Time Trippin’: Softbank, Dish fight over Sprint, Clearwire; Alcatel-Lucent shifts gears … 1 year ago this week

Editor’s Note: The RCR Wireless News Time Machine is a way to take advantage of our extensive history in covering the wireless space to fire up the DeLorean and take a trip back in time to re-visit some of the more interesting headlines from this week in history. Enjoy the ride!
Dish backs away from Sprint Nextel bid, remains focused on Clearwire
Dish Network looks to have bowed out of the Sprint Nextel sweepstake, announcing late yesterday that it would not put in a new offer to acquire the nation’s No. 3 mobile operator. The satellite-television provider noted that recent changes made by Softbank in its $21.6 billion acquisition attempt and Sprint Nextel’s termination of its due diligence process with Dish led to the move. … Read More
Alcatel-Lucent shifts gears
Alcatel-Lucent said today that it wants to transform itself from a telecommunications generalist into an IP networking and broadband access specialist. The company’s new CEO Michel Combes said that these two business areas will represent 85% of the firm’s research and development expenditures within two years, and that Alcatel-Lucent will reorganize around these priorities. Shift Plan is the name of Alcatel-Lucent’s new strategy. The core networking segment, including IP routing, IP transport, and IP platforms and associated services, will be managed for growth. The wireless and fixed access businesses will be managed for cash flow. Alcatel-Lucent plans to sell assets worth a billion euros over the next two years, and to realize another billion euros in cost savings. … Read More
Sprint Nextel files lawsuit to block Dish attempt to acquire stake in Clearwire
Sprint Nextel has found a new manner in which to deter Dish Network from attempting to acquire a stake in Clearwire, filing a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery claiming the proposed deal violates state law and the rights of Clearwire stakeholders. Sprint Nextel added that the legal action “seeks to rescind certain parts of the tender offer agreement and seeks declaratory, injunctive, compensatory and other relief.” The carrier had previously laid out many of the complaints noted in the lawsuit in a letter it had sent to Clearwire’s board of directors earlier this month, centered on the notion that Dish Network’s attempt to acquire a stake in Clearwire and place on Clearwire’s board was “not actionable” as it violated Clearwire’s charter. … Read More
Report: Verizon looks north at potential entrance into Canadian market
Published reports out of Canada suggest that Verizon Communications is shopping for an entry into the country’s wireless market, which the Canadian government has vowed to make more competitive. Canada’s The Globe and Mail reported today that Verizon is looking at investing in either Wind Mobile or Mobilicity, two struggling Canadian operators that have seemingly run out of funds in trying to compete with the country’s three dominate wireless carriers Rogers, Telus Mobility and Bell Canada. … Read More
White House lays out new spectrum sharing initiative
The federal government re-iterated plans to free up more spectrum assets for the benefit of consumers, including looking at ways for greater sharing of resources between federal agencies and wireless operators. In a White House memorandum, President Barack Obama laid out several steps designed to promote sharing of spectrum assets and directives for federal agencies to implement steps for more efficient use of spectrum. The memorandum specifically pointed to spectrum in the 1695-1710 MHz band, the 1755-1850 MHz band, and the 5350-5470 and 5850-5925 MHz bands. … Read More
Small cell silicon vendors target enterprise deployments
Silicon vendors from opposite ends of the wireless supply chain are “meeting in the middle” as they compete to power small cells in the enterprise. Established macrocell chipset suppliers like Texas Instruments and Freescale face growing competition from mobile processor experts Qualcomm and Broadcom, as well as from companies that specialize primarily in small cell solutions. … Read More
iPhone on AT&T gets push-to-talk with Wi-Fi
AT&T Mobility is hoping to pick up some new customers next month after Sprint Nextel turns off its iDEN network at midnight on June 30. Diehard iDEN customers who have ignored their carrier’s efforts to get them to switch over to Sprint Nextel’s CDMA/LTE network will find themselves carrying dead devices on the morning of July 1. Those who use their devices on the job as walkie-talkies as well as phones will miss iDEN’s push-to-talk feature, and AT&T Mobility is hoping to attract them to its network by adding push-to-talk to the iPhone. … Read More
Report: Softbank sees T-Mobile US as an alternative; Sprint Nextel remains on track
Sprint Nextel’s future continues to maintain an air of uncertainty despite its best efforts to stay on course. The latest bump in the road comes from a Reuters report that suggests possible suitor Softbank has lined up an alternative path in case its planned $20.1 billion investment in Sprint Nextel falls through. The report indicated that Softbank has been in discussions with Deutsche Telekom regarding buying out the German telecom giant’s 74% stake in T-Mobile US should Softbank’s current attempt to acquire a 70% stake in Sprint Nextel fails. DT recently reduced its stake in its U.S.-based operations from its previous full control following T-Mobile USA’s merger with MetroPCS to form the new T-Mobile US entity. … Read More
Apple stores reportedly ready for iPhone trade-ins
Apple is reportedly launching a trade-in program in its stores, taking old iPhones off the hands of customers who want to upgrade to the iPhone 5. Right now iPhone users can trade in their existing phones online or with their carriers, but Apple is apparently eager to capture more of those used iPhones so that it can resell them in emerging markets. According to a Bloomberg report, Brightstar will handle the trade-in program for Apple. Brightstar is one of the world’s largest handset distributors and supply chain managers. It employs more than 4,000 people, and with revenue of almost $6 billion it was #58 last year on the Forbes list of America’s top private companies. … Read More
AT&T divests 540M America Movil shares; is Vodafone a target?
AT&T divested itself of 540 million shares in Latin American-based telecom giant America Movil in a move the carrier said was designed to maintain its position in America Movil following recent share repurchases by that operator. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, AT&T noted that during May and June it had sold the 540 million shares in America Movil on the open market for between 99 cents and $1.09 per share. The company told The Wall Street Journal that the move was made in order to maintain its 9% equity stake in America Movil. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.