Rob Cell Phones

April 24 (Bloomberg) — Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., talks about Apple Inc.’s fiscal second-quarter earnings and outlook.
Apple’s profit almost doubled last quarter, reflecting robust demand for the iPhone in China as well as purchases of a new version of the iPad tablet. Munster speaks with Betty Liu and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.” Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners, and Bloomberg’s Jon Erlichman also speak. (Source: Bloomberg)

ATT Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless,
facing concerns that Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) have too tight a
grip on the market for smartphone software, are cozying up to
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Nokia Oyj. (NOK)

When they reported quarterly results this month, both
carriers praised Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system,
which runs the new Nokia Lumia phone. ATT began offering the
Lumia 900 for $99.99 on April 8, and Verizon is preparing to add
a new Nokia model to its lineup soon. ATT declined to give
sales figures for its device.

The companies are counting on the Lumia and forthcoming
Windows models to provide an alternative to Apple’s iPhone and
Google Android handsets. While ATT and Verizon sell millions of
those devices, they can be more costly to subsidize, especially
the iPhone. The companies also face the risk that an Apple-
Google duopoly will erode carriers’ ability to distinguish
themselves and will further squeeze their profit margins.

“We want the Lumia to succeed — we love to have
competition in the handset market,” ATT Chief Financial
Officer John Stephens said today in an interview. “It’s always
better to have more choices for your customers.”

For now, most of ATT’s smartphone customers are opting for
the iPhone. The Apple device made up 78 percent of the carrier’s
smartphone sales in the first quarter. At Verizon, which added
the iPhone to its network more recently, the product accounted
for 51 percent. The company relies more on models running
Android.

More Costly

Apple requires carriers to subsidize the phones at a higher
level, leaving less room for profit, said John Hodulik, an
analyst at UBS AG in New York.

“They hope Lumia can take some market share to help lower
their subsidy costs, now that so much of the spending is in
Apple’s favor,” he said.

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo also said there was a need for another player in the
smartphone software arena. Research In Motion Ltd., which has
served that role, has seen its market share slide.

“It is important that there is a third ecosystem that’s
brought into the mix here, and we are fully supportive of that
with Microsoft,” Shammo said on Verizon’s earnings call last
week. Android “is an incredible platform today that we helped
create. And we’re looking to do the same thing with a third
ecosystem.”

ATT rose 3.6 percent to $31.72 at the close today in New
York. Shares of the Dallas-based company have climbed 4.9
percent this year. Verizon Communications, the co-owner of
Verizon Wireless, climbed 2.4 percent to $39.50 today. The New
York-based company’s stock has fallen 1.5 percent in 2012.

‘Mixed’ Sales

Nokia reported sales of about 2 million Lumia phones in the
first quarter. The Espoo, Finland-based company plans to
increase advertising spending on the product this quarter, Chief
Executive Officer Stephen Elop said last week.

Both Microsoft and Nokia have staked their fortunes on the
new lineup of Windows Phone devices. Microsoft, based in
Redmond, Washington, aims to regain market share lost to Apple
and Google. Nokia, meanwhile, is trying to rebound from four
straight quarters of losses and a stock price trading near a 15-
year low.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Scott Moritz in New York at
smoritz6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nick Turner at
nturner7@bloomberg.net

• LinkedIn
• Google +1
• Print

Sublime with Rome comes to Verizon Wireless Amphitheater with a concert on Aug. 16.

Also on the bill are Matisyahu, Dirty Heads and Pepper.

Show time is at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $15-$59, with lawn tickets going for $10.57 the first week of sales.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at livenation.com, Ticketmaster outlets, the box office and by calling 800-745-3000.

There’s no service charge at the box office the first week of sales, and ticket prices include parking.

Steven Zipperstein

Steven Zipperstein is a lawyer who has done it all: the recently retired general counsel of Verizon Wireless has worked in private practice, at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as in-house counsel for many of the biggest players in the telecommunications industry.

In the former GC’s closing remarks at Argyle Executive Forum’s Spring 2012 Chief Legal Officer Leadership Forum event last month, he touched on some dichotomies facing today’s in-house lawyers. For part two of CorpCounsel.com’s recent discussion with Zipperstein (see part one here), he talks about power shifts within the in-house world, the legal impact of globalization, and the inherent riskiness of e-mail. An edited version of that conversation follows.

