10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014

Welcome to the Stock of the Day. Can you hear me now? Good. Today, we’re going to take a look at Verizon (VZ), who is known for operating America’s largest and most reliable wireless voice and 3G network.

The company just released better-than-expected earnings: is this a signal to buy?

Company Profile

If you live in the United States, chances are you have heard of the massive rivalry between Verizon and AT&T (T) However, many don’t realize that Verizon started as an AT&T spinoff in 1984. Fast forward almost three decades later, and Verizon has emerged as a global force in the broadband and telecommunications industry. The company has diversified into a number of telecommunications services, including land line telephone and internet services, as well as one of the most advanced wireless networks on the planet.

5 Best Quality Stocks To Own Right Now: Tim Participacoes SA (TIMP3)

TIM Participacoes SA (TIM) is a Brazil-based holding company engaged in the telecommunications segment. Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, TIM Celular SA (TIM Celular) and Intelig Telecomunicacoes Ltda (Intelig), it provides telecommunication services throughout Brazil. TIM Celular and Intelig are active as Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN) providers in the local and national and international long-distance modalities in all Brazilian states. Additionally, the Company provides multimedia communication services and personal mobile services, mobile data services and a third generation (3G) network, as well as international roaming agreements, multimedia messaging services, blackberry services and sale of related equipment. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Zahra Hankir]

  Brazil�� Ibovespa extended its weekly decline to 3.3 percent. Mobile carrier Tim Participacoes SA (TIMP3) sank after parent Telecom Italia SpA (TIT)�� chief executive officer said its Brazilian assets are strategic, damping speculation the local unit will be sold.

10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: Neustar Inc (NSR)

NeuStar, Inc., incorporated on December 8, 1998, is a provider of real-time information and analysis. The Company operates in three segments: carrier services, enterprise services and information services. The Company combines data sets to develop algorithms, models, point solutions and complete work flow solutions. The Company provides services, such as database services (telephone number databases, domain names, short-codes and fixed Internet protocol (IP) addresses), analytics platforms used for Internet security services, caller identification services, Web performance monitoring services and real-time information and analytics services. In October 2013, Neustar, Inc acquired Aggregate Knowledge, Inc.

Carrier Services

The Company�� carrier services include numbering services, order management services and IP services. Its numbering services enable the dynamic routing of calls and text messages. In particular, the Company provides near real-time updates to the North American telephone numbering system that is essential for the accurate routing of telephone calls and text messages. In addition, it also facilitates order management and work-flow processing among carriers, including telephone number inventory management, and allow carriers to manage and optimize the addressing and routing of IP communications. The numbering services the Company provides to its carrier customers using these databases include number portability administration center services (NPAC Services), in the United States and Canada and local number portability (LNP), services in Taiwan and Brazil, or international LNP solutions, and number inventory and allocation management. The Company�� order management services permit its carrier customers to exchange essential operating information with multiple carriers in order to provision and manage services. The Company provides these services through a single interface or on-premise installations. In addition, it offers inventory management services that! allow its carrier customers to manage their assigned telephone numbers and associated resources. The Company provides scalable IP services to global carriers and service providers that allow them to manage access for the routing of IP communications, such as multimedia messaging service. Its solutions also provide accurate and reliable routing of text messages and voice calls by identifying terminating service provider networks. In addition, it provides a solution for carriers to migrate from the public switched telephone network to IP Interconnect through mapping a phone number to an IP address for accurate and reliable routing to a carrier�� network.

