Posts tagged Verizon
Verizon iPhone most popular US mobile phone in February
Apr 1st
By Daniel Eran Dilger
Published: 06:00 PM EST
Apple’s CDMA iPhone sold by Verizon Wireless in the US was the nation’s top mobile phone sold during the month of February, according to market research firm comScore.
The firm reported that of the top five phone makers, Apple grew its share of mobile subscribers the most in the last quarter, edging up 0.9 percentage points to hit a 7.5 percent share of the American mobile phone market (not just smartphones).
While four makers are ahead of Apple in the US mobile market, only first place Samsung was able to similarly increase its its share of the market, by 0.3 percentage points, to 24.8 percent.
LG remained flat at 20.9 percent, while Motorola shrunk by 0.9 percentage points to a 16.1 percent share, and RIM fell by 0.2 points to achieve an 8.6 percent share of all mobiles sold during the three month period ending in February.
In terms of smartphone platforms, Android was up 7 percentage points to take 33 percent of the smartphone market, while Apple’s iOS was the only other smartphone platform to register growth, up 0.2 points to a 25.2 percent share of smartphones.
RIM remained ahead of Apple, with 28.9 percent share, but was down 4.6 points compared to three months ago. Microsoft slipped another 1.3 points despite the release of Windows Phone 7, setting down to a 7.7 share, while HP’s Palm webOS platform shrank by 1.1 points to take 2.8 percent share of the smartphone market.
The popularity of Apple’s Verizon iPhone, which comScore called “the most acquired handset in the month of February,” refutes anecdotal figures advertised by BTIG Research analyst Walter Piecyk, who recently claimed that Verizon was selling more HTC Thunderbolt phones than Apple iPhones, based on conversations with retail staff.
Verizon itself claimed the iPhone was its biggest phone launch ever, but has made no similar claim about the Android-based HTC Thunderbolt, which boasts 4G data service via Verizon’s new LTE network.
From www.appleinsider.com
Verizon announces it will enter Alaska market
Mar 15th
Verizon Wireless says it is coming to Alaska and will announce the details in weeks and months to come.
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Verizon has the largest mobile phone network in the country and it competes heavily with AT&T Wireless, which controls Alaska’s largest mobile phone network. Both companies offer the popular iPhone and other smart phones.
A Verizon Wireless spokesman said it is too early to share any details about its service in Alaska, such as when exactly it will debut and which cities and towns will get coverage.
“We’ll announce details as we get closer,” said the Verizon spokesman, Scott Charlston.
Last November, the Federal Communication Commission approved Verizon’s request to acquire a broadband license for Alaska from another wireless company, called Triad Communications. Several years ago, a subsidiary of California-based Triad purchased the Alaska bandwidth from the federal government but it never developed service here.
Verizon said in its application for Triad’s license that FCC approval would “increase competition in Alaska by allowing Verizon Wireless to enter Alaska markets as a new wireless competitor.”
AT&T is the biggest cell phone carrier in Alaska, followed by GCI Wireless and Alaska Communications.
Reach Elizabeth Bluemink at ebluemink@adn.com or 257-4317.
From www.adn.com
Verizon Wireless launches home phone service
Feb 17th
After a brief trial that began late last year, Verizon’s new home-phone service—which lets you make unlimited domestic calls on a traditional landline phone for $20 a month, all with the help of a wireless router that taps into the carrier’s cellular network—is now open for business.
Word of Verizon’s Home Phone Connect service first surfaced back in December, and Boy Genius Report spotted a promo for the plan on the Verizon Wireless website on Thursday.
Initial reports about Home Phone Connect (including my own) had it that the service would only be open to existing Verizon Wireless subscribers, but from looks of the latest promo, it appears that anyone—including new customers—can sign up.
Here’s how it works (and keep in mind that I haven’t tested the service myself yet): You take any standard landline phone and simply plug it into Verizon’s AC-powered Home Phone Connect base station, which looks like a home Wi-Fi router.
Once it’s activated (and yes, you can port over your home phone number if you like), the Home Connect service offers up your usual menu of calling services—including call waiting, forwarding, caller ID, three-way calling, voice mail, and 911 service—along with unlimited calling to any U.S. number, for $20 a month.
Another option is add a line to an existing Verizon Wireless family plan for $10 a month, although your new home phone will have to share minutes with everyone else on the plan.
