Adding 1 million customers in the fourth quarter, T-Mobile US Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations on net new phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill.Analysts estimated the number to be 857,900, according to research firm FactSet. The percentage of subscribers who leave a service provider was 0.99 percent for the mobile carrier in the fourth quarter, down from 1.02 percent in the quarter ended September 30. Even in the third quarter, T-Mobile’s net new phone subscribers (along with its profit) had edged past analysts' estimates,on the back of its competitive wireless plans and trade-in offers for iPhones.

AT&T is preparing for yet another significant round of layoffs according to internal documents obtained by Motherboard.The staff reductions come despite billions in tax breaks and regulatory favors AT&T promised would dramatically boost both investment and job creation.

Verizon Communications Inc. added wireless subscribers for seven straight quarters. According to preliminary fourth-quarter results released Tuesday,  the largest U.S. wireless carrier added 1.2 million regular monthly customers in the holiday quarter. Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg has been focusing on 5G technology and other wireless segments, after the company’s not-so-smooth ride with its Yahoo and AOL businesses in recent times.The company has embarked on a four-year, $10 billion cost-cutting plan, which included cutting 10,400 jobs through a buyout program last month.

For the second time in just four months, the $26 billion proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint has been put on hold after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspended most of its operation owing to a funding lapse.  With the deal already getting the required approvals from CFIUS as well as cabinet agencies, FCC approval is the only major remaining hurdle for the successful closure of the deal. Review of the proposed merger deal between the third and the fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers was picked up by the FCC on the 3rd week of June, but then the review process was put on hold on September 11 after the companies submitted new documents.

To the relief of many Verizon customers who had feared a football playoff blackout, Verizon and Disney in a joint statement on Sunday announced that both companies have reached a broad-based distribution agreement. Verizon, as per its current contract with Disney, is responsible for the distribution of various Disney-owned channels such as ESPN and ABC stations - like New York City’s WABC to its ~4.6 million subscribers.But the company faced a December 31 deadline just in time for the renewal of the contract, failure to which would have deprived more than 4.5 million Fios TV customers -- especially the millions of football fans’ access to the big playoff games like college football games on New Year’s Day and one of the NFL wild-card playoff games. Although the details of the agreement are yet to be disclosed, this last-minute deal has helped end a high-stakes dispute over programming fees that threatened to drop Disney’s programming from the Fios TV network. The dispute became publ

Verizon will continue to broadcast Disney content, with the two companies reaching “a broad-based distribution agreement” as announced by them. Verizon Fios’ contract to carry programming from Disney Media Networks, including ESPN, and Disney-owned ABC stations, was scheduled to expire at year-end.But Sunday’s agreement on programming fees will now allow Fios’ 4.5 million TV subscribers to access Disney channels. The two companies said about the deal,  “details will be released in the coming days.”  

The daily chart on Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is an interesting one for a number of reasons.The second item of interest is the regression line for the last nine months and the stock’s relationship with that regression line. The middle blue line is the regression line.

T-Mobile and Sprint seem to be inching closer to their $26 billion merger. Late Monday, T-Mobile released a statement mentioning that the wireless operators have received approval on their proposed merger from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense have withdrawn an earlier request to postpone the deal, as revealed by T-Mobile’s statement. However, the companies still await some other approvals (such as, antitrust approval from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission) before the deal can get finalized. If the T-Mobile-Sprint deal goes through, it would see the third and fourth largest wireless carriers in the U.S. joining forces to compete with AT&T and Verizon.

Intense competition in digital advertising space is apparently the cause behind weakening revenue and thinning profit of the business segment, leading Verizon to slash the value of its AOL & Yahoo assets by $4.6 billion. The move by the telecom giant is estimated to wipe out almost half of the value of its ‘Oath’ division (which includes AOL, Yahoo, the Huffington Post and other businesses).Last month, the company indicated that Oath would be renamed ‘Verizon Media Group/Oath’ as part of a broader restructuring plan. The revision in Oath’s value leaves its goodwill balance (i.e.

