Verizon posts profit loss in Q4, but surpasses forecasts

US carrier Verizon Wireless added 2.3 million customers, most of them prized monthly subscribers, to put a shine on a fourth quarter when Verizon's profit was cut by restructuring costs, an Associated Press report said.

The Associated Press report also said in reporting the 38% drop in quarterly profit, Verizon also emphasized that growth in its DSL and new FioS Internet businesses has outpaced the loss of traditional telephone customers.

In the final three months of 2006, Verizon earned $1.03 billion, down from $1.66 billion, or   in the fourth quarter 2005, the report said.

The latest figures reflect a charge of $541 million for taxes triggered by the sale of Verizon's operations in the Dominican Republic, the report added.

The directories spinoff and the Dominican divestiture were geared toward bolstering Verizon's financial posture as it invests billions in upgrading its copper phone network and readies for the day when cellular partner Vodafone Group might decide to sell its share of Verizon Wireless, the report said.

The report further said fourth-quarter revenue totaled $22.60 billion, a 26.1% increase from $17.93 billion in the same period in 2005, though a big chunk of that gain came from the acquisition of the MCI long-distance business in early 2006.

 

Broadband (policy)

 

China goes directly to 4G before 3G can take off

 

China, still working on its long-delayed homegrown third-generation wireless standard, has leapfrogged itself by launching the world's first fourth-generation standard, state media, quoted by a Reuters report, said. \n

Data-rich 3G telephony, which allows high-speed transmission of data and images, is not yet available in mainland China, the Reuters report said. \n

But a group of 10 "leading domestic institutions" called the "FuTURE Project" rolled out 4G in Shanghai, the official \nChina Daily reported.

The Reuters report said China aims to hold field tests for the 4G system, whose rollout has cost 150 million yuan ($19.3 million) and will allow data transmission at up to 100Mbps, several times faster than current technology, and put it into trial commercial use up until 2010, the paper added. \n

',1]);//-->
About $10.10 billion of the revenue came from the cellular business, up 16.3 % from $8.69 billion a year earlier.