Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades and enjoy the memories!
Verizon Wireless to join Vodafone in upgrade to LTE: CDMA to lose major backer
Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Group plc are planning to move to Long Term Evolution technology as the 4G evolution path for their respective networks, according to remarks by company executives this week. Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone, and Verizon Communications Inc. chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg, spoke about the technology choice at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference yesterday. Vodafone and Verizon control Verizon Wireless through a joint venture. … Read More
Leap nixes MetroPCS’ merger offer
Leap Wireless International Inc. rejected a merger proposal from MetroPCS Communications Inc., saying that the offer fails to fully account for Leap’s growth prospects, undervalues Leap’s business, and favors MetroPCS’ shareholders over those of Leap. Leap made its response-a letter from CEO Doug Hutcheson to MetroPCS chairman CEO Roger Linquist-public, in the same way that MetroPCS made its offer letter public, and categorized MetroPCS’ offer as “completely inadequate in a number of critical areas.” … Read More
T-Mobile USA to buy SunCom for $2.4B
T-Mobile USA Inc. announced it will acquire regional operator SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. for about $2.4 billion in cash and assumed debt. SunCom’s GSM/GPRS/EDGE network covers parts of the southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean; the carrier has provided roaming in its markets to T-Mobile USA since 2004, according to the national carrier. SunCom has markets and customers in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. … Read More
Disney exec worries over MVNO
Mobile virtual network operator Disney Mobile has been well-received by parents, but lacks scale and may see some changes to its business model, according to remarks by Walt Disney Co.’s senior executive VP and CFO Tom Stagg at a Merrill Lynch conference this week. “We’ve continued to get really strong critical acclaim for the product, and really strong response from subscribers,” Stagg said. “Parents have really embraced the features of the phone.” However, he went on to add that the MVNO “is a business where there are a number of elements where I think you need to have scale to be successful, distribution being one of them. … Read More
Apples over Europe: As expected, iPhone for Germans
Apple Inc. continued its weeklong roll through Europe today as Deutsche Telekom AG’s wireless subsidiary T-Mobile in Germany announced that the iPhone will launch Nov. 9 at $566. The companies offered no word on monthly service costs, or on the length of an expected service contract. Nor did the companies discuss T-Mobile’s expected iPhone-related data revenue-sharing with Apple. The announcement followed yesterday’s iPhone splash in London; O2 will offer the handset in the United Kingdom, releasing it on Nov. 9 as well. A similar announcement is expected later this week from Apple and a French partner, which is rumored to be France Telecom’s Orange. … Read More
Sprint Nextel unveils femtocell for consumers: Carrier plans nationwide availability by next year
Sprint Nextel Corp. announced it has begun selling a compact, consumer-targeted femtocell base station that will work with any Sprint Nextel CDMA phone, an effort designed to allow customers to improve their own in-home wireless coverage. The Sprint Airave, which is manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., is now available for purchase in select areas of Denver and Indianapolis. Femtocells – small, stand-alone units that can be deployed inside buildings and homes – have gained the interest of carriers as a means to increase network coverage. However, such products also carry a number of business complications, including the prospect of cutting into carrier revenues. … Read More
NTP sets its sight on carriers: Patent holder files suit against Big 4
NTP Inc. is at it again. The Virginia-based patent-holding company last week filed patent-infringement lawsuits against all four tier-one U.S. carriers, claiming the operators are violating eight patents for mobile e-mail services. Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. declined to comment last week; AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA Inc. didn’t respond to requests for comment from RCR Wireless News. … Read More
RIM outages underscore complexity, reliability issues: Service glitches could limit firm’s expansion to consumer market
According to a popular if crass bumper sticker, “stuff” happens. In the case of outages or slowdowns for Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry service, stuff happens pretty rarely. But a days-long outage this spring and a day-long outage and slowdown in e-mail traffic Sept. 7-8 at least raised the question in pundits’ minds whether consequences for the firm could accrue from such events. The effect of the outages, some observers complained, has been compounded by RIM’s initial silence and subsequent opacity or jargon over the cause. … Read More
FCC moves on 2155-2175 MHz spectrum band
The Federal Communications Commission launched a rulemaking on the highly-sought 2155 MHz-2175 MHz spectrum band, setting the stage for a resumption of a wireless open-access debate that gained strength during in the agency’s 700 MHz proceeding. Late last month, the FCC tossed out applications of M2Z Networks Inc. and others that wanted the 2155 MHz-2175 MHz spectrum for a wireless broadband network. M2Z has challenged the agency’s ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The mobile-phone and wireless broadband sectors opposed the M2Z plan. … Read More
Top American executive for HTC resigns
Todd Achilles, the face of HTC Americas in the United States and throughout the Americas, resigned about a month ago, Achilles confirmed today. The smartphone vendor is actively pursuing candidates to replace Achilles, said Jason Gordon, an HTC spokesman. Achilles said today that after traveling “80%” of the time for the past year, he was taking time off for his family. His wife will have their second child in November. The former HTC executive said that he was “looking at all the opportunities out there” and would likely remain in wireless, though he insisted he currently has no firm destination in mind. … Read More
Check out RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter?
