Verizon Wireless

Wireless marketer to tend Verizon landline

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:31:01 -0500

Whether you look at the corporate earnings report's bottom line or the corporate letterhead's top lines, it is clear that wireless is overtaking wireline as the telecom industry chief growth engine. Verizon Communications confirmed late last week that Marilyn O'Connell, chief marketing officer of landline unit Verizon Telecom, is retiring, and will be replaced by Verizon Wireless executive Mike Ritter. That move follows the ascendance of former wireless-side execs Denny Strigl, Dick Lynch and John Stratton in the parent company's hierarchy. Verizon isn't the only telco turning to wireless for growth and executive talent. AT&T also has made several moves to weave wireline and wireless interests.

Meanwhile, O'Connell retires just as FiOS broadband and TV growth, the marketing of which she oversaw, kicks into high gear. Verizon has marketed FiOS successfully and aggressively, to the extent that its tactics often have been criticized by its primary cable TV competition.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has this story

The return of the CEO pitchman

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:08:41 -0400

It is entirely possible I have watched too many episodes of "Mad Men," and now foolishly fancy myself an advertising expert, but I wonder, can a CEO pitchman really save a struggling company? Sprint may find out as it rolls out a second TV commercial featuring CEO Dan Hesse.

The mostly black-and-white TV commercials look and sound pretty cool. The first one features Hesse walking down a city street (he's not in Kansas anymore) talking in a relaxed, personal and conversational tone about Sprint's unlimited voice plan. In the second round, he urges customers to head over to their neighborhood Sprint retail stores.

Lee Iacocca he is not, and that may be a good thing. Iacocca's original Chrysler commercials commercials came at a time when a lot of regular people in the U.S. probably still looked up to corporate CEOs and respected their opinions. Now, despite Hesse's integrity and fairly sound record as CEO (his mulligan being Terabeam), the antics of other corporate leaders probably have diminished the average CEO's ability to win over the American public.

If the Hesse ads prove to be a turning point for Sprint, how long will it take before we see other telecom CEOs do the same? Maybe Qwest CEO Edward Mueller could be seen touting his company from a kitchen where he shows off some nifty knife skills he learned as as the former chief of Williams-Sonoma. And even less troubled carriers may take note. Perhaps Randall Stephenson could be seen pitching the benefits of AT&T's U-verse from a Midwestern living room, or Ivan Seidenberg using his Verizon Wireless phone in the shadow of the new Yankee Stadium.

In the age of time-shifted TV, Hesse's commercials may not be enough on their own to shift Sprint's fortunes, but I have to admit that Hesse actually comes off pretty well in his ads. Maybe he should have taken to the airwaves to save Terabeam.

-Dan

Hanna, Gustav, now Ike

Doug Mohney — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:43:14 -0400

Disaster contingency plans are getting a heavy-duty work out this month, as service providers finish responding to Hurricane Gustav's fury and prepare for the landfall of Hurricane Ike.

Gustav's impact was much milder than Katrina's, though parts of Louisiana experienced cellular and Internet service interruptions due to power outages from the storm.

To prepare for Ike, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless have deployed mobile cell towers and extra generators to deal with network damage. Key network and emergency response teams are being pre-positioned around the region to assess damage, help first responders and repair damaged cell sites.

Both Verizon Wireless and Sprint have made considerable investments to harden their respective networks in the Gulf Coast region.

For more:
- AP story on Hurricane Gustav and Ike telecommunications contingencies

Telecom industry responds to Gustav

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:31:26 -0400

AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, T-Mobile USA and other telecom service providers are sizing up the impact of Hurricane Gustav on their networks in and around Louisiana, and so far, there appear to be only limited service outages. AT&T mobilized about 2,000 personnel to assess damage and begin restoration efforts in the affected areas. The telco said its crews are working around the clock on service repairs in areas that remain without service. AT&T also is offering free Wi-Fi access at hundreds of hot spots in the Gulf Coast region, free wireless GoPhones with $15 in air time to residents forced out by mandatory evacuation and free phone calls for many other hurricane victims at its retail stores.

Gustav additionally triggered the second recent activation of the Federal Communications Commission's new Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which allows network operators to disclose sensitive network information to federal authorities to help them better respond to such emergencies. The system was put in place after some network information was hard to come by in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The DIRS recently was activated for the first time during Tropical Storm Fay last month, and may yet get another workout if Tropical Storm Hanna threatens the U.S.

For more:
- read this story at Government Computer News
- check out this AT&T press release
- see this Verizon Wireless press release

CWA, IBEW, Verizon make progress on main issues

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:28:49 -0400

Verizon’s unions are reporting “slow but significant progress” in talks aimed at averting a strike by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers against Verizon Communications. The two sides have extended an Aug. 2 contract and continued talks.

A local union head in New York told Newsday that agreement had been reached on the issues of health care coverage for active and retired members, wages, and outsourcing jobs.

But, said George Bloom, president of CWA Local 1104, the issues of subcontracting jobs and efforts to organize employees of Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless still had a “ways to go.” The issue of organizing Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless workers—where much of the company’s strongest and most profitable growth has been—has been a contentious one.

"They have fought us every step of the way on any organizing drive we started," Bloom said. The unions, meanwhile, have agreed to work under the old contract while talks continue but have said they’re “ready to walk" at anytime if negotiations bog down, "and the company knows it.” The two unions cover about 65,000 workers from New England to Virginia.

