VeriSign may be divesting of mobile units

Network infrastructure developer VeriSign reportedly plans to divest a series of business units, possibly including its mobile banking, mobile messaging and wireless billing technologies, to focus its business on securing online transactions as well as overseeing the ".com" and ".net" domain name registries. VeriSign is expected to announce its plans during a Wednesday meeting with analysts. CEO Bill Roper told the AP that the firm plans to sell businesses where it's not the clear market leader. Roper indicated that VeriSign will sell its mobile transactions infrastructure unit and its telecommunications routing business, although he added the company has not selected all of the divisions it will shed, nor has it settled on their respective pricetags.

"We're getting a lot of interest," Roper told the AP. "It's not a matter of these being cats and dogs that nobody's interested in. It's just a matter of…we might not be the best home for those businesses."

For more on VeriSign's mobile future:
- read this Associated Press article