Vodafone, Verizon dismiss talk of rift, bid battle
LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - British-based cellphone giant Vodafone and its U.S. partner Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - news) on Friday dismissed as ``mere speculation'' talk of a rift and a brewing takeover battle for their joint mobile operation.
Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone operator which owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless, insisted it was working with its U.S. partner and brushed off a report in the New York Times that it wanted to take over the company, the biggest mobile group in the U.S.
Vodafone's strategy to date has been to try to take control of joint ventures. Where allies turn into competitors, such as when Germany's Mannesmann bought UK rival Orange , Vodafone was spurred into launching a record hostile bid.
Quoting executives close to the company, the New York Times said Vodafone's Chief Executive Chris Gent wanted control of Verizon Wireless within nine months because of concerns the U.S. group would opt for a technology which was incompatible with Vodafone's network in Europe and Asia.
But presenting a united front, Gent said in a statement: ``We continue to work extremely well with our partners operating and developing Verizon Wireless...'' Verizon's President and joint chief executive Ivan Seidenberg also said his company's relationship with Vodafone was ``excellent''.
Speculation about a dispute between the two allies hinges in part on which technology standard they will choose to upgrade Verizon Wireless's network so that it can support new-generation, high speed mobile Internet and data services.
Vodafone wants to increase its purchasing power and ensure the lucrative roaming revenues by ensuring customers can globetrot on one mobile phone.
It plans to build third-generation networks in Europe and Asia using UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) standards.
But Verizon is upgrading its network with interim technologies compatible with a rival standard, CDMA 2000, supplied by U.S. equipment maker Qualcomm (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news).
``Verizon Wireless recently announced it would begin to deploy wireless data technology based on initial standards for CDMA 2000, the logical next step from what Verizon Wireless has deployed today,'' the groups said in a joint statement.
Verizon and Vodafone have agreed to upgrade the cellphone group's network with a standard known as 1xRTT, which promises peak data rates of 144 kilobits per second.
But a Vodafone spokeswoman insisted that this interim technology did not commit Verizon Wireless to any specific, future third-generation standard.
``The choice of any future technology will be made in the interest of both parties and with the full awareness of the evolving technology trends in our industry,'' Gent stated. |