For its part, Verizon says it is “fully engaged” in talks and that business was proceedng as usual with repairs and installations proceeding on schedule and no impact being felt on telephone service.

For more:
- See the story in Newsday

Related articles:
Unions seemed set for a possible strike heading into the weekend. Union report
Union issues like Verizon's job outsourcing have generated a load of comments at FierceTelecom. Union report
Verizon has said it was working hard to avert a strike. Verizon report

Telecom vet Lefar takes over at Vonage

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:12:43 -0400

Telecom industry veteran Marc Lefar, who has worked primarily in the wireless market for both Verizon Wireless and AT&T, among others, has been named CEO of VoIP service provider Vonage, replacing Jeffrey Citron. Lefar was the chief marketing officer of AT&T's Cingular Wireless when that company successfully reduced customer churn, and as Light Reading points out, that is experience much in need at Vonage, which has churn of more than 3 percent.

Vonage needs to press hard from a marketing perspective to get customers to think of it as a multi-play service provider (the company now has a deal to resell Covad Communications DSL service). The VoIP business also continues to be challenging as cable TV companies like Comcast continue to make progress with their own voice services, and telcos push themselves in the direction of Web 2.0-related voice applications and mash-ups.

For more:
- read this story at Light Reading

Related articles:
Vonage announced in May it will re-sell DSL from Covad. Vonage report
Vonage has faced scrutiny over its ability to pay down debt. Vonage report

Qwest Q2 report coming soon

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:58:48 -0400

Qwest Communications is due to report second quarter earnings one week from today. A couple of other big telcos have shown some pop in this quarter's reports, but will the story be the same with Qwest? The Denver-based telco last month lowered its outlook for the rest of 2008, citing multiple market and economic factor. The company also saw sharp landline losses and a decline in its net income during the first quarter of this year. More recently, Qwest's bid for access charge forbearance in four markets was turned away by the Federal Communications Commission. Other news in recent months had Qwest switching wireless network partners from Sprint Nextel to Verizon Wireless, and Qwest CFO John Richardson announcing his resignation.

Now, BloggingStocks is calling Qwest's stock one of the worst performers of the last 10 years. We all know how the decline started, but Qwest has yet to return to the form of the aggressive, promising company it once seemed to be.

For more:
- see this post at BloggingStocks

Related articles:
Qwest last month lowered its 2008 outlook. Qwest report
Qwest reported lower earnings for the first quarter of 2008. Qwest report

Verizon net income up 12% on wireless, FiOS

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:04:23 -0400

Wireless and FiOS broadband efforts again proved to be the growth engines for Verizon Communications, as the telco posted second quarter earnings marked by a 12 percent boost in profit over last year's second quarter to $1.88 billion, or 66 cents per share. Revenue hit $24.1 billion. Verizon Wireless showed revenue growth of 12 percent on data service revenue growth of 45 percent, along with net subscriber additions of 1.5 million for the quarter.

Meanwhile, the FiOS broadband network did its parts to strengthen Verizon, too. The company added 187,000 FiOS broadband customers during the quarter, and about 176,000 FiOS TV customers. The telco now has surpassed 2 million FiOS broadband customers and 1.4 million TV subscribers. Both service sectors helped Verizon to a 10.4 increase in revenue from its legacy wireline properties, even though landline voice revenue was down about 1.8 percent.

For more:
- see this update at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles:
Verizon posted impressive revenue growth for 2007. Verizon report
Verizon wants all of Verizon Wireless for itself. Verizon report

Verizon: We’re NOT for sale

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:29:45 -0400

Verizon Communications Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg says the U.S.'s number two telecom will be the hunter and not the prey-especially where it concerns its Verizon Wireless partner Vodafone--as telcos continue to consolidate.

"We're not for sale," he told the Financial Times. "And in case you didn't get that the first time, we're not for sale. OK? In the long term, my view is that we're the hunter. That's the way I see it, and I'm trying to develop a new generation of hunters."

The 61-year-old top dog, who has led Verizon since its birth, says he has no plans to retire. "I'm not even thinking about the next step," he said.

Verizon is the fifth largest telecom in the world, and is poised, with its $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel, to become the top player in the United States' mobile market with more than 80 million customers.

For more:
- See the Financial Times story

Related articles:
Seidenberg says economic slowdown hasn't hurt Verizon Seidenberg report
Verizon defends U.S. broadband Verizon report

Seidenberg wants all of Verizon Wireless

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:03:57 -0400

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg wants out of the company's Verizon Wireless joint venture with Vodafone, telling the Financial Times that since Verizon is "doing 100 percent of the work," he wants 100 percent of the earnings.

Vodafone and Verizon's relationship has been a tense one at best since the two joined their U.S. wireless assets eight years ago, with Vodafone keeping a 45 percent stake. Verizon last tried to buy out Vodafone in 2006.

While Sedenberg said he doesn't expect a sale to happen overnight, he in putting more pressure on Vodafone to sell, especially with Vittorio Colao stepping in as new Voda CEO in July.

Analysts say Vodafone's ownership stake now is worth about $60 billion, up $10 billion since 2006.

For more:
- See the Financial Times story

Related articles:
Vodafone hanging on to Verizon Vodafone article
Vodafone investor: Restructure 45% VZW stake Vodafone investor article
Vodafone new CEO Colao article