Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now

LONDON (The Deal) -- The U.K.'s Vodafone Group (VOD) late Thursday, Sept. 11, said it had clinched the minimum 75% acceptances level needed to take over Kabel Deutschland, ending a nervous few days for the wireless telecom during which hedge funds flocked to the German target.

Maneuvering by hedge funds including Elliott Associates LP, which took a 10.9% Kabel stake, and by Davison Kempner Capital Management LLC, sparked fears the offer could collapse unless Vodafone raised its offer. The Newbury, England company is flush with cash after agreeing earlier this month to sell its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications (VZ) for $130 billion. It offered €84.50 per share for Kabel, or €87 including an already declared dividend for the fiscal year ended March 31. That values the stock at €7.7 billion ($10.2 billion). [Read: The 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Sept. 13]

Best Freight Companies To Buy Right Now: Iliad SA (ILIAF.PK)

Iliad SA is a France-based holding company active in the integrated telecommunications sector. The Company provides Internet access services, hosting services and others. Iliad SA is also focused on fixed-line telephony services and the provision of wireless fidelity (WiFi) cards, among several others. In addition, Iliad SA sells via Internet a range of insurance policies. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had a number of subsidiaries, which include Free SAS, Centrapel SAS, Freebox SAS, Telecom Academy SARL, Free Frequences SAS, Iliad 1 SAS, Iliad 2 SAS, Protelco SAS, IFW SAS, IRE SAS, Management Centre De Relation Abonne (MCRA), F Distribution SAS, and Centrapel SAS, among others. Its Fixe subsidiary is a landline business-provider of broadband Internet services. As of year-end 2012, the Company was active as a operator in more than 35 countries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mike Arnold]

  I normally don't look at charts much, but comparing Orange to its competitors in the French telecommunications market is quite fascinating. As one can see, incumbents Bouygues (BOUYF.PK) and Vivendi (VIVHY.PK) (owner of SFR) saw similar price declines. The market, on the other hand, rapidly bid up the price of new entrant Iliad SA (ILIAF.PK), as a result of forecasts for Iliad to capture significant mobile market share (which it did, around 10%). The wide divergence in price relative to changes in underlying value favor going long the incumbents, including Orange. Because this time it's different.

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: QSC AG (QSC)

QSC AG is a Germany-based telecommunications provider that offers enterprise customers and resellers a range of broadband communication services, from site networking to voice and data services. The Company operates in three business segments: Direct Sales; Indirect Sales, and Resellers. The Direct Sales segment (former Managed Services) focuses on larger and mid-size enterprises, and includes the business of subsidiaries INFO AG and IP Partner. The Indirect Sales segment focuses on regional partners that offer a portfolio of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products, solutions and services, including Internet Service Providers (ISP), as well as voice and data services. The Resellers segment focuses on ISPs and telecommunication carriers that do not have an infrastructure of their own and primarily address residential customers. The Resellers segment also includes conventional voice business. In August 2013, it merged with INFO AG. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  QSC AG (QSC), a provider of telephony and data services to small and medium-sized businesses, jumped 9.5 percent after posting an increase in quarterly net income. Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1) retreated 2.7 percent after Equinet Bank AG downgraded the shares to sell.

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: Chorus Ltd (CNU)

Chorus Limited maintains and builds a network made up of local telephone exchanges, cabinets and copper and fiber cables. The Company has approximately 32,000 kilometers of fiber and 130,000 kilometers of copper cabling. These cables connect back to local telephone exchanges. Chorus fiber also connects mobile phone towers owned by mobile service providers. About 7,000 cabinets provide interconnection points for around 50% of the lines in its network. A range of these cabinets are mini telephone exchanges and have electronic broadband equipment installed in them. In some cases, retail service providers have chosen to install their own broadband equipment in an exchange and pay the Company for the rental of the access line. It offers a range of products delivered over its copper network and new products designed to provide access to the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) fiber network. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Watsa sold two stocks in the fourth quarter: Continucare Corp. (CNU) and First Place Financial Corp. (FPFC). He reduced Dell (DELL), one of his largest holdings, but almost 60%.

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: KT Corp (KT)

KT Corporation is an integrated telecommunications service provider in the Republic of Korea. Its services include personal communications service (PCS) mobile telecommunications services and high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA)-based IMT-2000 wireless Internet and video multimedia communications services; telephone services, including local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance fixed-line telephone services and interconnection services; broadband Internet access service and other Internet-related services, including Internet protocol television (IP-TV) services, and various other services, including leased line service and other data communication service, satellite service and information technology and network services. On June 1, 2009, KTF merged into KTF Corporation. In October 2009, it disposed its majority stake in its wholly owned subsidiary, KT FDS Corporation, engaged in computer software developing business.