Enterprise Services

The Company�� Enterprise Services include Internet infrastructure services and registry services. It provides Internet infrastructure services that its customers use in order to direct, prioritize and manage Internet traffic. In addition, enterprise customers rely on its services to optimize their Website performance, including protecting against malicious traffic. Enterprises use its infrastructure and its datasets to identify the location of their online customers for a variety of purposes, including fraud prevention and marketing. It also operates the authoritative common short codes registry on behalf of the United States wireless industry. The Company provides a suite of domain name systems (DNS) services to its enterprise customers built on a global directory platform. These services play a key role in directing and managing Internet traffic flow, resolving Internet queries, providing security protection against distributed denial of service attacks, providing geolocation services used to enhance fraud prevention and online marketing, and monitoring, testing and measuring the performance of Websites and networks. The Company operates the authoritative registries of Internet domain names for the .biz, .us, .co, .tel and .travel top-level domains. It also provides international registry gateways for! China�� s .cn and Taiwan�� .tw country-code top-level domains. All Internet communications routed to any of these domains must query a copy of its directory to ensure that the communication is routed to the appropriate destination. The Company also operates the authoritative common short codes registry on behalf of the United States wireless industry. In addition, it operates the user authentication and rights management system, which supports the UltraViolet digital content locker that consumers use to access their entertainment content.

Information Services

The Company�� Information Services include identification services, verification and analytics services, and local search and licensed data services. It utilizes databases and solutions to inform real-time decisions on customer initiated interactions over the telephone, Internet and at points of sale. Its services correlate attributes, such as demographic information, projected buying behaviors and location. Its business listings identity management services manage the placement of its customers��online local business listings on search engines, improving brand awareness and targeted advertising. The Company provides Caller ID services to carriers in the United States and real-time identification and location services to over 1,000 businesses in the United States across multiple industries. Its location service enables clients to match a 10-digit phone number to a latitude and longitude, and is used for a number of applications, including intelligent site planning, market scoring, and Web-based location lookup. In addition, it provides services that enable clients to remarket to non-converting prospects and to help identify whether an inbound inquiry is coming from an existing customer or a prospect. The Company provides lead verification services that allow clients to validate customer data, enhance leads and assign a lead quality rating to each lead to provide a client the ability to contact a customer. The Company provide! s an onli! ne local business listing identity management solution that serves local search platforms, national brands, authorized channel partners and local businesses. This service provides businesses and channel partners the essential tools to verify, enhance and manage the identity of local listings on local search platforms across the Web, and offers local search platforms an accurate, complete and up-to-date database of local business listings for online publishing.

The Company competes with Accenture plc, Computer Sciences Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, International Business Machines Corporation, Noblis, Inc., Nortel Networks Corporation, Pearson Education, Inc., Perot Systems Corporation, Telcordia Technologies, Inc., VeriSign, Inc., Afilias Limited, Oracle Corporation, Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., Syniverse Technologies, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Inc., F5 Networks, Inc., Keynote Systems, Inc., Compuware Corporation, TNS, Inc., eBureau, LLC, Acxiom, Nielsen Holdings N.V., DataLogix International Inc. and infoGROUP Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  According to Reuters, several private equity firms have expressed interest in acquiring Neustrar. (NYSE: NSR) The company has hired financial advisers to help explore its options. shares gained 2.26 percent, closing at $29.36.

• [By Magic Diligence]

  Neustar (NSR) is a provider of a wide array of communications information services. Examining all of the different services Neustar provides is an article in itself, but let's try to order them in importance to the company from a standpoint of revenue.

10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: Elisa Oyj (ELI1V)

Elisa Oyj is a Finland-based Company engaged in the provision of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services in Finland and Estonia. The Company operates within two business segments: Consumer Customers and Corporate Customers. The Consumer Customers segment provides consumers and households with telecommunications services, such as voice and data services. The Corporate Customers segment provides to the corporate and community customers voice and data services, ICT solutions and contact center services. All the services are provided under the Elisa and Saunalahti brands. The Company�� global alliance partners are Vodafone and Telenor. The Company operates through its subsidiaries, including Appelsiini Finland Oy, Arediv Oy, Ecosite Oy and Elisa Eesti As, among others. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Adam Ewing]

  A sale would provide the shareholders with cash, while potentially strengthening DNA against larger rivals Elisa Oyj (ELI1V) and TeliaSonera AB. (TLSN) The IPO could be the biggest in Finland, home of Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and ��ngry Birds��maker Rovio Entertainment Oy, since 2005.

