Hot Wireless Telecom Companies For 2015

Hot Wireless Telecom Companies For 2015: Vodafone Group PLC (VOD)

Vodafone Group Plc (Vodafone), incorporated in 1984, is a mobile communications company operating across the globe providing a range of communications services. The Company offers a range of products and services, including voice, messaging, data and fixed-line solutions and devices to assist customers in meeting their total communications needs. Vodafone has a global presence, with equity interests in over 30 countries and over 40 partner markets worldwide. It operates in three geographic regions: Europe, Africa and Central Europe; Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, and has an investment in Verizon Wireless in the United States. In October 2010, Vodafone Global Enterprise, the business within Vodafone, announced the acquisition of two telecom expense management (TEM) companies, Quickcomm and TnT Expense Management. In November 2011, the Company sold 24.4% interest in Polkomtel in Poland. In March 2012, Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture of Verizon Communications I nc. and Vodafone, purchased the operating assets of Cellular One of Northeast Pennsylvania from the Company. In April 2012, its Netherlands-based division, Vodafone Libertel BV, acquired Telespectrum-DJ. On October 31, 2012, the Company acquired TelstraClear Limited. In May 2013, Vodafone Group Plc announced launch of its carrier services business unit.

In Europe, the Companys mobile subsidiaries and joint venture operate under the brand name Vodafone. Its associate in France operates as SFR and Neuf Cegetel, and its fixed-line communication businesses operate as Vodafone, Arcor, Tele2 and TeleTu. Vodafones subsidiaries in Africa and Central Europe operate under the Vodafone brand, or in the case of Vodacom and its mobile subsidiaries, the Vodacom and Gateway brands. Its joint venture in Poland operates as Polkomtel and its associate in Kenya operates as Safaricom. The Companys subsidiaries and joint venture in Fiji operate under the Vodafone ! brand, an d its joint venture in Australia operates under the brands V! odafone and 3. The Companys associate in the United States operates under the brand Verizon Wireless.

Vodafone has an international customer base with 370 million mobile customers across the world as of March 31, 2011. Vodafone also caters to all business segments ranging from small-office-home-office (SoHo) and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to corporates and multinational corporations. Through its subsidiaries, Vodafone directly owns and manages approximately 2,200 stores around the world. The Company also has around 10,300 Vodafone-branded stores run through franchise and exclusive dealer arrangements.

The Companys range of handsets covers all its customer segments and price points, and is available in a variety of designs. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 (fiscal 2011), 14 new handsets were released under its own brand and it shipped 5.8 million. In addition to handsets, it supplies a range of connected smart devices. It suppl ies the iPhone in 19 markets. During fiscal 2011, the Company launched its USB stick based on 4G/LTE technology in Germany and Verizon Wireless launched in the United States.; Vodafone WebBox; a smartphone roaming data plan that allows the European customers to use their home data plan abroad for only 2 a day to access the Internet, emails and applications; the Android-powered Vodafone 845 and 945 devices; Vodafone TV services; Vodafone 252, which comes pre-loaded with Vodafone M-Pesa for mobile payment services and a prepaid balance indicator that helps customers to keep track of their phone credit to avoid overspending; Vodafone M-Pesa in South Africa, Qatar and Fiji; 3G services in India, and LTE services by acquiring LTE spectrum in Germany.