CorpCounsel: You recently said that in-house counsel have gained the upper hand in their relationship with outside firms in the last 10 years. What evidence of that trend did you see during the period you were an in-house lawyer?
Steven Zipperstein: Lawyers in-house began to look at the billing relationship with the law firm in the same way that the business people in-house looked at the billing relationship with their other vendors. The lawyers took a lesson from the business people and began to do things like competitively bid, impose cost guidelines, and do a much better job of ensuring that the staffing of their cases by the firms was as efficient as possible.

CC: You’ve suggested that there’s a possibility that power could begin to shift back to firms. Will shareholders increasingly seek the independence of outside firms, particularly during an investigation?
SZ: For now, I think it really is driven by the Justice Department’s stepped-up enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [FCPA], in particular, as well as the resurrection of the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine. To the extent that boards in the context of government investigations feel the need to retain outside counsel to represent the board or to represent individual board committees, that is the main driver of the flip side of that dichotomy. I’m not sure that I’m seeing evidence of power shifting in other areas—transactions and the like— but it certainly is happening in the area of government investigations.

CC: You have said that although doing business overseas is good for growth, legal risks could cause some companies to take a second look at globalization. What are your predictions?
SZ: We saw the U.K. Bribery Act become law last year, which is even broader than the FCPA. With the highly increased focus, both among U.S. and British authorities, on conduct overseas, and with the number of investigations that are out there, it’s possible—and I’m not making a firm prediction here—that some companies may get to the point where they say, “Is doing business overseas is worth it?” We’ll have to see how things evolve with enforcement.

CC: Technological advances can be great for business, but these advances also present legal risks. What advice can in-house lawyers give on avoiding pitfalls?
SZ: The first tip is to educate their clients constantly about the need to be discreet and careful in the way they draft their e-mails and text messages. It’s very important that this be an ongoing, continuous process of education, reminders, et cetera. The second tip would be to really focus on a couple of things that people do in e-mail that might be helpful ways of reducing the risk.

It’s very important that people resist the temptation to automatically hit the “reply all” button. For one thing, you can reduce an enormous amount of traffic on the company’s data network. And when someone hits “reply all,” they’re broadcasting the e-mail to an audience that may or may not need to see its content.

It’s also important for people, before they hit the “send” button, to reread what they’ve written. And then imagine that they’ve printed what they’ve just written on their own letterhead, taken a pen and signed their name at the bottom, folded it, placed it into an envelope, put an address and stamp on the envelope, and put it in the mailbox. If you wouldn’t do that, then why would you hit the “send” button? It’s really helpful to make people think about e-mail in that way, and the same is true for texting.

A browser or device that allows javascript is required to view this content.

BUFFALO, N.Y., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Verizon Wireless has activated 28 new 4G LTE cell sites throughout the Buffalo-Niagara area, expanding and enhancing coverage on the high-speed wireless data network the company launched locally in October. Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network is the only 4G LTE network available in the Buffalo area.

The company’s 4G LTE network also will launch in the Cattaraugus-Allegany area on Thursday – one of 27 new and 44 expanded markets launching across the United States on April 19. With the new and expanded markets, the company’s 4G LTE network will be available to two-thirds of the U.S. population in 230 markets, including ten markets in New York State. 

The company’s 4G LTE rollout is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2013.

“Our continued aggressive expansion of our 4G LTE network in Western New York means the area’s fastest and most reliable high-speed wireless data network is getting even more robust,” said Russ Preite, president of Verizon Wireless’ Upstate New York Region. “And we’re far from finished. We will continue to expand our 4G LTE coverage locally and across the country, allowing our customers to connect faster and with greater capability, no matter how they use their wireless devices.”

In real-world, fully-loaded network environments, Verizon Wireless customers will be able to use their 4G LTE smartphones, tablets, notebooks, laptop modems and mobile hotspots to experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink – perfect for surfing the Web, streaming video, and downloading large files wirelessly.

Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. 

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves nearly 108 million total wireless connections, including 92.2 million retail customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with nearly 82,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — On April 19, Verizon Wireless customers in more areas of Stockton can take advantage of the Verizon Wireless 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, the nation’s largest 4G LTE network.  Cities and towns in the expanded 4G coverage area include:

• Quail Lake
• Lathrop
• Waterloo

With the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network, customers can enjoy the best experience in wireless data usage when they stream video, share music and photos, download files and surf the Web with speeds up to 10 times faster than before.  Verizon Wireless initially launched its 4G LTE network in Stockton in October 2011.

In addition to expanding the network in 44 markets, including Stockton on April 19, the company is introducing the network in 27 new markets across the United States.  With the new and expanded markets on April 19, the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network will be available to two-thirds of the U.S. population in a total of 230 markets. 