10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: IN Media Corp (IMDC)

IN Media Corporation, formerly Tres Estrellas Enterprises, Inc., incorporated on March 5, 2007, is a development-stage company. The Company focuses on providing integrated Internet protocol television (IPTV) services for platform providers for any device from large screen televisions to handheld mobile phones. It provides a combination of hardware, software, manufacturing and content services for platform providers to either complete their offerings or provide an all-in-one solution. On October 16, 2009, the Company executed an agreement between In-Media Corporation (In-Media) and the Company, subsequent to which In-Media was merged into the Company.

The Company�� partnerships with platform providers, such as Comcast, AT&T, DirecTV, provide an installed base of customers, as well as allowing platform providers to be the billing and service interface to customers. The Company is focusing on its first implementation in China through its Chinese distributor, which will include provision of set top boxes (STB)-related system support, reference platforms and technology, and access to over 4,000 titles of Hollywood and Bollywood movies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks IN Media Corp (OTCMKTS: IMDC), Epazz Inc (OTCMKTS: EPAZ) and Polaris International Holdings (OTCMKTS: PIHN) have been busy developing new devices/products or making acquisitions. Moreover, at least two of these small cap stocks have been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations types of activities. Keeping that in mind, will new devices/products or acquisitions help these small caps along with their investors or traders? Here is a closer look:

10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: Enventis Corp (ENVE)

Enventis Corporation, formerly HickoryTech Corporation, is an integrated communications provider. The Company has a five-state fiber network spanning more than 3,250 route miles with facilities-based operations across Minnesota and into Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Enventis Telecom, Inc. (Enventis) provides business Internet protocol (IP) voice, data and video solutions, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networking, data center and managed hosted services and communication systems. HickoryTech delivers broadband, Internet, digital television (TV), voice and data services to businesses and consumers in southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa. The Company�� operations are conducted through nine subsidiaries. Its Fiber and Data and Equipment Segments subsidiaries include Enventis, Enterprise Integration Services, Inc. (EIS) and IdeaOne. Its Telecom Segment subsidiaries include Mankato Citizens Telephone Company (MCTC), Mid-Communications, Inc. (Mid-Com), Heartland Telecommunications Company of Iowa, Inc. (Heartland), Cable Network, Inc. (CNI), Crystal Communications, Inc. (Crystal) and National Independent Billing, Inc. (NIBI). The Company operates in three segments: Fiber and Data, Equipment and Telecom. The Company formed Enterprise Integration Services, Inc. (EIS) on January 2, 2012. On March 1, 2012, the Company acquired IdeaOne Telecom Group, LLC.

Fiber and Data and Equipment segments portion of its business serves customers across a five-state region with IP-based voice, transport, data and network solutions, managed services, equipment, network integration and support services. Through its regional fiber network, the Company provides wholesale fiber and data services to regional and national service providers, including interexchange and wireless carriers. It also specializes in providing integrated unified communication solutions for businesses, such as enterprise multi-office organizations, small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), primarily in the Upper Midwes! t. Residential customers are not targeted by the Fiber and Data or Equipment Segments. Its Telecom Segment provides residential and business services, including high-speed Internet, broadband services, digital TV and voice services in its legacy telecom markets. Telecom consists of the operation of local telephone companies or incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC) and the operation of a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC). All of its telecom operations are operated as one integrated unit. Its ILECs and CLEC are the primary users of the services provided by its subsidiary, National Independent Billing, Inc. (NIBI). NIBI also sells its services externally to other companies in the communications industry.

Fiber and Data and Equipment Segments

The Company, through its two business-to-business segments, Fiber and Data and Equipment, provides integrated data services and fiber based communication solutions, including IP-based voice, data and network solutions to business customers in the Upper Midwest. The product portfolio includes fiber, data and Internet, Voice and Voice over IP (VoIP), Managed and hosted services and data center services. As of December 31, 2011, it owned or had long-term leases to approximately 2,175 fiber route miles of fiber optic cable, including 225 miles acquired with the IdeaOne acquisition and has metro fiber optic rings that directly connect the network with businesses (interexchange carriers, wireless carriers, retail, health care, Government and education customers). Additional local fiber rings connect its network to local telephone central offices along with the Telecom Sector network, which has 1,155 fiber optic miles. It also serves customers through interconnections that are leased from third party service providers.

