Verizon CFO Reiterates Interest in Vodafone's Wireless Stake

By Thomas Gryta

Verizon Communications Inc. ( VZ ) repeated its interest in making a deal to buy out Vodafone Group Plc's (VOD, VOD.LN) 45% stake in their wireless venture.

The comments, made Monday by Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo at a Morgan Stanley investor conference, reiterated previous statements about the company's willingness to take control of Verizon Wireless, if Vodafone is willing to sell. Last month, Verizon's Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said such a deal was "feasible" despite the estimated $100 billion price tag that some analysts have put on such a transaction.

"We think we have a way to do this," Mr. Shammo said Monday, referring to a Vodafone deal. He added that "talk is cheap"--implying that no talks are occurring--and that the company has long expressed an interest in owning the entire wireless operations.

"They know where we are," he said.

Last week, Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao left the door open to changing the structure of the venture.

Verizon Wireless has been outpacing rivals in the competitive U.S. wireless industry. In the past two years, it has added about 9.3 million contract customers, compared to 2.9 million by next-biggest competitor AT&T Inc. (T) over the same period. Smaller carriers Sprint Nextel Corp. ( S ) and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DTEGY DTE.XE) lost a combine 5 million contract customers in that timeframe.

Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@dowjones.com

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