Yesterday's announcement of the AT&T (T) and T-Mobile deal gives both companies a clear "win" in the telecommunications sector. Who are the "losers"?

The tower companies have experienced downward pressure today, with American Tower (AMT) currently trading down over 8%, SBA Communications (SBAC) currently down over 10%, and Crown Castle International (CCI) currently hovering down almost 5%.

Verizon Communications' (VZ) shares have risen just incrementally since the buy call at $29.86 on February 12, 2009, but I'm nevertheless reiterating my buy rating. Here's why:

Look for Verizon to more than hold its own regarding wireless subscription increases, moving forward. Further, Verizon's FiOS broadband service continues to exceed expectations, and its $1.90 annual dividend adds to the positive mix: not bad, for a "stodgy" old company.

Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T), and phone carriers around the world are facing a tough problem. As their cellular businesses grow, people are turning off their home phones. What these telecoms pick up in wireless business revenue is being partially offset by a drop in the landline operations which have brought them sales for nearly a hundred years. If the trend accelerates, Verizon and it peers could even face a contraction of their overall revenue.

Verizon plans to solve the problem by making landline phone service so cheap that people will be less likely to cut their service.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) has decided to eat its own young. The company will introduce a wireless internet phone aimed at the home market. Verizon has been seeing its landline business shrink as consumers move to VoIP and wireless handsets.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "The new home phone, called the Hub, aims to retain existing landline customers and attract other carriers' customers, the company said." Why go to all the trouble of switching people from a phone with a cord to one that is wireless?

Verizon has been losing home customers to cable VoIP for years. And, many wireless customers have been using cellphones at home and killing their landline service. The new "Hub" has features including streaming video capacity and the ability to access data over the internet. But, the unit costs $195 and subscribers must take out a two-year, $35 a month contract to get the new product.

That service contract is why the product will be a failure. As 3G networks get better, the cellphone becomes an excellent alternative to a landline phone. Buying a second phone, which is essentially another wireless product is unnecessary and expensive. Current wireless handsets can already get video and data. Another product with similar capacities is just redundant.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NYSE: VOD), announced today that it would be providing open access to its network in the near future. In short, customers will be given the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company.

This is interesting stuff and the refashioning of a common practice for network operators to bundle a sale of a phone together with network connectivity. Now, consumers can decouple their cellular purchases and use whatever phones suit them.

The Wall Street Journal article discussing the Verizon announcement explained that "in the short term, the impact of the shift may be limited. Some analysts expect Verizon to charge customers using an outside phone more for its cell phone service. At the same time, because Verizon -- like other cell phone companies -- subsidizes the cost of phones, few consumers may want to spend the hundreds of dollars necessary to buy a phone independently of a carrier."

Virgin Mobile USA, Inc. (NYSE: VM) launched its IPO right after the open today. Billionaire Richard Branson's pay-as-you-go cellular telecom services that uses the Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) network has raised $412.5 million based on 27,500,000 shares at $15.00 per share, which is actually at the lower end of the $15.00 to $17.00 range. Was the reception poor, or was it conservative?

The lead underwriter and book runner was Lehman Brothers, and joint book-runners were Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. The over-allotment option for underwriters is listed as 4,125,000 shares. Not much has changed since the original coverage of the IPO at the filing date.

As of June 30, 2007, Virgin claimed 4.83 million customers. Revenues and net loss for the year ended December 31, 2006 were approximately $1.1 Billion and -$36.7 million; Revenues and net income for the six months ended June 30, 2007 were approximately $666.9 million and $26.5 million, respectively. As of June 30, 2007 and December 31, 2006, members' accumulated deficit was approximately $(614.4) million and $(643.9) million, respectively.

It seems as though the interest faded here, and part of it may be the entire venture status combined with a cellular market that is deemed as just about fully matured in the lower-end pricing plans. Shares did trade under the $15.00 pricing for a bit after the open, but are up to $15.40 at the 30-minute mark.

Jon C. Ogg produces the 24/7 Wall St. Special Situation Investing Newsletter and he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Qwest (NYSE: Q) is down nearly 6.6% on heavy volume today on the unexplained news that its CEO of five years, Richard Notebaert, is leaving. He want to spend more time with his family. Maybe.

Notebaert says he will stay until the board finds a replacement, but it does not appear that he will be very active in that process. Reuters rightly credits the CEO "with leading the U.S. phone company toward recovery from losses and massive debt." The previous CEO, Joe Nacchio, left in disgrace and has spent most of his time since his departure fighting federal charges.

Qwest has several problems, but these have not kept the stock from moving up 150% over the last five years. The company does not have a big revenue and cash flow engine in the cellular space the way AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) do. It is also in no position to build out a huge fiber-to-the-home deployment to compete with cable companies for TV subscriptions.

Qwest has, in essence, fought its competition with one hand tied behind its back, and it has done a good job. Perhaps the board will want to sell the company while it is still ahead. Perhaps the CEO objected.

Maybe he just got tired. We may never know.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Observing the world of mobile phones, Jim Cramer said that handsets have been one of the greatest growth drivers around and best money-makers. He thinks the uncertainty presented by international governments just helps cell phone makers. The company that can produce the cheapest, he says, and deliver that into the third world will be the winner. He thinks that Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) can do this, and he thinks that NOK is the one to buy. He likes NOK for this reason more than he likes Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) or Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT).

Cramer said they are the lowest-cost provider and they might be selling them at subsidy levels, but he thinks they are establishing brand loyalty in those markets. He thinks Nokia will have the biggest footprint out of the cellphone makers, and as their middle classes grow so will Nokia.

Do those in international markets have brand loyalty? If they go cheap now and that gets established as "the cheap intro brand" then won't the upwardly mobile go look for sa step-up? He might be right here, and he might not. The stock may even go up from here, but I would be willing to bet that it is for different reasons. We'll see.

What kind of cellphone do you use? If you're in the majority, it's a Motorola handset. Motorola now has -- by far -- the largest share of the handset market in the U.S. and appears to be making a global run at Nokia to try and regain the top global spot for the first time in a decade. The jury is still out on whether Motorola can do this, but if the ultra-popular RAZR phenomenon continues -- and it does almost two years after release -- then Motorola will continue to make headway. It's rare that a single product carries a company like this, but just like Apple's iPod, Motorola's RAZR re-defined the category.

But it does not stop there. According to Forrester Research, Motorola is one of the top trusted brands in the wireless market, which includes hardware manufacturers and wireless carriers alike, from Motorola and Samsung to Sprint Nextel and Cingular Wireless. Samsung and Sprint Nextel rank among the least-trusted brands in the U.S., while Motorola and Verizon Wireless coming in at most-trusted levels, with Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile also pulling the same score. Just slightly off was Sprint Nextel, but that slightness was enough for a "least trusted" rating.

How about wireless handset manufacturers? In what I consider more perception than actual reality, handset makers Palm scored 4.3 and a B+ overall, while Motorola -- maker of the RAZR and other popular offshoot handsets, scored 4.2, for an overall grade of B. LG Electronics and Samsung fared the worst, both scoring 4.0, for overall grades of C- and D-, respectively. The "aura" around the Treo line of smartphones and the RAZR line of phones is probably due to the enormous loyalty customers have to both brands when such a subjective topic of "trust" comes along.

Samsung and LG and other makers have wireless handsets that topple the Motorola RAZR and other phones in terms of features and ease-of-use, but the sheer popularity and loyalty Motorola users have cannot be underestimated. If you create the market -- like the RAZR did for slim phones and the Treo did for on-the-go productivity -- then customers will always have "trust". MOT shares seem happy these days as a result.

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.