The Company�� product portfolio includes SingleLink Unified Communications (SingleLink), a hosted or managed IP communications service, which includes local and long distance voice, business IP telephony via ! a hosted ! IP private branch exchange, unified messaging and Internet access. The SingleLink solution is primarily targeted at SMB customers but also has enterprise customer applications. IdeaOne Telecom Group, LLC is a metro fiber network provider in Fargo, North Dakota. IdeaOne provides data networking, Internet, colocation, phone and hosting services to approximately 3,600 customers in the Fargo area. The acquisition added 225 fiber route miles to HickoryTech�� regional network. It has Minnesota offices located in Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester and operates data centers in Edina, Duluth and Mankato. It also has an office located in the Des Moines, Iowa area. The Equipment segment product portfolio includes equipment solutions, total care support and monitoring and professional services. The Company provides converged IP services that allow all communications (voice, video and data) to use the same IP data infrastructure. Equipment solutions include TelePresence, Unified Communications, Data Center and Virtualization, Professional Services, Total Care and Security.

Telecom

The Telecom Segment provides local telephone service, long distance, calling features, digital subscriber line (DSL), Internet, digital TV, data services and a phone book directory to residents and businesses in its legacy markets. As an auxiliary business, the data processing services of NIBI are also included within this Sector. Telecom includes three ILECs: MCTC, Mid-Com and Heartland. MCTC and Mid-Com provide telephone services in south central Minnesota, specifically the Mankato, Minnesota region, and 11 rural communities surrounding Mankato. Heartland, its third ILEC, provides telephone services for 11 rural communities in northwest Iowa. In total, there are 23 ILEC exchanges within this Segment. Also included is a CLEC, Crystal, which provides services in south central Minnesota and near Des Moines, Iowa. There are eight Minnesota CLEC exchanges and two Iowa CLEC exchanges. NIBI provides data processing an! d related! services for its affiliated companies, as well as for other ILECs, CLECs, interexchange network carriers, wireless companies and cable TV providers throughout the United States and Canada.

The Company owns and operates a 1,075 mile fiber optic network and facilities in Minnesota and Iowa. These facilities are used to transport voice, data and video services between the Company�� exchanges, to connect customers to interexchange carriers and to provide service directly to end users. This network is interconnected with its 2,175 fiber mile network in the Fiber and Data Segment. Its Minnesota ILECs and CLEC are the primary users of these fiber optic cable facilities. The Company provides interexchange telephone access by connecting the communications networks of interexchange carriers and wireless carriers with the equipment and facilities of end users through its switched networks or private lines. As local exchange telephone companies, it provides end office switching and circuits to long distance interexchange carriers. The Company provides access to its network for interexchange carriers to conduct long distance business with individual customers who select a long distance carrier for the origination and termination of calls to all customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc.(CNSL) has agreed to acquire broadband communications provider Enventis Corp.(ENVE) in an all-stock deal that values Enventis at about $228 million. The deal values Enventis at about $16.50 a share, a 17% premium to Friday’s close.

10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: Cellcom Israel Ltd.(CEL)

Cellcom Israel Ltd. provides cellular communications services in Israel. It offers basic and advanced cellular telephone services, text and multimedia messaging services, and advanced cellular content and data services. The company?s basic cellular telephony services include voice mail, cellular fax, call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification, collect call, conference calling, ?Talk 2?, additional number services, and collect call services; and outbound and inbound roaming services. It also provides value-added services comprising Cellcom volume that includes downloadable content, such as music, games, on-net-reality programs, drama series, and video games; SMS and MMS services to send and receive text, photos, multimedia, and animation messages; access to third party application providers for notification of roadway speed detectors, mange vehicle fleets, and enable subscribers to manage and operate time clocks and various controllers for industrial, agricultural , and commercial purposes; video calls to communicate with each other through video applications; zone services for calls initiated from a specific location; location-based services; voice-based information services; text-based information services and interactive information services, including news headlines, sports results, and traffic and weather reports; and data services to access handsets, cellular modems, laptops, tablets, and cellular routers, as well as Internet based payment services. In addition, the company sells handsets, modems, routers, tablets, and laptops, as well as provides repair and replacement services; and offers landline telephony, transmission, and data services through its approximately 1,500 kilometers of inland fiber-optic infrastructure and complementary microwave links to selected business customers. As of March 31, 2011, it provided its services to approximately 3.395 million subscribers. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Netanya, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Cellcom Israel (NYSE: CEL  ) is getting a new CFO.

