UPDATE 1-Vodafone mulls $160 bln bid for Verizon - report

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 16 - Wireless telecommunications company Vodafone Group Plc has been considering a $160 billion takeover bid for Verizon Communications Inc. , the Financial Times reported on Monday on its Alphaville Web site.



The report triggered a 12.5 percent jump in Verizon's share price in pre-market trade.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Verizon Wireless exec opposes open access idea

(Reuters) - Verizon Wireless's general counsel said at a congressional hearing that consumers ultimately would suffer if the government forced the winner of the auction to make some of the airwaves accessible using any device or software application.




"Consumer choice would be the casualty of policies that mandate that all companies do the same thing the same way," the company's general counsel, Steve Zipperstein, said in a statement at the hearing.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Google Growth May Depend on K Street Lobby Now Outflanked by AT&T, Verizon

(Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., the Web-search company
whose motto is ``Don't be evil,'' now has to confront the
realities of Washington to propel its stock further.

The 8-year-old company with a $162 billion market value
didn't open a lobbying office in the U.S. capital until 2005.
Now, as expansion plans invite government scrutiny, Google is
stepping up efforts to master a game political foes such as AT&T
Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have played for decades.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News