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CNN Live At Daybreak

No Roaming: Verizon Rolls Out New International Plan

Aired October 16, 2003 - 06:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' right now. A couple of new cell phone plans will allow some international travelers to make calls on their next trip without any roaming fees. Awesome!
Carrie Lee has the details from the Nasdaq market site.

Good morning -- Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Certainly something to interest a lot of international business travelers. So far it's been pretty hard to make calls abroad for these folks either because of high fees or poor reception. Well according to "The Wall Street Journal," starting today, Verizon Wireless is offering a plan that lets U.S. customers make calls from Mexico, Canada, as well as Puerto Rico, often without extra charges on top of their flat monthly fee. Now the Verizon option costs between $60 and $170 a month, depending on the number of minutes callers want.

Remember AT&T Wireless also recently rolled out a similar plan.

By the end of this year, Verizon says it's going to offer the first true world phone which will work with all networks so customers can travel between Europe, Asia and the United States and Latin America with the same phone. You still have to lug around chargers and accessories, though, because some of the plug-in systems are incompatible. But still, getting closer to that global communications at work environment.

Quick check on the futures, things do look a little bit weak this morning. We did see a bit of selling yesterday at the close. The Dow, the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 all lower by just a few points, as you can see.

One of the reasons for the weakness -- the weakness this morning, IBM. Big Blue reporting profits last night after the close. They met the profit expectation, came in a little bit weak on the sales front, though. Cautiously optimistic about business conditions going forward.

We also, Carol, will hear from a number of other companies reporting this morning, including Dow component Altria, Caterpillar and Coca-Cola, among others. So profit news clearly the name of the game today on Wall Street. We'll see what happens once the 9:30 bell rings. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Yes, and may the profits be up. Carrie Lee reporting live from the Nasdaq market site.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 16, 2003 - 06:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' right now. A couple of new cell phone plans will allow some international travelers to make calls on their next trip without any roaming fees. Awesome!
Carrie Lee has the details from the Nasdaq market site.

Good morning -- Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Certainly something to interest a lot of international business travelers. So far it's been pretty hard to make calls abroad for these folks either because of high fees or poor reception. Well according to "The Wall Street Journal," starting today, Verizon Wireless is offering a plan that lets U.S. customers make calls from Mexico, Canada, as well as Puerto Rico, often without extra charges on top of their flat monthly fee. Now the Verizon option costs between $60 and $170 a month, depending on the number of minutes callers want.

Remember AT&T Wireless also recently rolled out a similar plan.

By the end of this year, Verizon says it's going to offer the first true world phone which will work with all networks so customers can travel between Europe, Asia and the United States and Latin America with the same phone. You still have to lug around chargers and accessories, though, because some of the plug-in systems are incompatible. But still, getting closer to that global communications at work environment.

Quick check on the futures, things do look a little bit weak this morning. We did see a bit of selling yesterday at the close. The Dow, the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 all lower by just a few points, as you can see.

One of the reasons for the weakness -- the weakness this morning, IBM. Big Blue reporting profits last night after the close. They met the profit expectation, came in a little bit weak on the sales front, though. Cautiously optimistic about business conditions going forward.

We also, Carol, will hear from a number of other companies reporting this morning, including Dow component Altria, Caterpillar and Coca-Cola, among others. So profit news clearly the name of the game today on Wall Street. We'll see what happens once the 9:30 bell rings. Back to you.

COSTELLO: Yes, and may the profits be up. Carrie Lee reporting live from the Nasdaq market site.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com