“The expansion of our 4G LTE network in Stockton reinforces our commitment to leading the way in 4G LTE and providing our customers the best products and services available,” said Kevin Zavaglia, region president for Verizon Wireless.  “With the expanded 4G LTE network, residents in more areas near Stockton can continue pushing the boundaries of communication by taking advantage of the speed and connectivity offered by 4G LTE.”

4G LTE Devices and Plans

Verizon Wireless customers can purchase a wide variety of the most popular 4G LTE devices that will connect to the nation’s fastest 4G network.  Details on available devices can be found at www.verizonwireless.com/4GLTE and information on plans and pricing is available at www.verizonwireless.com/plans.

4G LTE Coverage and Speed

In real-world, fully loaded network environments, Verizon Wireless 4G LTE customers should experience average data rates of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink. 

When customers travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, 4G LTE devices automatically connect to Verizon Wireless’ 3G network, where available, enabling customers to stay connected from coast to coast.  Verizon Wireless’ 3G network is the most reliable high-speed data network in the country and allows customers in 3G coverage areas who purchase 4G LTE devices today to take advantage of 4G LTE speeds when the faster network becomes available in their area, or when they travel to areas already covered by 4G LTE. 

For more information about Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network, visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves nearly 108 million total wireless connections, including 92.2 million retail customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with nearly 82,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Verizon Communications Inc posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations as customers increased their spending on services such as wireless data, sending its shares 1.6 percent higher.

While wireless customer growth slowed, Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said the company’s mobile venture, Verizon Wireless, saw the fastest growth in mobile service revenue in three years as more customers used smartphones.

Any signs of data revenue growth would be a relief to carriers such as Verizon Wireless as they have been paying phone vendors such as Apple Inc hefty subsidies for every smartphone they sell and spending billions of dollars to upgrade their networks to support these smartphone users.

“It’s critical they’re able to increase revenue from all this upfront investment,” said Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin.

Verizon Wireless average monthly revenue per user (ARPU) for contract customers rose 3.6 percent in the quarter to $55.43 compared with expectations for growth closer to 3 percent from two analysts. This was helped by data service revenue that grew 16 percent to $23.80.

Shammo said the growth should continue as more people buy smartphones and the company starts to offer new shared data service plans under which customers will be able to connect more than one device under a single data service plan.

“We’re confident we’ll continue to accelerate our growth in this area,” Shammo told analysts on a conference call.

Shammo told Reuters that customers using Verizon’s fastest network are paying more for data services because the higher-speed data rates encourage them to spend more as they use additional services such as video streaming.

When it is launched this summer, Shammo said the new shared data plan would bring incremental revenue for each device connected to the company’s network.

Many analysts have suggested that a shared data plan would make more sense for operators as most consumers have shied away from connecting devices such as tablet computers to cellular networks because they do not want to pay a second monthly fee on top of their data plan for smartphones.

Verizon shares were up 61 cents at $38.27 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

REVENUE UP BUT CUSTOMER GROWTH SLOWS

ARPU growth is especially important since customer growth is declining. Verizon Wireless added 501,000 contract customers in the quarter, roughly in line with the average expectation for just over 511,000 from five analysts polled by Reuters, but down from fourth quarter additions of 1.2 million.

Given that Verizon, the first of the big U.S. operators to report first quarter results, typically posts the strongest customer growth, its sluggishness may foretell a sharp slowdown across the industry.

“People were upgrading, but there doesn’t seem to be as many new people coming in to wireless,” said Piper Jaffray analyst Christopher Larsen, adding that Verizon’s mobile growth was in line with his recently lowered estimate.

However, Larsen was impressed with the company’s financials.

“It looks like it was a good quarter over all. Earnings per share was slightly ahead of the Street. Revenue was a little bit better,” Larsen said.

The slower customer growth also comes with a silver lining as the Verizon Wireless profit margin rose to 46.3 percent from 42.2 percent in the fourth quarter, when an Apple Inc iPhone fueled growth, but also required hefty subsidies.

The company said it sold 3.2 million iPhones in the quarter and 2 million phones using its fastest network based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

Verizon earnings rose to $1.69 billion, or 59 cents per share compared with Wall Street expectations for 58 cents per share according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In the year-ago quarter it reported a profit of $1.44 billion, or 51 cents per share.

Revenue rose to $28.24 billion from $26.99 billion and compared with analyst expectations for $28.17 billion.

Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon and Vodafone Group Plc. Its biggest rival ATT Inc and Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, report quarterly results next week.

(Reporting By Sinead Carew; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman and Andre Grenon)