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Verizon Communications would like to buy out Vodafone from their wireless joint venture, but will not do so at any cost, its chief executive told JPMorgan analysts. In a note to clients, analyst Philip Cusick said Verizon boss Lowell McAdam had said he did not believe a premium would be required to buy Vodafone's 45 percent [...]

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) provides mobile telecommunication services worldwide. It offers mobile voice services to approximately 447 million customers; messaging services; mobile data services; fixed broadband services; and whole sale carrier services. This international dividend achiever has consistently raised dividends every year since dividends were paid in 1989. The company’s last dividend... To read the whole article, please click on the article title above.

For a transaction that lacks an actual bid and whose rumors have largely been denied for years, this sure is starting to look like an auction. Late last week, it emerged that [company id="vz"] may have hired advisers to put together a $100B bid for the 45% of Verizon Wireless still owned by [company id="vod"]. But despite [...]

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) provides mobile telecommunication services worldwide. It offers mobile voice services to approximately 447 million customers; messaging services; mobile data services; fixed broadband services; and whole sale carrier services. This international dividend achiever has consistently raised dividends every year since dividends were paid in 1989. The company’s last dividend increase was in November 2012 when the Board of Directors approved a 7.20% increase in the...

After rumors yesterday that a Vodafone deal was in the works, Verizon quickly moved to put out the flames. If that sounds familiar it's because it is. Whether it's just for the Verizon Wireless stake, the whole shebang, or a three-way, such rumors have been difficult to stop lately. Verizon issued a denial yesterday saying that [...]

The Vodafone rumor du jour would certainly be a dramatic event, should it come true. FT's Alphaville blog paraphrases 'usually reliable people' as saying that Verizon and AT&T are preparing a joint bid for Vodafone worth something in the neighborhood of $245B.  Of course, 'usually reliable people' is a fairly general category which could be [...]

Here's a quick roundup of some global network news, with items from AT&T, GTS Central Europe, Level 3, and Vodafone: [company id="t"] won a big contract renewal with Shell. The Dutch multinational energy giant and global carrier have renewed their five-year-old relationship for another five years. The deal was and still is AT&T's largest retail communications services contract [...]

This quarter's persistent rumor has been of a final resolution of the Verizon/Vodafone situation just beyond the horizon, but thus far the rumors have been quite glib. But according to the several UK newspapers today, there may actually be a deal in the works now with an eye on a summer tie-up. Investors are taking [...]

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)’s application to renew licenses for second-generation wireless services in key Indian cities was rejected by the Department of Telecommunications, the carrier said today. The company has held the permits for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata service areas for 18 years, Vodafone’s Indian unit said in an e-mailed statement. Vodafone filed a petition in [...]

Plenty of news this week from Europe, so let's finish off with a quick look at metro fiber moves by Geo, euNetworks, Akado, Vodafone and Orange: The UK's Geo Networks increased its penetration into the media vertical by connecting the BBC Studios and Post Production's sites in Elstree with big pipes. Geo is providing dark fiber run [...]

Reports are indicating that [company id="vz"] has been taking a serious look at buying out Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless. Sound familiar? It should, since the same rumor has bubbled to the surface every few weeks since winter began, or maybe since the decade began in some form. So what's new? Besides the fact that [...]

Emerald Express, which is building a new transatlantic cable with a branch to Iceland, has added a high profile customer.  None other than [company id="vod"] is planning to sign a contract with the cable system for capacity.  With its purchase of Cable & Wireless Worldwide last year, the Apollo cable means that Vodafone has plenty of [...]

Reuters reports that at the Mobile World Congress Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao expressed confidence that the company could easily spend on European expansion without needing to sell it's 45% Verizon Wireless Stake. Various analysts have been talking about pressure on Vodafone to increase its wireline presence to compete, which is something it already did some [...]

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) is contemplating a possible buyout of its remaining 45% stakes of Verizon Wireless, currently retained by Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD). Verizon wireless, a joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone became the nation’s largest wireless service provider after acquiring Alltel Wireless Corp. in 2009. Going by historical records, this is not the first [...]

It looks as if the long discussed buyout of Vodafone's 45% minority stake in Verizon Wireless may be back on the front burner. Yesterday, CEO Lowell McAdam went as far as to tell the Wall Street Journal that such a deal is currently "feasible" and that they would still love to own the whole business. [...]

I've been particularly active in the market as we've continued to see drops in all the major indexes on a daily basis. I've injected quite a bit of fresh capital into my portfolio over the last week or so, and perhaps I made those moves a little early. But that assumption really depends on your perspective. I look at every share I purchase in a publicly traded company as an additional piece of ownership, because that's essentially what stocks are - pieces of ownership in a business. So, I'm...

UK-based [company id="vod"] has had an interesting day, with both outsized losses and cash windfalls to keep investors hopping. The global operator chose to bite the bullet in southern Europe, where the still unfolding economic disaster there has hamstrung their business just like everyone else. They have therefore decided to take a £5.9B ($9.3B) charge by [...]