There’s also the cost of the base station to consider: $129, with discounts available if you sign a contract (free for a two-year commitment, or $50 with a one year contract).
Verizon Wireless isn’t the first cell phone carrier to offer a home-phone service; after all, T-Mobile had its @Home service up and running back in 2008. But T-Mobile shuttered @Home last year.
Besides competing with traditional landlines service, Verizon’s Home Connect plan is also up against such bargain (or free) broadband-based alternatives as Skype, Ooma, MagicJack, and Vonage.
MagicJack, for example, lets you make VoIP calls on your home phone (with a little help from your PC and a broadband connection) for as little as $20 a year after a 12-month free trial.
But Verizon argues you don’t need a broadband connection to use Home Phone Connect. The Home Connect base station also boasts a GPS chip that pinpoints your position when making a 911 call (VoIP service usually require you to register your address for 911 service), along with a battery pack in case of a power outage.
So, would you consider trading in your landline (assuming you still have one) for Verizon’s new home-phone service? Or would you rather go the VoIP way?
— Ben Patterson is a technology blogger for Yahoo! News.
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From news.yahoo.com
Cold is no obstacle for iPhone 4 Verizon buyers
Feb 11th
Despite the chill in the air, customers started lining up outside San Antonio-area Verizon stores well before the doors opened at 7 a.m.
Verizon Wireless started offering Apple Inc.’s iPhone 4 to the general public Thursday, prompting customers to hit the stores early for the popular mobile device.
At the Forum at Olympia Parkway, about a dozen new and existing customers filled the Verizon store to purchase and activate their new phones. Chris Guymon, the district manager for seven Verizon stores in the San Antonio area, said each had various stations set up for activation and demonstrations. He said the launch was going smoothly and a focus for Verizon was to increase the company’s market share in the Alamo City.
“People are excited about the launch,” he said. “This is just another phone to add to the lineup, and we hope it will draw more business for Verizon in San Antonio.”
Guymon couldn’t say how many iPhones would be activated in stores during the first day, but several analysts were predicting Apple could sell up to 13 million iPhones on Verizon’s network this year.
For Jessie Smith, it was the right time for her and her husband to upgrade their phones and the iPhone 4 was the clear choice, she said. Smith added that she decided to upgrade from her flip phone so she could use the device’s applications and communication options.
“This is great because my husband travels a lot, and this will give us a chance to video chat,” Smith said as her husband waited in line with two of their children. “I’ve never had a smart phone, so I’ll need some time to get familiar with it.”
With all the hype surrounding the launch, Smith said her husband got there early to stand in line because they expected a frenzy of customers. Instead, everything was pretty tame, she said.
“I thought there would be more people,” said Smith, who has been a Verizon customer for about three years. “But it just made it easier for us to get our phones.”
The types of overnight lines that developed when previous iPhone models launched were lacking for Verizon’s offering. Employees outnumbered customers in some stores.
“I’m not sure you’ll get the same type of frenetic, crazy reaction. It’s not like it’s a brand-new device being offered,” Michael Nelson, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg News. “I think that the largest appeal is to existing customers.”
Last month, Verizon previewed multiple Android-based smart phones that will run on the company’s LTE 4G network. The devices, manufactured by HTC, Motorola and LG, are expected to hit stores during the first quarter, Guymon said.
Despite this increase in smart phone choices, Stephen Segovia, 23, still wanted the iPhone, ditching his Sprint service for Verizon to get it. As a loyal Apple customer, Segovia said the iPhone would allow him to put the phone in sync with other Apple devices he already owns. Although AT&T Inc. has exclusively carried the device since 2007, Segovia said problems with the carrier’s service made him wait to switch.
“I didn’t switch because there were so many problems with AT&T,” he said, citing talk about dropped calls and customer service complaints. “There was issue after issue. I didn’t want to deal with that.”
AT&T likely doesn’t have to worry about many customers jumping ship for Verizon because of hefty early-termination fees of up to $325. But when the next version of the iPhone is released later this year, competition is expected to heat up.
In the meantime, AT&T is trying to keep customers by offering incentives including reduced prices for upgrades and a buyback program for credit toward a new phone, which is expected to launch later this year.
Most recently, the company is allowing customers who purchased an unlimited texting plan to make unlimited calls to any mobile phone on any network for any carrier.