Mobile Service

The Company provides mobile services based on code division multiple access (CDMA) technology and wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) technology. PCS service is a digital wireless telephone and data transmission system, which uses portable handsets with long battery life to communicate, through low-power antennae. The PCS service is based on CDMA technology and utilizes 40 megahertz of bandwidth in the 1800 megahertz frequency.

The Company markets the mobile services primarily through independent dealers located throughout the Republic of Korea. As of December 31, 2009, there were approximately 2,200 shops managed by the independent dealers. In addition to assisting new subscribers to activate mobile service and purchase handsets, authorized dealers are connected to the database and are able to assist customers with account information.

Telephone Services

The telephone network includes exchanges, long-distance transmission equipment and fiber optic and copper cables. The C! ompany utilizes the telephone network to provide fixed-line telephone services, which consist of local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance services. The long distance cable network is made up of fiber optic cable and could carry both voice and data transmissions. The Company provides Internet phone services that enable voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone devices with broadband connection to make domestic and international calls. As of December 31, 2009, the fixed-line telephone services accounted for 18% of the Company�� operating revenues.

Internet Services

The Company�� Internet services include asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL), Ethernet and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services under the QOOK Internet brand name; wireless local area network (LAN) service under the Nespot brand name, which is designed to integrate fixed-line and wireless services by offering high speed wireless Internet access to laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smart phones in hot-spot zones and QOOK Internet service in fixed-line environments, and WiBro Internet access service, which enables two-way wireless broadband Internet access to portable computers, mobile phones and other portable devices at a speed averaging one megabits per second per user. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had seven million fixed-line QOOK Internet subscribers and approximately 296,000 Nespot service subscribers.

The other Internet-related services focus primarily on providing infrastructure and solutions for business enterprises, as well as IP-TV and network portal services. It operates seven Internet data centers located throughout the Republic of Korea and provide a range of computing services to companies which need servers, storages and leased lines. Internet data centers are facilities used to house, protect and maintain network server computers that store and deliver Internet and other network content, such a! s Web pag! es, applications and data.

The Internet data centers offer network outsourcing services, server operation services and system support services. The network outsourcing services include co-location, which is the installation of the customers��network equipment at the Internet data centers. The Company also offer a service called Bizmeka to develop and commercialize business-to-business solutions focusing small and medium-sized business enterprises in the Republic of Korea. Bizmeka is an applied application service provider, which provides business solutions, including customer database management and electronic data interchange.

The Company also offers high definition video-on-demand and real-time broadcasting IP-TV services under the brand name QOOK TV. The IP-TV service offers access to a range of digital media contents, including movies, sports, news, educational programs and television replay, for a fixed monthly fee. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had 1.2 million QOOK TV subscribers.

The data communication service involves offering lines, which allow point-to-point connection for voice and data traffic between two or more geographically separate points. It provides broadband Internet connection service to institutional customers under the Kornet brand name.

The Company is also engaged in various business activities, which extends beyond telephone services and data communications services, including information technology and network services, real estate development and car rental business. It offers a range of integrated information technology and network services to the business customers. The range of services include consulting, designing, building and maintaining systems and communication networks, which satisfy the individual needs of the customers in the public and private sectors.

The Company competes with SK Broadband Co., Ltd., LG Telecom Co., Ltd., Onse Telecom Corporation, SK Telink, Inc. and Dreamline.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  ArcelorMittal (MT) is an integrated steel company based in France that sells to a wide range of industries in more than 170 countries around the world. Over the past year, the company has earned gross profits of $74 billion on total assets of $122 billion, so it qualifies as a high-profit company using Novy-Marx�� definition. MT stock currently fetches just 65% of book value, so it’s definitely a bargain issue at this price. Anticipating a stronger steel market in 2014, brokerage and research firm Cowen recently raised its rating on MT stock to “buy,” and also upgraded U.S. Steel (X).

  KT Corporation (KT)

  KT Corporation (KT) is a telecommunications company in Korea. KT Corp. offers traditional fixed-line services as well as voice over Internet protocol service, and also is a leading provider of Internet and broadband services in South Korea. KT is growing its wireless broadband business in partnership with Sony (SNE), Intel (INTC) and Samsung (SSNLF). The company produced gross profits of $32 billion on $34 billion of assets last year, and KT stock trades well under book value right now.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  KT Corp (NYSE: KT) shares tumbled 1.37% to touch a new 52-week low of $13.65. KT Corp shares have dropped 21.32% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 21.66% in the same period.

