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, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Wheeler got $500,000 in Cibernet sale
Thomas Wheeler, until recently the nation’s top mobile-phone lobbyist and now a major fund-raiser for surging Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, had his $2 million salary padded in 2002 with a $500,000 bonus from the $37 million sale of a for-profit subsidiary of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. The half-million-dollar bonus went to Wheeler, currently a consultant to CTIA, at a time when wireless companies were struggling financially. However, CTIA’s revenue increased to $68 million in 2002-a $30 million increase from the previous year. … Read More
AWS reports sluggish financials, looks at ‘alternatives’
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. reported fourth-quarter and year-end 2003 results this morning ahead of its previously stated release date of Jan. 27 and formally announced that its board of directors is looking at “strategic alternatives” for the company, having received “significant interest” from a number of potential suitors. The carrier said it added 128,000 net subscribers during the fourth quarter of last year, which was well below the 705,000 customers the carrier added during the fourth quarter of 2002 though generally in line with reduced analysts’ estimates. For the full-year, AT&T Wireless added just more than 1 million subscribers ending 2003 with 22 million total customers. … Read More
Suitors line up for AWS
AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s future as well as the future plans of its suppliers and employees were put on hold last week as the carrier announced its board of directors had decided “to explore the company’s strategic alternatives,” which most industry observers equated to putting a “for sale” sign on the nation’s third-largest wireless operator. Published reports indicated that the carrier had received offers from Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and current minority-interest partner NTT DoCoMo Inc., and that additional offers could be tendered by Nextel Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group plc. While AWS gave no indication that it planned to sell itself to the highest bidder, the carrier did acknowledge it had hired Merrill Lynch & Co. and the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to advise the board in its plans. … Read More
DoCoMo to waive consultation rights for AWS transaction
NTT DoCoMo Inc., which owns a 16-percent stake in AT&T Wireless Services Inc., said it has agreed to a temporary waiver of its consultation rights under its investor agreement in the U.S.-based carrier to be notified of and receive information regarding any proposed transaction that may affect DoCoMo’s interest in AT&T Wireless. DoCoMo noted the waiver was made pursuant to a request from AT&T Wireless’ board of directors to implement a process to solicit proposals regarding the sale of the company, and the Japanese telecommunications giant may submit an acquisition proposal to acquire the remaining shares of AT&T Wireless. DoCoMo added that it entered into the agreement to preserve a “broad set of options and has not made any decision to make any proposal to AT&T Wireless at this time.” … Read More
Nokia’s N.A. dominance may be at risk
The reverberations from a mega-merger involving AT&T Wireless Services Inc. could easily spark repercussions in Illinois, Finland, South Korea and a number of other mobile-phone hot spots. The creation of a new wireless powerhouse in the United States might affect the fortunes of Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and the rest of the mobile-phone industry. If AT&T Wireless were to merge with Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Vodafone Group plc, NTT DoCoMo Inc. or any of its other rumored suitors, the newly formed carrier would have a major new impact on the mobile-phone landscape in the United States. The more subscribers a carrier has, the more control it can exert over its handset providers. Thus, a new player in the U.S. market could easily propel Nokia to the top of the market, or just as easily do the same to Samsung. … Read More
Tower players to suffer only in short-term
The sale of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. is unlikely to have a long-term negative effect on the tower industry, according to tower companies and analysts in the space, who this week applauded strong 2004 tower-build expectations released by AWS and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. Cingular said it added 750 new cell sites during the fourth quarter 2003, vs. the 1,000 it added during the first three quarters combined, and said it plans to maintain an accelerated buildout pace during 2004. Meanwhile, AT&T Wireless said it plans to increase its capital expenditures 7 percent, to $3.3 billion, in 2004. … Read More
Nortel discusses $2B divesture with Flextronics
Nortel Networks Ltd. is in talks to divest most of its major operations, including factories and supply chains, to Flextronics Inc., a contract electronics manufacturer. If the talks materialize, it may lead to a major loss of up to 2,500 jobs. “This proposed transaction would solidify Flextronics as the leader in the infrastructure market,” said Michael E. Marks, chief executive officer of Flextronics. “The significant increase of complex, multi-technology network solutions, including carrier-grade products, would accomplish a long-standing company initiative to better balance our product mix and reduce seasonality.” … Read More
Life (mostly) good for handset makers
Most of the world’s top mobile-phone makers celebrated major fourth-quarter victories, with record numbers of shipments and revenues boosted by the holiday season, but those in the industry expect the real action is still yet to come. “There haven’t been a lot of surprises,” said Ben Wood, handset analyst for research and consulting firm Gartner Inc. The industry’s quarterly results “reflected the end of a good year,” said John Jackson, a wireless and mobile technology analyst for research and consulting firm Yankee Group. … Read More
After fits and starts, OnStar finds profitability
Chet Huber is selling safety, security and peace of mind. And, he says, people are buying. Huber, president of General Motors’ telematics company OnStar Corp., offers up plenty of evidence for his claim: a total of 2.5 million paying customers, renewal rates above 50 percent and-perhaps most importantly-financial profitability. “The way this is being positioned is not as a substitute for mobile phones,” he said. “This is a `peace of mind’ positioning.” There is no doubt about OnStar’s position in the telematics industry. The company is far and away the world’s leader, and for eight years it has been at the forefront of telematics advances. But predictions of imminent doom have long plagued OnStar, rumors that intensified after the demise of Wingcast, the telematics venture of Ford Motor Co. and Qualcomm Inc. Huber quickly dismisses such concerns, but he also admits the company has faced its share of challenges. … Read More
Sprint extends billing options to third parties
To Internet or not to Internet is the question. Some carriers have embraced the idea of selling wireless content over third-party Internet sites, while others have steadfastly rejected it. Content providers like Walt Disney Internet Group are clamoring for the technology in hopes that it will spur sales, but the strategic issues surrounding such a capability so far remain unresolved. The issue is being played out at Sprint PCS, which recently decided to extend its billing-on-behalf-of service to Internet sites run by its content partners. Thus, Disney soon will be able to sell ring tones and graphics directly from its DisneyMobile.com Internet site and have the payments billed directly to buyers’ Sprint accounts. The technology means DisneyMobile.com will no longer have to give users detailed and complicated directions on how find Disney content using the WAP browser on their Sprint phones. Instead, Disney fans simply can enter their Sprint phone numbers and passwords on DisneyMobile.com to have the content sent directly to their phones. The cost of the content will show up on their Sprint monthly billing statements. … Read More
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