News Tonight

The shares of telecom major, Verizon Communications have seen a rise as investors believe that the launch of Apple iPhone on its network will boost sales and revenues of the company.

Verizon Communications has a 55% stake and the Vodafone Group has the remaining 45% stake in Verizon Wireless. Verizon trades at $35 and fetches about 15 times estimated 2011 profits of $2.25 a share. It has a dividend yield of 5.5% as its dividend accounts for about 85% of projected 2011 earnings.

iPhone 4 is expected to make its debut on Verizon Wireless in the US after years of being sold only by rival operator AT&T. The launch will bring an end to the exclusive agreement between Apple and AT&T, which has been selling the smartphone since its launch in 2007 in the US. Apple has already signed a new non-exclusive deal with AT&T to account for their launch of CDMA iPHone 4 on Verizon's network.

Verizon iPhone will feature a different chip than in the versions sold on AT&T's network. CDMA is a global standard but is much less popular than GSM technology. Along with some US carriers, the standard is also used in China, India and Latin America, but not Europe.

During these four years Apple decided to remain with a single operator however, there have been calls for the company to offer the device on other networks to reach out to more customers. Apple chose the largest operator in the US, Verizon for the launch of the device to attract more customers in the market where demand has stabilized.