VZ
#Thanks, <UNK>.
On the Edge take rate, look, this is where the market has gone.
If you look at all the advertising in the market, it's around the access point and this is where we are at.
So I think that where we are going to end up here is you will never get to 100% overall because of corporate accounts and so forth.
They are not going to take an installment-type plan, so I don't think we ever get to, quote, 100% in our base.
But from a consumer standpoint, yes, I could see us getting to where we are more heavily, very heavily concentrated on the installment side of the house.
Quite honestly, as I said, from a frontline perspective it would be much easier for them to sell one product.
Simplicity is important to us.
You're going to see us as we gradually move through here; the market is moving us there so we are eventually going to get there.
From a churn perspective, as I said, I think with all the programs we have going we are making very good progress in our base.
Our customers are loyal.
You've seen us running our new ads and some of our customers are coming back to us because they were dissatisfied with where they went.
So I think that this all proves to again the basis of how Verizon Wireless has been successful and will continue to be successful is the quality of our network, the consistent performance that our network gives to our customers, and the breadth of that network across the United States.
So that's really what it comes to.
And as I have said before, the number one reason the customer leaves you is because of quality of the network.
Price is number two.
The quality of the network still is overwhelmingly more important than price.
Not to say that customers are not price sensitive, but we think that we can continue to be very competitive and protect our high-value base.
So, yes, I do think that we will continue on this track.
On the network side, as far as the incentive auction goes, yes, the FCC is now saying that they are going to hold the auction first quarter of 2016, probably at the end of the first quarter of 2016.
As you know, they had a meeting on July 16 where they were going to set the rules, but that actually got postponed.
So we will have to wait to look at what the auction rules are and decide whether we're going to participate at the appropriate time.
The only thing I would say is, based on the AWS-3 auction, hopefully we have some lessons learned on what we shouldn't do with multibillion dollar companies getting favorable treatment.
So we will have to see where these assessments come out.
As far as our strategy here, the need for low band spectrum for us is not a great need.
As you know, we built out our LTE on the 700 megahertz, which is contiguous across the United States, which is a competitive advantage for us.
We then launched our AWS-1 spectrum for capacity and now we're in the process of revamping our 1900 PCS.
So the key here is to keep in mind that, of our licensed portfolio, only 40% of our license portfolio supports LTE and 87% of the data traffic is now running through LTE.
So if you look at our 1900 megahertz, the yet-to-be-deployed AWS-3 which we bought and will be deployed over the next probably 2.5 years out, and then our build strategy which we came out of the auction with in Chicago and New York, we have plenty of capacity to deal with the ramping of what we believe will happen with our OTT product and the continued pursuit of volume in the industry.
Our build out is on track.
We do not necessarily need low band spectrum, but that doesn't mean that we would not participate in the incentive auction.
Again, we will have to wait for the rules to come out, but obviously we are continuing down the track we set on coming out of the AWS-3 auction.
At that point we will have to wait and see what happens with the FCC.
<UNK>, thank you.
Marley, we have time for one more question, if you could queue that up I would appreciate it.
Thanks, <UNK>.
I always say you never say never, right.
Look, we are open to any options, but as far as a leasing of spectrum goes, as I've said before, in order to protect the viability of our network and our planning and our capital allocation, this would have to be almost a lease in perpetuity so that you could never be held hostage by anybody.
Because once you deploy a spectrum in your network, if somebody turned around 10 years from now and said I think I'm not going to lease that you anymore, that would be detrimental to your business and you just can't let that happen.
So I guess under the right terms and conditions it would be something that we could look at, but I would tell you I think that's very, very difficult given the asset that you are leasing here.
So I think that's the perspective and we're concentrating on our build.
The one thing I didn't answer on <UNK>'s question was SDN and we're well into that.
Obviously LTE in itself is a software-developed network and it gives you the scalability of giving richer network experiences.
Our team is working on that and we have been working on that for quite some time.
There's a lot of things will bring efficiency to the network.
There is C-RAN out there.
We are in the initial ---+ obviously 5G is being talked about in the industry.
Of course, Asia is involved in 5G and of course we will start to get involved in the standard setting around 5G, so there's a lot happening in this industry for technology standpoint.
Spectrum is important.
It will always be important, but it's not the only tool we have in our toolbox.
From that perspective, we're concentrating on the strategy that we outlined coming out of the AWS-3 auction.
Marley, thank you.
But before we end the call I would like to turn the call back to <UNK> for some final comments.
Thanks, everybody.
Again, thank you for joining us this morning.
Just like to end, though, at ---+ through the first half of 2015 we continued to execute on the fundamentals, we position our business for the future, and we always return value to our shareholders.
On a comparable basis, first-half consolidated revenues were 3.5%.
Earnings grew 12.6%.
Cash flow from operations was up 11.9%.
Wireless revenues increased over $2.5 billion to just under $45 billion.
We positioned ourselves for future growth.
We acquired valuable mid-band spectrum in the FCC auction, invested $8 billion in capital year-to-date, and made a very strategic acquisition in AOL.
AOL acquisition greatly accelerates our digital media and advertising platform capabilities, which will become a critical element of our OTT strategy and our revenue growth for the future.
We returned $9 billion to our shareholders through the first half of this year, $4 billion in dividends and $5 billion in an ASR program.
We certainly look forward to a very positive second half of 2015 with confidence in our ability to execute our strategy and create value for our customers, our shareholders, and our employees.
Thank you again for joining us today and have a great day.