All that was still not enough to convince Segovia to switch to AT&T.
As he completed his purchase, he settled into a sense of satisfaction.
And that wasn’t the only thing he was planning to buy Thursday. After his phone was activated, he planned to go shopping for a new car for his wife. That’s why he got in line around 6:30 a.m., to get the iPhone purchase out of the way.
“Yeah, it was cold, but it’s not often that I wait in line for a new product,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for four years, and I didn’t want to miss out.”
From www.mysanantonio.com
Wirefly: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Coming to Verizon Wireless
Feb 9th
According to third-party online mobile phone retailer Wirefly, the recently confirmed Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Android gaming oriented smartphone will be launched on Verizon Wireless this year, after being confirmed for future sale by European carriers earlier this week.
What makes the confirmation stand out is that Sony Ericsson has not developed CDMA phones for sale in the US since the T608, released in 2003 in limited quantities on both Sprint and Verizon before Sony Ericsson ended all future US CDMA handset development after its release and gutted the US CDMA R&D team previously located at the venture’s former US base at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.
With the Xperia Play being revealed for the first time in an official capacity this weekend at Mobile World Congress in Spain, the confirmation of a US version on Verizon Wireless would mark the first time since the saga of the T608 that Sony Ericsson has dedicated resources to developing a US CDMA version of a flagship handset. However, what is not known is whether the CDMA version was developed in Europe, the US or developed in Japan, as Sony Ericsson still maintains a CDMA R&D team for handset development with Japanese carrier KDDI, which also uses CDMA on a different frequency.
From www.phonenews.com
Boku and Zong Partner Up With Verizon to Offer BilltoMobile Payments
Jan 29th
Boku and Zong, two popular mobile phone payment systems have both just announced a new partnership with BilltoMobile, which is directly connected to the Verizon Wireless billing system. This new deal will allow Verizon customers to purchase virtual goods, apps and other items and have them billed directly billed to their cell phone.
For Boku users, after a purchase is initiated, the user will receive a text message to confirm the purchase. Boku’s mobile payments platform is active in 65 countries worldwide, with direct billing connections to carriers around the world including AT&T in the US and Vodafone in the UK. Zong, on the other hand, is the payment provider for Facebook credits, and provides payment capabilities to about 50 countries.
Both partnerships are welcome as the world is shifting to new technologies to handle their bill pay, and why not have all mobile purchases one on bill?
[Via VentureBeat]
From androidcommunity.com
Verizon Profit Misses Estimates as Customers Cut Voice
Jan 25th
Verizon Profit Misses Estimates as Customers Cut Voice January 25, 2011, 7:40 AM EST
By Amy Thomson
(Updates with wireline results in ninth paragraph.)
Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) — Verizon Communications Inc., the second-largest U.S. phone company, reported fourth-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates as customers spent less on voice plans.
Earnings, excluding pension, severance and merger- integration items, rose to 54 cents a share from 50 cents a year earlier, Verizon said in a statement today. The average estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 55 cents.
Customers were able to spend less on wireless calls because of discounts in family and unlimited plans. New York-based Verizon and other carriers are trying to combat this trend by promoting data plans that let smartphones download games and connect to the Internet.
“What we’re learning is voice is becoming almost like an app, and people are pricing around that,” said Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Chicago. She rates the shares “outperform” and doesn’t own them.
The company began selling service on its faster, fourth- generation network last quarter and will start selling Apple Inc.’s iPhone in February as it pursues this growth.
Sales fell 2.6 percent to $26.4 billion from $27.1 billion a year earlier. Analysts had anticipated $26.4 billion in revenue, according to the Bloomberg survey. Net income was $2.64 billion, or 93 cents a share, compared with $617 million, or 22 cents.
Verizon declined 1.3 percent to $34.78 in trading before exchanges opened. The stock, up 16 percent last year, had gained 29 cents to $35.24 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday.
Landlines
Sales declined in the division that sells fixed-line service to businesses and homes, as customers cut home phone service and the company’s wholesale business, which sells service to other providers, contracted.
Revenue for the landline business declined 2.8 percent to $10.3 billion. The unit has become a less significant source of revenue for Verizon as customers have substituted their landline service for digital voice service from cable companies and mobile phones.
Verizon and Dallas-based AT&T Inc. made a change in the way they account for pension expenses last month, which trimmed billions off of past earnings for both companies. The accounts, which provide health and retirement benefits for former employees, took a hit in the recession. Rather than spreading the losses out in future earnings, the companies will account for gains and losses in the year that they occur.
Wireless Customer Gains
In the wireless business, Verizon added 872,000 contract customers in the quarter. That beat the 650,000 that Fritzsche had forecast. Mike McCormack, an analyst at Nomura Securities International Inc., predicted the company would add 724,000 and Chris Larsen at Piper Jaffray Cos had estimated 600,000 subscribers.
Verizon will spend money to subsidize the iPhone for customers this year, which may hurt margins in the short-term, said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. However, the popularity of the device, which has been exclusively available on Verizon’s largest rival AT&T in the U.S., will ultimately drive customer growth and higher bills, Moffett said in a note to investors.
Verizon will make the iPhone 4 available to current customers on Feb. 3, and new customers will be able to buy it a week later. A version with 16 gigabytes of memory will sell for $199.99 and a 32-gigabyte model will cost $299.99.
The subsidy, at an estimated $400 for each phone, may cost Verizon $3 billion to $5 billion in its first year, analysts have said. John Hodulik, a New York-based analyst at UBS AG, said Verizon could sell 13 million iPhones this year, which would mean a price tag of about $5.2 billion for the carrier.
(The company will host an analyst and investor conference beginning at 8:30 a.m. New York time to discuss the results. To access the webcast, click on {LIVE }.)
–Editors: Peter Elstrom, Ville Heiskanen
To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
From www.businessweek.com
Verizon – Simultaneous Voice And Data Coming
Jan 21st
Verizon has been in the news for not having the ability to provide simultaneous voice and data on their CDMA network and has been criticized by AT&T for that lacking. Now, with the HTC Thunderbolt coming to Verizon Wireless, they have the feature on an Android OS phone. The information regarding this came from a leaked employee training document from Android Central which is the first mobile phone at Verizon to share both the 3G and 4G networks. Along with that is the simultaneous voice and data.
Verizon is training employees on this as this is the first LTE enabled mobile phone for them and they want to get it right. It is expected to be released in February, but towards the end and Verizon is not going to try and promote the Thunderbolt at a time when the Verizon iPhone is the only thing people are talking about. Expect to see it some time around February 20th or after that at Verizon. There will probably be an official announcement in a few weeks.
This simultaneous voice and data will only be available where the new LTE network is working, which is in limited roll out right now, but increasing to more cities each month. Best guess is the data will run over the 4G LTE network and the voice will operate over the existing 3G network. There is very little information from Verizon as to how this is going to work and this method would provide the best explanation. Once the phone is released, there should be more information about it being posted.
The HTC Thunderbolt is the first of many phones that will support the LTE network and we can expect to see others in March and April which can also support simultaneous voice and data. By the fall, there will be far more cities being covered by the Verizon LTE network along with more phones which support it. Verizon will then be able to put the previous limitations behind them.
It is too bad they have not figured out how to do this previously, since the iPhone coming to Verizon is such a big deal and without that feature being available, AT&T can warn people that Verizon does not have this, but AT&T does. Verizon needs to figure out how to get the capability when the iPhone 5 is released in June or they will face some potential lost iPhone sales when it does come. Since the HTC Thunderbolt has it, we can expect many more Android phones coming out this summer to have the simultaneous voice and data capability.
From www.techieinsider.com
Verizon Offer Reduction To Upgrade To Apple iPhone 4
Jan 18th
Of course not everyone follows rumors, speculation and announcements on the Internet, so some people may not have known that the Apple iPhone was going to be making its way onto Verizon. We have been tracking all of the rumors since they started surfacing, why not have a peek through some of them by clicking here.
So now that Verizon has officially unveiled a CDMA iPhone 4 that will run on it’s network, for those that were unaware that the iPhone was coming to Verizon and bought mobile phones during the holiday season, you will get $200 off if you wish to upgrade to Verizon’s new baby and trade in your previous handset.
How much of a saving is that? Well the retail price of the 16GB version of the Verizon iPhone is $649.99 or $749.99 for the 32GB version. Zach Epstein of BGR.com offers a snide route towards getting more off, he says that if you purchased a high end mobile phone that you can get more than $200 for on the likes of eBay or by selling it privately then do it, then go and upgrade and pay that off, he’s a clever one.
If you are looking for a bit more information then you can head over to Verizon and read through the FAQ’s for the Verizon iPhone 4, this tells you everything that you need to know if you are wanting your new handset.
Update: The offer applies to current Verizon customers who purchased and activated new smartphones, feature phones or certified pre-owned phones between 11/26/2010, and 01/10/2011.
Will you be taking Verizon up on this offer? Let us know in the comments below.
From www.onlinesocialmedia.net
The Verizon iPhone – Yes or No?
Jan 18th
Those of you who’ve been eyeing the iPhone but didn’t want AT&T (News 
– Alert) as your carrier now have another option as Verizon announced last week that it would begin offering Apple’s (News – Alert) popular device in February. But for IT professionals considering the phone for themselves or their users, what are the pros and cons of opting for the Verizon (News – Alert) iPhone?
Here’s a quick recap of what we know so far.
Verizon’s version of the iPhone 4 will make its retail debut on Feb. 10, though existing Verizon customers will have a chance to pre-order the phone starting Feb. 3. With the standard two-year contract, the phone will cost $199.99 for the 16GB model and $299.99 for the 32GB model.
Verizon’s iPhone (News – Alert) will use CDMA technology, while AT&T’s version runs over its GSM network. One of the limitations of CDMA is that, unlike GSM, it doesn’t support simultaneous voice and data. So you can’t talk and check e-mail or surf the Web at the same time. For people who want to be online while chatting on their mobile phones, Verizon has been promising an upgrade to its CDMA network that would allow simultaneous voice and data, but no definitive word yet on when or if this might actually happen.
Despite initial hopes that Verizon’s first iPhone would be a 4G device, it’s strictly 3G. At last week’s press conference announcing the phone, Apple’s COO Tim Cook explained why. Cook said that creating a 4G device would’ve forced Apple to make certain design changes to the phone and that customers have indicated they want the Verizon iPhone now. Though Verizon did announce a batch of 4G phones at CES (News – Alert) recently, the carrier’s 4G network is just getting off the ground, and those new phones won’t actually hit the market until the middle of the year.
Verizon’s iPhone will also be able to serve as a mobile hotspot. That means you’ll be able to tether up to five different devices to share the phone’s 3G connection in order to hop online.
Okay, so what don’t we know about the Verizon iPhone at this point?
The cost of the data plans is still a mystery. Verizon has so far been coy about how much it would hit up its customers each month for an iPhone data plan. For its current lineup of 3G smartphones, the carrier charges $29.99 per month for unlimited data access and $15 a month for 150MB of data. AT&T, which got rid of unlimited data access last summer, charges its customers $25 a month for 2GB of data and $15 for 200MB. Some reports, including a story in last week’s Wall Street Journal, say that Verizon will offer the $30 unlimited data access package for iPhone users. But the company’s hesitancy to announce iPhone data prices now could mean it’s thinking of upping the charges for accessing data. Either way, we won’t know for sure until Verizon reveals the details.
Apple typically releases its new model iPhones in the summer, so people will be looking for the iPhone 5 to debut on AT&T’s network around June or July. Unveiling the Verizon iPhone in February throws off Apple’s usual scheduling. Does that mean we’ll see the iPhone 5 offered on Verizon’s network at the same time it launches for AT&T or will it make its debut in February 2012?
And though 4G was not in the cards for the first Verizon iPhone, it’s likely to be an option for the next generation iPhone, both for Verizon and AT&T. So people who opt for Verizon’s current 3G version next month may find themselves salivating over a 4G iPhone in a year or even less when their two-year contracts still have a ways to go.
Of course, this is always the fate of technology and technology consumers, both individually and in the enterprise market. You buy something now, and in a few short months, something better and faster and cooler pops up to take its place. Depending on the overall cost and other factors, I’ll probably be among the many smartphone users seriously considering the Verizon iPhone when it debuts next month. But other buyers, especially those in the corporate arena, will certainly want to weigh all their options before determining if the first Verizon iPhone is the right choice for their businesses.
Lance Whitney is a journalist, IT consultant, and Web Developer with almost 20 years of experience in the IT world. To read more of Lance’s articles, please visit his columnist page
Edited by Tammy Wolf
From iphone.tmcnet.com