  Following the company's successful merger with Netvision, current Chief Financial Officer Yaacov Heen is declaring his mission accomplished, and says he intends to resign his post on Sept. 17 after 16 years with the company. At that time, Cellcom says it will bring on Shlomi Fruhling, the former VP for strategy and finance at Netvision, to become the merged company's new CFO on Sept. 18.

10 Best Telecom Stocks To Watch For 2014: Softbank Corp (SFTBF)

SOFTBANK CORP. is a Japan-based company that provides digital information services. The Company has six business segments. The Mobile Communication segment provides cellular phone services and sells attached cellular phone terminals. The Broadband and Infrastructure segment provides high-speed Internet access services, Internet protocol (IP) phone service, and contents. The Fixed Communication segment provides transmission services for audio and data, as well as exclusive line and data center services. The Internet Culture segment is engaged in the Internet advertising, broadband portal and auction businesses. The Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) segment sells personal computers (PCs), peripheral devices and software for PC use, as well as provides business-to-business and business-to-customer e-commerce services. The Others segment is involved in the broadcasting media, technology service, media marketing and overseas fund businesses.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Damian Illia]

  Furthermore, Nippon recently gained access to the iPhone, which earns the firm the opportunity to reverse its share losses in the youth market. Earlier, market share on the wireless side had declined in favor of competitor Softbank Corp. (SFTBF), which had exclusive rights to sell Apple Inc. (AAPL)�� iPhone in Japan.

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks rose Wednesday after a lower open, managing solid gains with most other Asian markets were closed for the Christmas holiday. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) climbed 0.8% to 16,009.99, its first close above the 16,000 level since late 2007. The broader Topix ended with a more modest 0.1% rise. Seven & I Holdings Co. (JP:3382) (SVNDF) , operators of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain, rose 1.5% as a Nikkei Asian Review report said it planned to pay about 楼5 billion yen to purchase nearly half of Bals, which runs home-and-kitchen-furnishings retailer Francfranc. Chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. (JP:6723) (RNECY) was a strong performer, rallying 6.5% after suffering a sizeable drop in the previous session. On the downside, shares of Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) (SFTBF) fell 0.5%, after a separate article in the Nikkei saying that previously reported plans by the firm to buy T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) through its newly acquired Sprint (S) unit would value the transaction at more than 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) and would take place as early as next spring. Auto-maker stocks were mostly higher after trading mixed following the release of Japanese car-sales data for November. Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203) (TM) added 0.2%, Honda Motor Co. (JP:7267)

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks inched downward Wednesday, with action quiet as most other Asian markets were closed for the Christmas holiday. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) eased 0.1% to 15,874.40, with the Topix 0.2% lower, failing to get a bump from gains in Wall Street's abbreviated session Tuesday. Shares of Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) (SFTBF) slipped 0.3%, showing little reaction to an article in the Nikkei Asian Review saying that previously reported plans by the firm to buy T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) through its newly acquired Sprint (S) unit would value the transaction at more than 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) and would take place as early as next spring. Seven & I Holdings Co. (JP:3382) (SVNDF) , operators of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain, rose 0.5% as a separate Nikkei report said it planned to pay about 楼5 billion yen to purchase nearly half of Bals, which runs home-and-kitchen-furnishings retailer Francfranc. On the upside, Renesas Electronics Corp. (JP:6723) (RNECY) rallied 5.3% after suffering a sizeable drop in the previous session.