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| ICAP Thrives Amid Financial Volatility |
| The London interdealer broker's position handling
nonstock trades means it's poised to profit whether
the market gains or falls
In a brutal year for financial services, one British
company is flying higher than ever. London-based
ICAP (IAP.L), the world's leading interdealer broker,
makes money from handling a wide range of
nonstock trades for banks, dealers, and fund managers—whether the market is going up or down.
The volatility and anxiety gripping markets since
last summer have only sweetened ICAP's bottom
line, as asset sales and hedging have lifted trading
volumes. more |
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Mobile Providers, Can You Hear Us Now? |
| Angry consumers are filing lawsuits against wireless companies, reflecting a wave of discontent
with new, mostly Web-focused, services |
Consumer grievances against wireless companies are taking on a new dimension. For more than
a decade, mobile-phone customers have griped vociferously about what they consider unfair
billing and inadequate wireless voice calling. But the advent of mobile data services—from texting
to gaming to social networking to Web surfing—has given subscribers a whole host of new beefs
to complain about.
In the past few months, users have filed class actions against AT&T (T), Verizon Wireless, Sprint
Nextel (S), T-Mobile USA, and many smaller wireless service providers.
The complaints cover a
multitude of alleged sins, from excessive roaming charges to text-message spam. One filed in
April says Verizon Wireless should pay damages for harm suffered by a 14-year-old girl after she
was sexually assaulted by an adult male who contacted her through an Internet profile she
created using her cell phone. Another attempts to hold Verizon Wireless and third-party content
providers responsible for illegal gambling by users. Verizon Wireless declined to comment.
Confusion Over Pricing
What these seemingly different lawsuits have in common is that they reflect users' discontent
with a wave of new services, many of them Web-focused, that are crucial to the wireless
industry.
Though slow to take off in the U.S., especially in comparison with the rest of the world,
text messaging, wireless music, and video services are finally entering the mainstream. AT&T
received 21.5% of its wireless revenues from data services in the first quarter, up from 16% a
year earlier. Industry revenue from the larger category of wireless data, which includes mobile
content and Web access, rose 53%, to $23 billion, in 2007, according to industry group CTIA.
With increased usage comes new frustrations.
Damian Fernandez tapped into that rising ill will when he launched a class action on behalf of
users of Apple's iPhone. The California lawyer set up a Web site, appleiphonelawsuit.com, after
reading about angry U.S. users who racked up hundreds of dollars in unexpected fees after using
their devices abroad. "I still remember the passion and anger that people felt," Fernandez says.
Within days, he received several hundred complaints and the attorney who previously focused
on business contract disputes suddenly found a new calling.
Fernandez now represents five
clients, who complain of everything from high roaming charges to buying iPhones that no longer
work, in a class action against Apple (AAPL) and AT&T, its U.S. service-provider partner. Apple
and AT&T haven't filed a response to the allegations. Apple declined to comment. AT&T didn't
address specific litigation.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, in the first quarter of 2007, the number
of wireless service-related complaints rose 14%, to 5,242, led by billing issues. "There's so much
confusion out there in regards to what the price of the data plan is, what's included or not," says
Bill Stone, CEO of wireless content seller Handango. "Consumers don't know the fine print."  |
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