Sprint-Nextel (S) this afternoon said it formally requested of the Federal Communications Commission that it block AT&T’s (T) proposed $39 billion takeover of Deutsche Telekom’s (DTEGY) T-Mobile U.S.A. unit, stating that “anti-competitive market control” would be the outcome of such a union, and that it’s the FCC’s job to protect consumers from such.

The actual “Petition to Deny” is here.

One of Sprint’s arguments is that AT&T claims it needs more spectrum, and so it needs T-Mobile’s licenses. But it is already the largest holder in the U.S. of licensed airwaves, and any congestion AT&T is suffering on its network is a result of failing to upgrade its facilities, not a lack of spectrum.

Sprint writes in the complaint’s opening paragraph,

The Commission faces a stark choice in this proceeding. It can reject AT&T’s bid to take over T-Mobile and extend the last two decades of robust competition in the wireless industry – competition that has promoted economic growth and advanced U.S. global leadership in mobile communications. Or the Commission can approve the takeover and let the wireless industry regress inexorably toward a 1980s-style duopoly.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

While Microsoft (MSFT) this morning was explaining its $8.5 billion bid for Skype, Google (GOOG) was hosting an event in San Francisco called “I/O“, during which the company made several announcements pertaining to its mobile devices.

Total activated “Android”-based mobile devices now number 100 million, the company said, with 400,000 being turned on every day. There 200,000 “apps” available for the devices, the company said, of which 4.5 billion installations have taken place on Android devices.

The company plans later this year to introduce the next version of Android for phones, dubbed “Ice Cream Sandwich,” which will incorporate “everything you love” about the company’s “Honeycomb” version shipping on tablets, such as Motorola Mobility’s (MMI) “Xoom.” That includes the “holographic” user interface.

Similar to Amazon.com’s (AMZN) hosted music service, Google started up today the beta version of its music site, to let Android users upload their music collection and stream it to the phone. The company also started rentals of movies to users of the Xoom today, with availability for Android version 2.2 users “in coming weeks.” The rentals are priced at $1.99.

Google also said it formed a committee of handset makers and service providers to to coordinate when devices are updated with the last Android software and for how long those devices will continue to be updated. Verizon Communications (VZ), Samsung (SSNLF), HTC, Sprint-Nextel (S), Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics (LGERF), Vodafone (VOD), T-Mobile, Motorola, and AT&T (T) are among the initial committee members.

Google unveiled something called “Android @ Home” that will let Android-based devices control devices in the home. Part of that is a blueprint for a kind of home “hub” or server for connectivity, called “Project Tungsten.” In a demo at the conference, Google showed how a music CD with a wireless tag placed in front of a receiver can suck all the songs off the CD and start playing them back over the network.

Google shares today are up $5, or almost 1%, at $542.68.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Deutsche Bank analyst Nandan Amladi today tosses cold water on speculation that Apple (AAPL) might buy speech-recognition technology developer Nuance Communications (NUAN).

As I wrote earlier, TechCrunch suggested there may be a deal of some kind coming between Apple and Nuance, possibly an expansion of the use of Nuance’s voice recognition technology in the next version of Apple’s “iOS” software used in its iPhone, iPad and iTouch. That article, however, stopped short of suggesting the company would get bought.

Amladi thinks an expanded licensing deal makes sense, but not an outright acquisition. “For one thing, the mobile licensing business for Nuance is less than 10% of total revenue. Healthcare (38%) and Enterprise (22%) contribute a far larger share of FY11E revenue, neither of which is likely to be of interest to Apple.”

Amladi maintains a Buy recommendation on Nuance shares and a $24 price target.

Nuance shares today are up $1.70, or 8.5%, at $21.79, and briefly hit a new 52-week high this morning at $22.93.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

TechCrunch’s MG Siegler this morning reports that Apple (AAPL) has been “negotiating a deal in recent months” with Nuance Communications (NUAN), the provider of voice-recognition software, citing multiple anonymous sources.

Siegler notes that Siri, a startup that Apple bought last year for “personal assistant” functions, uses Nuance’s technology. Siegler opines Nuance could be “a big part of iOS 5,” with numerous patents on voice technology. A Nuance founder, Mike Cohen, helped develop Google’s (GOOG) voice recognition technology, Siegler notes.

Siegler says a variety of possibilities are “on the table,” including an acquisition of Nuance by Apple, though he concludes that’s unlikely at the moment.

Nuance shares today are up $1.46, or 7.3%, at $21.56. Nuance has a market capitalization of $6.5 billion.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Fiber optics component supplier Oplink Communications (OPLK) this afternoon reported Q1 results in line with expectations, but forecast Q2 results well below expectations.

Q1 revenue rose 59%, year over year, to $53.5 million, yielding EPS of 49 cents. Analysts had been projecting $53.1 million and 49 cents, on average.