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: Partner Communications Company Ltd.(PTNR)

Partner Communications Company Ltd. provides various telecommunications services in Israel. It offers cellular telephony services on GSM/GPRS and UMTS/HSDPA networks. The company also provides basic services, including domestic mobile calls, international dialing, roaming, voice mail, short message services, intelligent network services, content based on its cellular portal, data and fax transmission, and other services. In addition, it offers Internet services provider services that provides access to the Internet, as well as home WiFi networks; value added services, such as anti-virus and anti-spam filtering; and transmission services; and Web video on demand services, music tracks, and games. Further, the company provides voice over broadband and primary rate interface fixed-line telephone services; and data capacity services. Additionally, it offers content services comprising voice mail, text, and multimedia messaging, as well as downloadable wireless data application s, including ring tones, music, games, and other informational content; and sells handsets, phones, routers, and related equipment. The company markets its products through its sales centers, business sales representatives, traditional networks of specialized dealers, and non-traditional networks of retail chains and stores under the Orange brand name. Partner Communications Company Ltd. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Rosh Ha-ayin, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eddie Staley]

  Telecommunications services shares jumped around 1.19 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), China Unicom (Hong Kong) (NYSE: CHU), and Partner Communications Company (NASDAQ: PTNR).

• [By Garrett Cook]

  Telecommunications services shares jumped around 1.19 percent in today’s trading. Top gainers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), China Unicom (Hong Kong) (NYSE: CHU), and Partner Communications Company (NASDAQ: PTNR).

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: Eutelsat Communications SA (ETL)

Eutelsat Communications SA is a France-based holding company that provides fixed satellite services. It provides four types of services, including broadcast services, such as direct-to-home and professional broadcasting; broadband services, comprising broadband Internet access; telecoms and data services to ensure permanent communications links from all points of the globe, establish or restore communications in an emergency and multicast content; as well as mobile and maritime communications, such as fleet management and on- and off-shore broadband maritime communications. It operates a fleet of satellites covering Europe, the Middle East, North and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as parts of Asia and the Americas. In January 2014, it acquired Satelites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. and together with SES SA have completed the sale to EchoStar Corp. of Solaris Mobile Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Eutelsat Communications SA (ETL) declined 6.2 percent to 21.02 euros after predicting sales will grow by more than 2.5 percent for the year 2013 to 2014. The company, which operates 31 satellites, forecast growth of more than 5 percent for the following two years through June 2016. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its price target for the stock to 24 euros from 33 euros, saying analysts��will probably reduce their estimates following the company�� revised guidance.

Top 10 Telecom Stocks To Watch Right Now: Verizon Communications Inc.(VZ)

Verizon Communications Inc. provides communication services. The company operates through two segments, Domestic Wireless and Wireline. The Domestic Wireless segment offers wireless voice and data services; and sells equipment in the United States. The Wireline segment provides voice, Internet access, broadband video and data, Internet protocol network, network access, long distance, and other services in the United States and internationally. The company serves consumer, business, and government customers, as well as carriers. As of December 31, 2010, its network covered a population of approximately 292 million and provided service to a customer base of approximately 94.1 million. The company was formerly known as Bell Atlantic Corporation and changed its name to Verizon Communications Inc. in June 2000. Verizon Communications Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anders Bylund]

  At 5.1%, AT&T (NYSE: T  ) offers the most generous yield on the Dow today. Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ  ) isn't far behind with its 4.2% yield. The steady revenues and cash flows of mature subscription services like these voice and data giants lend themselves to massive payouts. Ma Bell and Big Red may duel one another and a bevy of smaller rivals to keep their subscriber lists stable or even growing, but most of the high growth is already behind them. They really have nothing better to do with their massive cash flows than turn them right back at shareholders via buybacks and dividends. You know what you're getting, and these dividend stocks beat the pants off any savings account or CD certificate you'd care to mention. For relatively short-term income needs, the telecoms are hard to beat.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) dipped 0.59% to $48.86. Verizon shares have gained over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has surged 25.89% in the same period.

• [By Richard Cox]

  Reasons for weakness in SPY have come from both internal and external forces. Most recently, positives have been seen in collaborative discussions between Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD), helping support market sentiment and in Guess? Inc (GES), which posted strong rallies on improved quarterly profits. On balance, however, the negatives have carried more weight. Market uncertainty has seen significant increases based on potential military conflicts in Syria. This is being viewed alongside the increased possibility that the Federal Reserve is prepared to start removing monetary stimulus -- a driving factor that has helped SPY rally nearly 155% from the lows seen in the beginning of 2009.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Outside of the banking sphere, shares of Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) have risen 1.6% today. The company has done well maintaining its place atop the telecommunications sector lately, and it got a boost today after Nokia released teaser ads of its new Lumia 928 phone, to be offered by Verizon Wireless in the U.S.