This is part of the telecom behemoth’s plan to streamline operations, especially to focus more on developing its 5G services. The company first publicly put forward this plan in September, with a goal to save $10 billion in cash by 2021.The plan was offered to 44,000 employees across Verizon’s business segments.  "These changes are well-planned and anticipated, and they will be seamless to our customers," CEO Hans Vestberg said in a statement.

A basic version will be concentrated in movies, a premium one will offer original programming and “blockbuster” movies, and there’ll be a bundle containing both of those services plus some other content of WarnerMedia along with that licensed from other producers/platforms. With its streaming service, the AT&T-owned media giant is looking to penetrate a market already crowded by players like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.Without naming any potential rival, Stankey indicated that he expects libraries of “incumbent” streamers to eventually get reduced in volume.

Huawei is a Chinese multinational telecommunications and smartphone company. According to Spark NZ (the nation's biggest telecom firm), government officials felt that using Huawei's 5G equipment could pose risks to national security."I have informed Spark that a significant network security risk was identified," said Andrew Hampton, the director general of GCSB. Huawei responded to New Zealand's decision with a statement saying  "we will actively address any concerns and work together [with the government] to find a way forward.

AT&T reported mixed results for Q3 and indicated better days to come following its acquisition of media giant Time Warner this year. The telecommunications company’s Q3 adjusted earnings came in at 90 cents per share, which is below average analyst expectations of earnings of 94 cents per share.The growth was “primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition,” as suggested by the company. As for revenues, they were $45.7 billion for the quarter, beating average expectations of $45.63 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Mirroring a general decline in Americans’ preference for traditional pay-TV, AT&T experienced a 346,000 net loss in traditional video customers.

Verizon  Communications Inc. is offering voluntary separation buyout packages to reportedly many of its employees.On Tuesday, the telecommunication company said about the matter,  "It is a voluntary plan and offers employees three weeks' pay for every year of service".

On Saturday, the U.S. cable television giant outbid 21st Century Fox at an auction to acquire European pay-TV broadcaster Sky Plc.At the end of three rounds of bidding, it was decided that Comcast will acquire Sky at  £17.28 ($22.65) per share, thereby valuing the latter at around £30.6 billion ($40.1 billion). Comcast shareholders/investors are reportedly concerned that the company might have paid too high a price (more than twice Fox's initial bid in December 2016) for the acquisition.

  Houston, Jacksonville, Louisville, New Orleans and San Antonio will get the wireless teclecom major’s 5G internet  services, following the seven previously announced cities (Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City, Raleigh and Waco).The next generation in wireless internet is projected to be 100 times faster compared to current standards. The company also announced plans to start testing commercial-grade equipment for Project AirGig – comprising technology aimed to serve rural populations that don't have access to high-speed internet.            

On Thursday, Verizon said that it will hike its quarterly dividend by 2.1% to 60.25 cents a share.Its Q2 operating cash flow was $9.8 billion – which is $1.9 billion higher from the year-ago period. Last year, Verizon paid out $2.34 dividend per share against earnings of $3.74.

Facebook is the year’s leading buyer of clean energy so far. According to a Bloomberg report, Facebook’s total purchases of clean energy for 2018 is 1,256 megawatts -  which is over 400 megawatts more compared to the second biggest buyer AT&T Corp.  Last month, Facebook clinched a major deal with a wind farm in Indiana.The tech company has bought 2 gigawatts of clean energy in the last ten years.  

California might become the U.S. state with the strictest net neutrality law. On Friday, state lawmakers voted to pass a bill that proposes to stop internet providers from charging higher fees to websites for a better connection, and it also precludes “zero rating” - when a provider doesn't count certain content against a customer’s data usage." The legislation is at odds with the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission’s vote earlier this year for revoking the Obama administration's net neutrality protections.      

Verizon’s subscriber growth in Q2 surpassed expectations. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, analysts projected an average of 436,000 gains in Verizon Communications’ monthly subscribers.This marks the fifth straight quarter of the firm’s increasing subscribers. The period saw its mobile phone subscriber base rebounding from previous quarter’s decline, to increase by 199,000.