For the current quarter, Oplink sees revenue of $43 million to $47 million, and EPS of 22 cents to 28 cents, versus the consensus $53 million and 45 cents.

Shares seem to have been halted. The last quote is at 4:10 pm, Eastern, at $19, down 4 cents from the close.

Update: Oplink shares have resumed trading and are now down $1.84, or almost 10%, at $17.20. Shares of peer JDS Uniphase (JDSU) are down 9 cents, or 0.44%, at $20.18.

During a conference call with analysts this evening, Oplink CEO Joe Liu said that the company was “generally pleased with our execution across the business in the quarter” and that “long-term optimism” remains.

However, he also said that “we have recently experienced some softness” in orders, which appears to be coming from an “inventory correction,” and that “visibility beyond one quarter remains limited.”

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Citadel Securities analyst Shing Yin today cut his rating on shares of Verizon Communications (VZ) to “Reduce” from Neutral, arguing that buy-side investors are unrealistic in how much they think Verizon can increase the number of users with smartphones, and how much it can increase its average revenue per user (ARPU).

The current multiple on the stock of 14 times projected earnings in 2012 is based on an expectation by investors that Verizon can beat the consensus $2.63 cents per share estimate next year, he thinks, but Yin sees the company just slightly exceeding consensus, turning in $2.66.

Yin calculates that Verizon would have to sell 33 million smartphones over the next three quarters to meet a goal of having 50% of its subscriber base “penetrated” by smartphones. He sees that as being unlikely given that such a rate of smartphone sales would constitute 100% of all postpaid device sales. Rather, he sees only 65% of all postpaid phone sales being smartphones, or roughly 22 million units, for a total penetration at year end of 44%.

Moreover, even though investors expect ARPU to rise with smartphone sales (more complex phones driving greater data contracts), Yin thinks that view doesn’t take into account the decline in ARPU among non-smartphone users at Verizon.

In Q1, he estimates, ARPU among non-smartphone-users dropped 86 cents, on average. He sees Verizon’s ARPU by the end of this year rising almost 6% to $56.39. “But we believe many investors are expecting ARPU to rise by 10% or more.”

Verizon shares today are up 22 cents, or 0.6%, at $37.78.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Jamie Dimon wanted to make the announcement Oprah-style (You get a title change! And you get a title change! And you get a title change!) but there was concern that some employees would pass out from the excitement.

Subject: New Managing Directors

Please join me in congratulating the individuals listed below on their promotion to Managing Director.

It takes leadership, teamwork and dedication to earn this recognition. We set the bar high, and they have delivered the results. We now look to them to foster a culture that emphasizes trust, integrity and honesty in doing business on behalf of our clients and our firm.

Each MD candidate is assessed against important criteria, such as financial performance, control, partnership, people development, scope of role and future potential. These individuals worked hard to become MDs and now belong to a group that comprises 6% of the Investment Bank’s employee population.

I also want to thank the members of the 2011 MD Selection Committee for their commitment to this process. Their judgment and leadership ensured that all of this year’s candidates received careful consideration.

In particular, thanks to Karen Simon and Matt Zames for serving as co-chairs of this year’s Committee.

Congratulations again to our new Managing Directors.

Jes Staley

New IB Managing Directors
Dave Akhtar
Susan Elolampi
Alex Latham
Jim Powers
Steven Alexopoulos
Alfonso Eyzaguirre
David Lau
Tom Prickett
Kimberly Allen
Jamison Feheley
Steven Leppard
Gregory Prime
Daniel Antonelli
Gene Fernandez
Joseph Liguori
Keith Pritchard
Marc Baigneres
Paul Finger
Jiwon Lim
Lauren Puglisi
Sam Bakhshandehpour
Eliot Fisk
Peter Simon Lindsey
Ian Raindle
Tom Baluk
Donal Fleming
Dan Lonski
Pedro Ribeiro Jr.
Fabio Bassi
Rick FlorJancic
Jiandong Lu
Katie Ruci
Afshin Bayrooti
Mark Follett
Simon Maisey
Tim Rule
Duncan Beattie
Rupert Ford
Steve Malin
Tom Salter
Joe Beggans Jr.
Usman Ghani
Stuart Marker
Raja Sambamurty
Shane Berkley
Matt Greenberg
Mislav Matejka
William Simmonds
Anastasia Bloom
Michael Grise
Philippe McAuliffe
Mansoor Sirinathsingh
Eamon Brabazon
Gregg Gunselman
Alton McDowell
Jack Smith
Melissa Bright
Mohit Gupta
Peter McInnes
Bob Stolte
Hans Buehler
Mark Hansen
Daniel McNeill
Hemant Anil Takalkar
David Caldana
David Hine
Geoffrey Meacham
Steve Terui
Evangeline Casey
Alan Ho
Rakesh Mehta
David Thomas
Seung Il Chae
Khaled Hobballah
Eric Menell
Jerry Topitzer
Vivek Chandiramani
George Holst
Ernesto Mercadante
Matthew Troy
Eric Childs
Brett Hoover
Chris Miller
Selen Unsal Jacoby
Mike Collar
Chris Hsieh
Scott Mitchell
Luis Valdich
Nick Conron
David Hudson
Michael Monforth
Xavier Valencia
Simon Crisp
Stephen Jani
Cristina Monteiro
Aristidis Vourakis
Rich Crozier
Michael Jansen
Mark Mullahy
Stephen Bradley Walters
Luiz De Salvo
Ken Janssens
Madhu Namburi
Jill Woodworth
Charles-Everard de T’Serclaes
Ashu Joglekar
Ross Niland
Brian Ye
Brad Demong
Pedro Juliano
Noriko Okano
Ehsun Zaidi
Tushar Desai
Fumihiko Kanai
Fede Olemberg
Yang Diao
Karoline Kane
Michael Openshaw
Brian Dillon
Yoshi Katsumura
Peter Pallister
Ed Donner
K.L. Kim
Rakesh Patel
Alex Douklias
Ken Krug
Richard Pemberton
Anna Dunn
Juan Langlois
Mike Powell

