Verizon Wireless today said its year-over-year quarterly revenue grew by 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, the largest it's been in VZW's 11-year history. The company also touted strong cash flows and 18.2 percent shareholder returns in 2011, but none of it could mask the fact that VZW posted a loss of 71 cents in diluted earners per share (EPS), or a loss of $2.02 billion, compared with earnings of 93 cents a share, or a profit of $2.64 billion one year prior.
It didn't take long for Verizon to figure out the obvious, which is that $300 is a bit more than some people are willing to pay for a high-end device, even the Droid RAZR. Now you don't have to. Big Red has gone and launched a new SKU for $200 (with a 2-year service contract), pricing the smartphone in more reasonable territory. It's the exact same phone, just with less storage.
Let it never be said that the Internet can’t be used for good as well as evil. After a huge online backlash, Verizon Wireless has backed away from plans to begin charging a $2 “convenience fee” to customers for paying their bills online, or by the phone. The change was supposed to go into effect on January 15th.
Perhaps the folks at Verizon have a sick sense of humor; they enjoy letting things hang out there until the last possible minute. Verizon announced just minutes ago that the long-awaited Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be available tomorrow, December 15th for $299 on-contract. This comes after multiple rumors of delays and more speculation than you can shake a phone at.
Netflix shareholders haven't been thrilled with Netflix's direction the past few months. After announcing a spin-off of its DVD-by-mail rental business and higher prices for streaming and DVD services combined, subscribers raged until Netflix reversed course on severing its DVD arm, but the company didn't relent on recent price hikes. It's been paying a price in subscriber losses ever since. Enter unhappy investors, though talk of Verizon taking over the streaming service has them smiling once again.
Verizon Wireless blamed a nationwide 4G LTE service outage on a "technical issue," which it has now resolved, and not a moment too soon. Some Verizon 4G LTE device owners have been without access to the high-speed network since Tuesday, dropping down to 3G and in some cases being demoted all the way down to 2G. That's hardly the way Verizon had hoped to celebrate its one-year anniversary of its 4G LTE network.
While not offering any specifics, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has again raised the issue of family data pricing. Consumers have been begging for a carrier to move in this direction for years, and McAdam seems at least open to the idea. According to the CEO, a family data plan for multiple devices could arrive in 2012.
Wireless spectrum: it’s what powers mobile communications and wireless carriers have an insatiable taste for more, more, MORE of it. The need for more spectrum is the reason Sprint keeps bailing Clearwire out of financial hot water and why AT&T is pushing so hard for a merger with T-Mobile. Verizon has pretty much been the only major carrier that hasn’t engaged in major spectrum-related deals this year – until now, that is. Today, Verizon announced it has reached a $3.6 billion deal to gobble up 122 spectrum licenses from three major cable companies.
This is the story that will not die. When will the US variant of the Galaxy Nexus launch? According to a new investigation by ComputerWorld, pre-orders are happening tomorrow (November 29) and the device will be coming out on December 8th. This jives with earlier rumors, but how official is this “confirmed” information?
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