• AT&T is offering a 50 percent discount on some of its qwerty quick messaging phones, including the Motorola Karma, LG Neon, Pantech Reveal and Samsung Mythic. A voice plan, mail-in rebate and qualifying data plan is required on a two-year service agreement for each phone.
• Verizon Communications is going to dual list its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, effective with the start of trading this morning. Verizon stock will continue to trade under the ticker symbol "VZ" and beginning today it will be listed on both the New York Stock Exchange, where it is currently listed, and on NASDAQ. Verizon has approximately 2.5 million share owners and about 2.8 billion shares of common stock outstanding.
• Infrastructure solutions company CommScope is relocating its wireless network cable production from its North Carolina facility to a plant in Illinois later this year. The move will result in the loss of about 85 hourly and salaried jobs in Newton. CommScope expects cash restructuring costs of between $3 million to $4 million related to the move and annualized savings of approximately the same amount upon completion.
• ABI Research reports that the wireless infrastructure market shrunk less than expected in 2009, with overall capital expenditures and net base station spending contracting just 5 percent. The biggest positive impact came from China, where 243,000 new wireless base stations were added in 2009.
• The Institute for Defense and Business and Well Doc will host an academic symposium on using wireless technology to improve chronic disease management and reducing healthcare costs. The event will take place at the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on March 29-30.
• Strategy Analytics reports that Apple iPhone owners are the most likely to buy their next phone from Apple. The firm also reports that U.S. survey respondents with a full qwerty keyboard or virtual keyboard are more satisfied than respondents who have a 12-key keypad for messaging applications. In addition, Strategy Analytics reports that over half of the device users surveyed are less than satisfied with their current Web browsing experience.