In addition, we would like to congratulate the new Managing Directors who were promoted through the Marketing & Communications and Human Resources selection processes.

Marketing & Communications
Brian Marchiony

Human Resources
Celia Connolly

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Shares of Verizon Communications (VZ) are down 54 cents, or 1.4%, at $37.25, after the company reported Q1 revenue and earnings per share slightly ahead of analysts’ estimates.

Q1 revenue rose 0.3%, year over year, to $26.99 billion, just a hair above analysts’ average $26.86 billion estimate. EPS of 51 cents per share was a penny better than expected.

Verizon said its wireless business added 1.8 million customers, excluding acquisitions, for a total of 104 million “connections.” Wireless service revenue rose 6.3%, and data revenue was up 22.3%, the company said. Retail postpaid churn was 1.01%, Verizon said, while total retail churn was 1.33%, both improvements from a year earlier, the company said.

Verizon activated 2.2 million of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 4 after the device went on sale at the beginning of February. The company had to deal with some slowing of its ARPU growth, at just 2.2%, as customers held off on purchasing other products in advance of the phone’s introduction, Verizon said. But ARPU growth rose to 2.8% exiting the quarter.

Operating cash flow of $5 billion was lower than the $7 billion booked a year earlier as promotions for the iPhone 4 ate up cash, Verizon said.

CEO Ivan Seidenberg remarked that Verizon, “are executing on our business plans and building momentum, and we are on track to meet both our revenue and earnings objectives for the year.”

Verizon will hold a conference call with analysts at 8:30 am, Eastern this morning, which you can listen to here.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

General Electric Co. refuted a statement claiming the company would return a “$3.2 billion tax refund” for 2010, following criticism of its tax rates and policies. “It is a hoax,” said Anne Eisele, a GE spokeswoman. The statement, which purported to be from GE Communications, claimed the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company was responding to a “public outcry” and would “allow the public to decide how to spend” the returned money. [Bloomberg]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

ThinkEquity analyst Rajesh Ghai today writes that Apple (AAPL) is likely to have a “steady though unspectacular Q2″ when it reports later this month.

Ghai reiterated a Buy rating on Apple shares.

Ghai is estimating $22.94 billion in revenue in the quarter ended last month, and $5.33 per share in earnings. Analysts have been estimating $23.2 billion and $5.33, on average.

The quarter will show strength from the iPad 2 introduction, the iPhone 4 kick-off at Verizon Communications (VZ), with some offset from the lost sales in Japan and higher component prices.

How margins will actually be hurt is a question mark, because a greater mix of iPhones in the quarter could actually offset higher component pricing, he notes.

Ghai expects Apple’s control of the supply chain is probably already helping the company:

Apple has already booked approximately 60% of the total available touch panel capacity. While some reports have stated that Apple will be facing component shortages for the iPad resulting from the Japanese earthquake, Hon Hai, Apple’s primary manufacturing source has stated that it does not expect any component shortages, and alternate suppliers have been lined up.

As for the possible delay of an iPhone 5 to a fall introduction, from what might have been June, Ghai’s not concerned:  it probably “puts a lid” on Q3′s forecast, but “the launch of a more feature-rich phone in the seasonally stronger second half could prove to be a boon for Apple in the long run.”

Should this ‘delay’ materialize, we believe the possibility of a more significant hardware upgrade increases dramatically with the potential inclusion of LTE technology and Near Field Communication (NFC) for mobile commerce. This upgrade could enable AAPL to maintain its lead over competing smartphones in the all important 2HCY11.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily