5% in regular trading, shrugging off the firestorm created by news of the NSA's call-tracking activity. 2 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, June 6, 2:47 PM Redbox Instant (CSTR, VZ) will be available soon to Roku users as the companies look to expand access to their streaming service. It's the second major deal of the week in the streaming space appearing like it could put some pressure on Netflix (NFLX -3.4%) and Hulu after Amazon landed a plush content arrangement with Viacom earlier. 4 Comments [Consumer, Tech]
Thursday, June 6, 1:32 PM Unanswered questions about the NFL's deal with Verizon: 1) Are CBS (CBS -0.9%) and Fox (NWS -0.8%) getting a free ride out of the arrangement between the NFL and Verizon which will see games steamed live on mobile phones or will it cut into the benefits of their own deal to stream games on devices other than TVs and smartphones? 2) If the deal allows games to be viewed on phones, but not tablets, where will the line be drawn as the two wireless products increasingly resemble each other? 3) Will Verizon (VZ +2.3%) recoup its investment over the long-term as new subscribers stay on board or will the fees subscribers pay for access to the NFL cover the cost? 4) Is DirecTV (DTV +0.2%) the odd man out as its NFL Sunday Ticket package begins to look outdated? 1 Comment [Consumer, Tech]
Thursday, June 6, 12:40 PM Verizon Communications (VZ) declares $0.515/share quarterly dividend, in line with previous. Forward yield 4.19 %. For shareholders of record July 10. Payable August 1.Ex-div date July 8 (PR) 1 Comment [Dividends]
Wednesday, June 5, 11:05 PM The Guardian of London has posted a copy of a "top secret" court order instructing Verizon (VZ) to provide the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) with records of all calls made within the U.S. or originating in the U.S., through July 19, 2013. The accompanying article says the order went into effect on April 25 affecting millions of Verizon customers. In the exclusive article, the Guardian says that it is likely, though unknown, that other U.S. carriers are also affected. 20 Comments [Breaking News, U.S. Economy]
Tuesday, June 4, 10:44 AM Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD) is apparently doubling down on its pro football bet. The WSJ reports Big Red and the NFL have reached a 4-year, $1B extension to their current deal that will result in every NFL game being available on Verizon smartphones via the carrier's NFL Mobile service, including home market and playoff games. The current 4-year, $720M deal only provides access to a subset of games. No details on tablet support - for now, NFL Mobile only provides tablet live video access to Verizon FiOS and Cablevision subs. For non-Verizon subs, there's always the Slingbox. 2 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, May 30, 9:26 AM BMO launches coverage on U.S. carriers with a bullish slant: Verizon (VZ), Sprint (S), CenturyLink (CTL), and Frontier (FTR) have all been started at Outperform. AT&T (T) has been started at Market Perform, and Leap Wireless (LEAP), which has quite a few critics on both the sell-side and (judging by its huge short interest) the buy-side, has been started at Underperform. (yesterday's drop) Comment! [Tech]
Thursday, May 30, 3:26 AM While service providers have been worrying about households ending their cable TV subscriptions, a bigger trend has been customers dropping wire-line Internet. With consumers being able to take advantage of faster cellular networks and the proliferation of WiFi, 1% of households ended their Internet subscription last year vs 0.4% for pay-TV. Comment! [Tech, Consumer]

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