NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hurricane Sandy will likely cost telephone and cable service providers hundreds of millions of dollars, with companies such as Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) hit hardest, according to analysts.

The storm could end up costing cable and telephone network operators $550 million to $600 million in clean-up and repair costs, according to Barclays analyst James Ratcliffe.

NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Verizon Communications
may take up to two weeks to restore telecommunication services
for some of its customers after flooding and power outages
knocked out services during massive storm Sandy, according to a
top executive for the company.

The provider of telephone, Internet and television services
said while some customers already have service and others will
have service in a matter of days, it will take as long as two
weeks for some other customers.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Telecommunications
companies said they were working to restore services on
Wednesday after floods and power outages from Hurricane Sandy
affected mobile phones, Internet, home phones and cable
television in the U.S. Northeast.

Rivals AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA said they agreed to
open their networks to each other’s customers in New York and
New Jersey to help their coverage as a result of the storm.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Telecommunications
companies said they were working to restore services on
Wednesday after floods and power outages from Hurricane Sandy
affected mobile phones, internet, home phones and television in
the U.S. Northeast.

Rivals AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA said they agreed to
open their networks to each other’s customers in New York and
New Jersey to help their coverage as a result of the storm.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Power outages and flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy disrupted telecommunications services on Tuesday and coverage was spotty for everything from cellphones and home telephones to Internet services in Northeastern states.

Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said in the early hours of Tuesday that its wireline service was suffering as flooding in its central offices in lower Manhattan affected its back-up generators and batteries.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Andreessen Horowitz is leading a $15.5 million round of venture funding for ItsOn Inc, a developer of software that supports more flexible mobile billing options like sponsored data services and split billing for work and personal use.

ItsOn, which has had funding from Verizon Communications, Vodafone Group Plc and Best Buy in the past, said its technology will power a new service for one of the top three U.S. mobile providers starting in early 2013.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hurricane Sandy will likely cause financial headaches for U.S. airlines that canceled more than 7,000 flights to and from the Northeast corridor on Sunday.

Hotels in the region were busy handling cancellations for guests who could not get to destinations in the Northeast, extending stays for guests who could not leave town, and booking rooms for people who left their homes.

By Sinead Carew

(Reuters) – Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posted a third-quarter loss that was narrower than Wall Street’s expectations on lower marketing costs but warned that its network upgrade has been delayed by about three months.

Sprint, which agreed last week to sell a controlling stake to Japan’s Softbank Corp (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for $20 billion, is working on a desperately needed network upgrade. The No. 3 mobile phone service provider, which lost more customers than expected in the quarter, has struggled for years to turn around its business as it competes against larger rivals Verizon Wireless (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

By Sinead Carew

(Reuters) – AT&T Inc added fewer customers than expected in the third quarter due to a shortage of the latest Apple Inc iPhone, highlighting its outsize dependence on the device.

The company’s slowing customer growth shows that it is rapidly losing ground to bigger rival Verizon Wireless. Since most people already have cellphones, operators like AT&T and Verizon have to battle each other to add new customers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Broadcom Corp on Tuesday forecast a decline in revenue for the fourth quarter due to challenging market conditions including weakness in its infrastructure chip business.

While Broadcom’s third-quarter revenue was better than Wall Street expected, its weak outlook was not a big surprise as chip makers such as Texas Instruments and Intel Corp have posted weak results due to softness in the global economy.