Verizon to Go Completely Wireless?

Verizon reported second quarter earnings last week, and CFO Fran Shammo, made it clear that Verizon is focusing on wireless, advertising, and digital. Verizon recently acquired AOL for $4.4 billion, which is where the advertising and digital aspects seem to be focused. “Wireless business, revenue growth, profitability, and cash flows are driven by our high-quality retail postpaid customer base. As I said earlier, total Wireless operating revenues grew 5.3% in the quarter to $22.6 billion,” Shammo said on the July 21 conference call. The Huffington Post (previously owned by AOL, now owned by Verizon) reported that an all-wireless future may be in the cards for the company. Jennifer Fritszche, Senior Analyst at Wells Fargo, told Bloomberg, “If he had it his way, [Verizon’s Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam] would make Verizon an all-wireless company. Verizon gets about 70 percent of its total revenue from wireless; AT&T gets 56 percent.” With another hint to this wireless future, Shammo said, “We are very committed to reducing our cost structure while maintaining strong customer satisfaction. The Wireline head count was down 10% year-over-year, and we continue to strive for gains in operational efficiency. As I said, we are far from satisfied and we will continue to work on our cost structure. Capital spending in the Wireline for the first half of the year totaled $2.2 billion, down 19%.” The Huffington Post’s story was inspired by the telecommunications unions, including the Communications Workers of America, who are in contract negotiations with Verizon, and the settlement deadline is August 1.