Brazilian Phone Company Says Hi To Wireless Growth      (Investor's Business Daily)
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Investor's Business Daily - Brazilians aren't stringing many new telephone lines. But that's OK for one of the nation's top legacy phone companies.
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(InfoWorld) - Vodafone Group had almost 200 million customers by Dec. 31, but continues to face challenges in the competitive and saturated European market. The operator's European business stagnated, with fourth-quarter revenue growing just 0.9 percent year on year, excluding the effect of acquisitions. Worldwide, its growth excluding acquisitions totalled 6.1 percent. The company accounts for revenue from partly-owned subsidiaries in proportion to its holding. Vodafone said that despite low growth in Europe, some of its new calling plans, such as one that offers users a lower price for calls made within their home area and others that include fixed-line broadband Internet access, are attracting new customers. Price competition, however, is offsetting that growth. Revenue from Vodafone's operations outside Europe, excluding acquisitions, grew 14.4 percent compared to a year earlier. Egypt, Romania, South Africa, and Turkey showed particularly strong growth during the period, Vodafone said. The operator offered no further insight into itsÂ negotiations to buyÂ a controlling interest in Indian operator Hutchison Essar. The board is continuing to investigate the possibility and will only agree to a deal that meets Vodafone's financial criteria, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said during a conference call to discuss the results. U.S. operator Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone owns a stake, also did well during the quarter, with Vodafone's share of the business acquiring one million new customers. Vodafone is still pleased with its stake in Verizon Wireless, although the company uses a different wireless technology to that used by Vodafone's holdings elsewhere in the world. "There is no concept of our selling our interest there," Sarin said. While rumors have surfaced regularly over the past few years that Verizon Wireless might be considering a major technology change, that's still doubtful, Sarin said. Even Apple'sÂ much anticipated iPhone, which operates on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the technology that competes with Verizon's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network, is unlikely to encourage Verizon to make a change, Sarin said. The migration to fourth-generation networks, which operators will begin to make in the next few years, will probably cement Verizon's choice. "That's the time Verizon Wireless will think about what next generation of technology that they can deploy and of course they'll try to deploy a technology that is as backward compatible as they can," he said. Data services are also paying off for Vodafone. Non-voice average revenue per user was up 62 percent for the quarter compared to the year earlier. Vodafone has attracted 50 percent of its total customers to sign up for Passport, a plan that offers reduced rates on roaming. The European Commission is proposing a regulation that would require operators to reduce their roaming rates. Vodafone doesn't expect the commission to make a final decision until this summer, said Sarin.
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Investor's Business Daily - Cell phone makers would be remiss to neglect the big spenders in developing countries who are willing to shell out for pricey cell phones.
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Investor's Business Daily - Thanks to earlier reports of a strong cell phone market, it didn't surprise many analysts that Qualcomm, a leading cell phone company, on Friday boosted its earnings guidance.
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Investor's Business Daily - Femtocells sounds like the next big thing in biology, but it actually could shake up wireless phone services.
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Investor's Business Daily - The maker of routers and other networking gear is betting that more small businesses and even homeowners want higher-end storage systems once reserved for larger corporations.
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Investor's Business Daily - Investors got a friendly package from FedEx Wednesday: big quarterly results and higher forecasts.
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Investor's Business Daily - Just as you can download music to an iPod, some folks are doing the same with a new form of talk radio.
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The worldâs largest maker of wireless networks said today that strong sales in Asia helped boost earnings to $960 million in the second quarter.
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The telecom supplier reports earnings and could be showing several characteristics of a value stock.
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Investor's Business Daily - In an effort to get inside the growing number of advanced mobile phones throughout the world, the company has joined with cell phone maker Nokia   and U.K. software company Symbian to develop processor chips for such high-end smart phones.
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The wireless service provider seeks growth in emerging markets.
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Plus: Verizon sales rise, led by wireless growth...Motorola shares rise after profit beats estimates...Electronics sales push Sony to profit...CNET reports deeper loss.
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Investors looking at Qualcomm&#39;s (QCOM:Nasdaq - news - research) fourth-quarter earnings report will be seeking a clear signal on the wireless sector.
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Pump up your returns with Brazil's biggest company.
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Leading wireless phone provider sets subscriber bar a little higher.
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Investor's Business Daily - Like a lot of their customers, officials at Priceline.com are eyeing foreign shores.