The Company is a carrier of mobile voice traffic in the world providing domestic, international and roaming voice services to more than 370 million customers. Its networks sent and received over 292 billion te! xt, pictu! r e, music and video messages during fiscal 2011. The Company ! serves mo! re than 75 million customers with data services, which allow access to the Internet, email and applications on their phones, tablets, laptops and netbooks. The Company provides a range of data products, including Machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, which allow devices to communicate with one another via built-in mobile SIM cards; Third party billing; Financial services; Near field communication (NFC), and Mobile advertising. The Company, as of March 31, 2011, served 5.3 million M2M connections around the world. NFC allows communication between devices when they are touched together or brought within a few centimetres of each other. The Company has mobile advertising business in 18 countries with a range of capabilities. Over six million customers use its fixed broadband services in 13 markets to meet their total communications needs. In addition, through Gateway, it provides wholesale carrier services to more than 40 African countries. Other service revenue inc ludes business managed services, such as secure remote network access, and revenue from mobile virtual network operators generated from selling access to its network at the wholesale level. The Companys enterprise customers range from small-office-home-office (SoHo) businesses and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), through to domestic and multinational companies. The Company has 34 million enterprise customers accounting for around 9% of all customers and around 23% of service revenue. The Company focuses on SoHos and SMEs to provide customers with integrated fixed and mobile communications solutions. Vodafone Global Enterprise manages the communication needs of over 560 of the multinational corporate customers. It provides a range of managed services, such as Central Ordering, Device Manager, Spend Manager Solutions, Invoice Manager, Vodafone Neverfail and Telecoms management. The Company offers a range of total communications applications, as well as servi! ces for e! nterprise and consumer customers. Vodafone Alw! ays Best ! Connected software enables customers to stay connected to the Internet on the available connection wherever they are by automatically managing the switching between connection types including mobile broadband, Wi-Fi and LAN. Vodafone PC Backup is an online back-up and restores service that enables users to remotely store data securely and automatically via their Internet connection.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Finally, there's talk that Verizon may be lining up somewhere in the neighborhood of a $100 billion bid to buy out Vodafone Group's (NASDAQ: VOD  ) 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. The move now might make a lot of sense for Vodafone, which is struggling in Europe's slow-growth and austerity-filled environment, giving it the cash it needs to make strategic long-term investments. It would also be great news for Verizon, which is seeing practically all of its profits from its wireless segment, as my Foolish colleague Evan Niu recently noted.

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  John Minchillo/AP NEW YORK -- Verizon posted fourth-quarter net income of $5.07 billion, boosted by continued growth in the number of phones and tablets connected to its network. The largest U.S. cellphone carrier reported increases in both the number connected devices and its wireless subscriber population. Its results reported Tuesday beat Wall Street predictions. New York-based Verizon (VZ) said overall service revenue rose 8 percent to $17.7 billion. The company added 1.7 million net retail wireless connections during the quarter, excluding acquisitions and adjustments. Of that total, 1.6 million were connections that involved monthly service contracts. As of Dec. 31, Verizon had a total of 102.8 million retail connections, marking a 5 percent increase over the same time a year ago. The 2013 total included 96.8 million connections with monthly contracts. Francis Shammo, Verizon's executive vice presi! dent and ! CFO, said on a conference call with investors that the company got a big boost from new contracts for tablet service, which totaled 790,000 and marked the largest quarterly total since tablets were first introduced in 2010. Meanwhile, Verizon's overall population of retail wireless subscribers increased 4.5 percent to 35.1 million, with each customer having an average of 2.8 connected devices. The company's wireline division, which provides landlines along with the company's FIOS internet and TV services, also saw growth. Consumer revenues at that division rose 6 percent to $3.8 billion, as FIOS-related consumer revenue jumped 15 percent to nearly $2.8 billion. Shammo also said on Tuesday's call that Verizon expects its $130 billion acquisition of Vodafone Group's (VOD) 45 percent stake in its wireless division to close Feb. 21. Once that happens, Verizon will no longer have to share its wireless revenue with the British cellphone company. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Verizon's profit amounted to $1.76 a share. The company lost $4.23 billi

• [By Dividend]

  Vodafone Group (VOD) has a market capitalization of $168.43 billion. The company employs 91,272 people, generates revenue of $71.130 billion and has a net income of $1.077 billion. Vodafone Groups earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $21.994 billion. The EBITDA margin is 30.92 percent (the operating margin is 10.64 percent and the net profit margin 1.51 percent).

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Vodafone (NASDAQ: VOD  ) gained 8%. The company holds a 45% stake in the successful Verizon Wireless business, with Verizonholding the other 55%. Vodafone shareholders are watching to see whether Verizon buys out the remaining 45%. The company may be less attractive without the Wireless stake, so there isn't uniform support for a buyout. In the meantime, Vodafone has been a solid dividend payer and has been buying back shares as well.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-wireless-telecom-companies-for-2015-2.html