Faster wireless will boost their profits

Article Excerpt

AT&T and Verizon are upgrading their wireless networks to Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, which is up to five times faster than today’s systems. LTE networks can also more easily handle network-heavy features, like mobile video calling. These improvements should continue to spur both companies’ earnings, and give them more cash for dividends. AT&T INC. $30 (New York symbol T; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 5.9 billion; Market cap: $177.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 5.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.att.com) gets 50% of its revenue from its 103.2 million wireless customers. The other 50% mainly comes from its 39.0 million telephone clients and 16.4 million high-speed Internet users. The company recently cancelled its plan to buy rival wireless carrier T-Mobile from Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG; AT&T felt that competition regulators would have blocked the deal. As a result, AT&T will pay Deutsche Telekom a $4-billion breakup fee, consisting of $3 billion in cash and $1 billion of wireless spectrum. That’s…