Ivan Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications, told a Goldman Sachs conference that the resumption of dividend payments from the Verizon Wireless joint venture may be a possibility, signalling that the end of the stand-off with Vodafone Group may be on the cards. Vodafone has not received a dividend from its 45 percent stake in the US mobile operator since 2005, despite the venture being profitable – cash has instead been used to pay-down debt owed to Verizon Communications. This has led to investor pressure on Vodafone Group, following concerns that it is not benefitting from its minority investment in the company. With Seidenberg stating that as debt reduces, then a return of cash to the owners is “probably the right thing to do,” it may now be less likely that Vodafone will look to dispose of its stake in the US business – with all the complexity of unravelling the businesses, and the tax implications, that this path would involve. Earlier reports suggested that Vodafone and Verizon Communications were holding “secret talks” about the resumption of dividend payments, when Seidenberg again suggested that he was sympathetic to Vodafone’s position.

It was also reported that Verizon Wireless is set to roll out tiered data plans over the next four-to-six months, which it said would be “different” to the tiered plans introduced by AT&T, although details were not provided. Seidenberg said that the company is “not sure we agree yet with how [AT&T] valued the data” in its price plans. Verizon is likely to introduce its new pricing regime in line with the rollout of its LTE network, with a staged introduction of tiered pricing rather than a blanket change. However, Seidenberg was non-committal on reports that it is set to launch a CDMA version of Apple’s iPhone, stating that the lack of the device from its network has led to it developing a stronger portfolio of devices using alternative technologies – primarily Android. The company is also likely to benefit from the introduction of LTE, which will attract more suppliers to the ecosystem. With Verizon already the biggest operator in the US, the addition of an iPhone to its network is more likely to be more of an issue for AT&T, which has placed the device at the centre of its smartphone strategy – according to a recent report, a significant number of AT&T subscribers suggested they would switch operators if the iPhone was available elsewhere.