Ricky Sandler's hedge fund firm Eminence Capital is having a great year, up 6.7% net in the third quarter and up 22.3% net for the year through September with AUM north of $3 billion.  Their third quarter letter to investors details a new trade they recently put on: Long Vodafone / Short Verizon Pairs Trade For those unfamiliar, a pairs trade is a bet made where an investor goes long one security and shorts another.  Some investors utilize this to make a market neutral bet, while...

Various reports yesterday said that Vodafone expects the integration of its newly purchased Cable & Wireless Worldwide assets to cost as much as £500M ($800M+) over the next four years. That's definitely not chump change, in fact it's nearly half of what they paid to buy the company in the first place. The big bill comes [...]

UK's Vodafone Group PLC (LSX:VOD) (NASDAQ:VOD) has agreed on a deal with the Kuwaiti based Zain, which will allow Vodafone's travelling customers to use the platform while in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, and Iran. This addition takes Vodafone's partner markets to more than 50 across the globe; the partnership will allow the company cut on infrastructure costs [...]

Here's a quick look at some of the other news items this week, including two acquisitions in the Pacific amongst other things: I don't follow the Hawaiian telecom market that much, but I did take notice yesterday when Hawaiian Telecom announced its intention to buy competitive operator Wavecom Solutions. The $13M deal will bring a subsea [...]

British Telecom operator Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) (LON:VOD) and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HKG:0013) are close to signing an agreement to merge their network infrastructure in Ireland, two people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg. Both telecom giants plan to keep their separate frequencies and brands in the Irish market. Vodafone Group Plc  signed a similar deal with [...]

Vodafone Group plc (LON:VOD) is facing condemnation today after a Reuters report revealed the company had failed to pay around £1 billion in taxes in the United Kingdom in the last decade. The telecommunications giant has taken tax credits instead. Vodafone have managed to collect the tax credits by paying off interest on loans from withing [...]

After receiving backing from the largest investor, Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) marched forward on Monday in its quest to take over Cable&Wireless Worldwide PLC (PINK:CBWWF). The deal is valued at £1.04 billion ($1.63 billion). The institutional investor, Orbis, with its 19 percent share in Cable & Wireless, said it would discontinue its opposition to Vodafone's offer after previously [...]

The UK telecommunications market has been very much in flux for a few years now, and today there was another twist. The UK mobile divisions of [company id="vod"] and [company id='tef'] have now announced their intention to formally join forces at the infrastructure level - a major redesign of their existing partnership.  Via a newly formed [...]

Negotiations are continuing between the Vodafone Group plc (LON:VOD) and the Indian government over taxes owed from a 2007 acquisition made by the telecommunications giant. The finance ministry claims the company owes as much as $3.7 billion in back taxes and fees relating to the deal. In 2007 Vodafone purchased a majority stake in Hutchison Essar. [...]

It was just two weeks ago that [company id="vod"] agreed to purchase C&W Worldwide after a two month competitive sale process.  But the deal may already be on the rocks according to the UK's Guardian. While the board agreed to the purchase and several large shareholders supported it (RBC, Sky, and Cyrte), one major shareholder [...]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is to see a rocky week for its stock after allegations of corruption at its Mexican subsidiary (. The company's stock was down almost 4% to 59.99 at time of writing in pre market trading today. The company's stock has been on a good run in the last year rising in price by [...]

After more than two months of consideration and a challenge from [company id="tcl"], [company id="vod"] said this morning that it has reached an agreement to buy [company id="cw"].  They had received a three day extension on Friday, which seemed to indicate the tying up of loose ends on a bid.  The purchase will give Vodafone [...]

Yesterday [company id="tcl"] took itself out of the auction for [company id="cw"], after the two companies were unable to come to terms on a price. Tata had inserted itself into the process in late February after [company id="vod"]'s initial expression of interest two weeks earlier. I had thought Tata might have a better fit than Vodafone, but [...]

UK regulators have granted the wishes of [company id="tcl"] and [company id="vod"] and extended the deadline for both companies' potential bids for [company id="cw"]. Tata and Vodafone had asked for such a move, complaining that they hadn't yet been given enough information by C&W to make their decision before today's deadline. Vodafone has been looking at [...]

  Vodafone Group Plc's (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) may be exposed to losses in its dealings in developing countries particularly in countries where conflict is ongoing or possible in the future. The company operates data providers in 30 countries and has partnered with providers in 40 more. It is the largest mobile operator by revenue in the world. However trouble may [...]

UK regulators gave [company id="vod"] more time to decide whether to bid for Cable & Wireless Worldwide yesterday, pushing back its deadline until March 29. That's the same day Tata is due to make its own decision on a bid, and thus we are set up for a bit of a showdown. It seems likely that [...]

Shares of the troubled telecom, Cable and Wireless Worldwide jumped up 30% after Vodafone announced they were in the early stages of negotiations to buy the company for 700 pounds.  Vodafone said the talks were in an early stage as they consider the risks and rewards of buying the company.  C&WW investors welcome the deal [...]

Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD) said on Monday that it is seriously considering making an offer to purchase Britain's Cable & Wireless. VOD is the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, but the acquisition of Cable & Wireless would be a huge benefit, with the fixed-line network boosting bandwidth for customers who cannot get enough of the internet. According to Reuters, VOD said on Monday that, “Vodafone regularly reviews opportunities in the sector and confirms that it is in the very early...

Over the weekend, rumors started to spread that [company id="vod"] is looking at a possible purchase of Cable & Wireless Worldwide. And in fact today Vodafone has confirmed that it is in the "very early stages of evaluating the merits of a potential offer."  Such a deal would give Vodafone a global backbone as well [...]

Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD) announced on Thursday that it had missed quarterly revenue forecasts as a result of a tough quarter in Spain and Italy that overshadowed strong performances in northern Europe, as well as emerging markets. According to Reuters, British-based VOD is the latest in a long line of companies warning that austerity-hit consumers and businesses in southern Europe are cutting back on spending, and it would seem that the cell phones are one of the first things to be put...

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), the world’s biggest mobile-phone company, doesn’t have to pay $2.2 billion in taxes on its purchase of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (13)’s India operations, the nation’s top court said. The government can’t seek capital gains tax from Vodafone’s purchase of Hutchison’s wireless assets because the transaction occurred between foreign companies, according to the [...]

Today, I will take a deeper look at two telecommunications stocks; both foreign companies that can easily be traded in the US. On the surface, these stocks both look very attractive, but if you have been looking at our monthly top dividend rankings, you will have noticed that Frontier Communications (FTR), the leader in recent [...]

We are downgrading our recommendation on Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) to Underperform, primarily due to the complexity in Indian operations and tough conditions across Southern European markets. Fiscal 2011 earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate but improved year over year on the back of higher revenues and the ongoing share repurchase plan. Vodafone continues to face [...]

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) shares are spiking up again this morning, up another 2% continuing their run from earlier in the week. What's behind the sudden move into a company some have called a "headless horseman"? There were rumors yesterday that Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) was thinking about making a bid for the company. There were also rumors that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was once again looking to get into the mix, though that idea has been bandied about for what seems like forever....

Telecoms giant Vodafone said on Monday it was exploring the possibility to cooperate with Wind Hellas, Greece's third-biggest telecoms operator.  "Vodafone Group confirms that it has entered into discussions with Largo Limited to explore a potential business combination between Vodafone Greece and Wind Hellas," the company said in a statement.  "However, media reports that Vodafone Group is in discussions to buy Wind [...]

The once sleepy world of Kiwi bandwidth has been a bit of a soap opera lately, as the new Pacific Fibre project plans to upset the balance of connectivity.  Yesterday, Vodafone's New Zealand subsidiary jumped ship at Southern Cross and confirmed plans to move all its international capacity to the new cable by 2014.  Vodafone's [...]

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) climbed the most in four months in London trading after announcing a one-time dividend of 2 billion pounds ($3.3 billion), the first payout from its U.S. venture since 2005. Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone owns a 45 percent stake, said yesterday it will pay a $10 billion dividend. Vodafone, based in Newbury, England, [...]

Last week's rumor of a strategic partnership between [company id="vod"] and [company id="h23"] turned into reality this morning.   euNetworks will provide the fiber infrastructure including fiber-to-the-tower powering Vodafone's LTE rollout to the country's top four cities of Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, and Munich.  The two also signed an agreement that would see Vodafone leveraging the company's [...]

Vodafone reiterated its outlook on Friday after faster-growing markets such as India and Turkey helped the world's largest mobile company by revenue to withstand tough trading and increased regulation in Europe. Vodafone [VOD-LN  164.55  ---  UNCH    ] posted first-quarter organic service revenue growth of 1.5 percent, down from the 2.5 percent recorded in the previous quarter but broadly in line with [...]

Most European stocks rose as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index headed for its first weekly gain in three, after euro-area leaders announced a new aid package for Greece and measures to prevent sovereign bond yields increasing. Greek banks climbed with the Mediterranean nation’s four largest lenders all surging more than 9 percent. Vodafone Group Plc (VOD)gained 1.9 percent [...]

European mobile giant [company id="vod"] is preparing for its LTE rollout, and reports trickling out of Germany suggests that [company id="h23"] has picked up the backhaul contract for it in four of Germany's largest markets.  Vodafone and euNetworks will be cooperating in the buildout of backhaul networks spanning the metropolitan areas of Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin [...]

British mobile phone giant Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) has agreed to sell its entire 24.4% stake in Poland’s Polkomtel to Spartan Capital Holdings for around €920 million ($1.34 billion) in cash, before tax and transaction costs. The Polkomtel sale is the fourth initiative in Vodafone’s strategy, announced last year, to exit minority holdings. Vodafone, the largest [...]

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) anticipates dividends from Verizon Wireless, its joint venture with Verizon Communications (VZ). Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless and Verizon owns the remaining 55%. With the majority holding, Verizon has a right to approve a resumption of dividend payment that was suspended during the last 7 years due to the high debt [...]