Chinese wireless giant China Mobile (CHL) is reportedly planning to spend more on 3G terminal subsidies in 2010. The company has tripled the amount of subsidies from the current year level and is expected to spend up to RMB30 billion (US$4.4 billion) next year. This move will enable the company to better compete with its Chinese peers in the domestic 3G space. China Mobile remains the leading player in the Chinese wireless market with 70% market share and more than 500 million subscribers. However, the company’s share of the new subscribers has dropped recently due to stiff competition from China Unicom (CHU) and the relatively new wireless player China Telecom (CHA) as they both operate internationally acclaimed 3G standard based networks. Leveraging its home-grown TD-SCDMA 3G standard, China Mobile launched its 3G network in early 2009, already covering 38 Chinese cities. The company currently ...

AT&T Inc’s (T) much anticipated acquisition of regional wireless and wireline service provider Centennial Communications Corp (CYCL), has progressed a step further as the US wireless giant has reportedly received a conditional approval of the US Department of Justice (“DOJ").  The acquisition is now subject to the approval of the US telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission. The US antitrust approval is based on fulfillment of specific conditions which requires AT&T to divest certain Centennial assets in eight markets across Louisiana (central and southern) and southwestern Mississippi .  This is due to the fact that the acquisition may potentially hurt consumer interest in these regions. As part of this requirement, AT&T has already committed to sell wireless assets in five of the eight markets to its rival operator Verizon (VZ) for $240 million. AT&T announced its acquisition of Centennial for approximately $2.8 billion (including net debt) ...

Verizon (VZ), the largest US wireless carrier, has increased its quarterly dividend by 3.3% to 47.5 cents per share, equating to approximately 6.3% yield. Annualized, this increases the company’s dividend to $1.90 per share, reflecting 6% growth from the current dividend of $1.84 per share. The quarterly dividend is payable on November 2, 2009, to the shareholders of record as of October 9, 2009. This represents the third consecutive year Verizon has increased its dividend payout in September. The wireless giant raised its quarterly dividend by 7% in September 2008 to 46 cents per share, increasing annual payout by 12 cents per share to $1.84 per share. Verizon remains committed to offer incremental returns to its shareholders leveraging  a heathy free cash flow (cash flow from operations minus capital expenditures). The company reported free cash flow of $6 billion in first-half 2009, reflecting a $1.8 billion ...

China Mobile (CHL) is reportedly setting up a joint-venture with MediaTek Inc, Taiwan ’s leading handset chip manufacturer, to design and develop key components for its 3G handsets. The Chinese wireless giant is expected to have 70% stake in the joint-venture with MediaTek holding the rest. MediaTek is currently the world’s seventh largest chip maker and has significant presence in the Chinese handset market. Upon the partnership materializing, MediaTek will be a major chip supplier for China Mobile’s home-grown TD-SCDMA technology based 3G wireless handsets. This will facilitate China Mobile to secure customized chips for its proprietary 3G smartphone models (called Ophones). The companies have reportedly entered into an agreement in late August 2009 to jointly develop 3G TD-SCDMA technology. China Mobile is increasingly focused on exploring opportunities for technology collaboration with world’s leading handset and chip manufacturers. The company has recently entered into a ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 1, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: China Mobile (CHL), Google (GOOG), Apple Inc. (AAPL), China Unicom (CHU) and Dell (DELL).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

CHL Launches Ophone OS Platform

China Mobile (CHL) has reportedly launched its self-developed smartphone operating system platform today, known as the Open Mobile System (OMS). The Chinese wireless giant has also launched a line of handset models (called Ophones) based on its home-grown TD-SCDMA 3G wireless technology.

OMS is

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China Mobile (CHL) has reportedly launched its self-developed smartphone operating system platform today, known as the Open Mobile System (OMS). The Chinese wireless giant has also launched a line of handset models (called Ophones) based on its home-grown TD-SCDMA 3G wireless technology. OMS is being developed by China Mobile leveraging Google’s (GOOG) open-source Android mobile operating system. This new software plaform is expected to drive the development of TD-SCDMA technology based cellular handsets. Ophones, which operate on the OMS plaform, represents China Mobile’s response to the emerging threat from Apple Inc’s (AAPL) iPhones. The company’s biggest rival, China Unicom (CHU), has reportedly sealed a three-year agreement with Apple to exclusively market the iPhone 3G in China through subsidized price plans. This has placed China Unicom in a strong position to drive its 3G subscriber count. In order to facilitate the development and ...

Motorola (MOT) recently announced that its Home & Network Mobility business unit was selected as a key development partner of KDDI Corp.’s next-generation LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. This is Motorola’s first public order for LTE technology. KDDI is the second-largest wireless service provider in Japan.

Motorola will implement the basic RAN (Radio Access Network) infrastructure and base stations for the KDDI’s LTE network. Although financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, we believe that the contract size may exceed $1 billion. Earlier, KDDI had estimated spending about $5.3 billion for installing a countrywide LTE network.

KDDI is expected to launch its LTE service in December 2012. The Japanese wireless market is quickly gaining maturity. KDDI faces stiff competition from wireless giant NTT DoCoMo (DCM) and Softbank Corp. NTT DoCoMo will launch its LTE service by end of 2010.

In order to remain competitive, KDDI is

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China Mobile (CHL), the largest wireless operator in the world by customer, has announced its updated 3G subscriber target. The company expects to amass roughly 80 million 3G customers within 2 years of the first phase of commercial service rollouts. This will enable the wireless giant to capture approximately one-third of the Chinese 3G market. However, the new subscriber target represents a decline from the original guidance of 100 million, largely due to intense competition.    China Mobile remains the leading player in the Chinese wireless market with 70% market share, leapfrogging the second placed China Unicom (CHU). However, the overhaul of the Chinese telecom industry in late 2008 has intensified the competitive scenario in the domestic wireless market with the addition of a new market entrant China Telecom (CHA).   The Chinese government issued three 3G wireless licenses in early 2009 with China ...