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!
Russian carrier intrigues
MOSCOW—The Norwegian Telenor is going to sell two of its Russian subsidiaries, and the second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom, in which Telenor holds a major stake, is the most likely buyer. Telenor is planning to sell its 49-percent stakes in Extel from the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and in Stavtelesot from the southern Stavropol region of Russia. Both carriers operate GSM 900/1800 MHz networks and have 64,000 and 84,000 subscribers respectively. “We see our assets either integrated with Vimpelcom or outside Telenor altogether,” said Joran Olson, head of Telenor’s Russian office, adding that the deal is likely to be completed by the end of the year. Market experts estimate Extel at US$20 million to US$25 million and Stavtelesot at US$25 million and US$30 million. The Vedomosti newspaper believes Vimpelcom may be interested in Extel, as its major competitor Mobile Telesystems (MTS) will soon launch a network in the Russian enclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. … Read more
GPRS launches going strong …
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Telecom Personal commercially introduced its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network, provided by Ericsson, in the city of Buenos Aires, becoming the first provider in Argentina with 2.5-generation (2.5G) services. In January, the cellular operator surprised the market by launching a GSM network in the city for the first time … Read more
WINNIPEG, Manitoba—Rogers AT&T Wireless completed the installation of its GSM/GPRS network across Manitoba’s entire coverage area. … Read more
But U.K. consumers are slow to adopt
OXFORD, United Kingdom—According to one of the United Kingdom’s largest cell-phone retailers, Carphone Warehouse, less than 1 percent of the 170,000 customers that purchased General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) phones signed up for the high-speed service. The company said that while GPRS phones made up about 20 percent of its handset sales, only about 200 people had activated the service. In what is reminiscent of the early days of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), operators are struggling to find appropriate applications that will stimulate interest in GPRS—a situation not being helped by reports that the high-speed data rates of up to 155 kilobits per second (kbps) promised by the developers more typically operate at less than 28.8 kbps. … Read more
Telia gets out of paging …
STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Sweden’s Telia Mobile announced that it transfered its Minicall paging service to Generic Mobile Systems, which will begin running the service. Telia said it is part of the operator’s streamlining efforts. … Read more
…While NTT gets into Wi-Fi
TOKYO—NTT Communications, a long-distance and international business unit of the NTT Group, announced that it will launch wireless local area network (WLAN) service on 15 May at 1,600 yen (US$12.46) a month. The carrier is planning to open 1,000 “hot spots,” where users can enjoy the high-speed data communications services by the end of March 2003. According to NTT Communications, the service, named Hot Spot, is the world’s first service based on both IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11a … Read more
HP leadership goes to court Compaq
WILMINGTON, Del.—Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer Carly Fiorina spent part of this week on the stand in court defending her company’s actions in its planned acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. Fiorina and HP’s Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman repeatedly rejected suggestions that HP embellished financial prospects of the proposed merger to sway investors. HP board member Walter Hewlett took HP to court shortly after the shareholder vote by HP … Read more
Do you miss wireless plans like these?
REDMOND, Wash.—AT&T Wireless quietly introduced new nationwide calling plans designed to compete head-to-head with similar recently introduced plans from its competition. The plans, dubbed “National Network Plan” on the company’s Web site, begin at $35 per month for 300 anytime minutes and unlimited night and weekend minutes. Additional airtime is billed at 40 cents per minute with roaming calls made outside of AT&T Wireless’ TDMA network charged an additional 69 cents per minute and off network long distance charged 20 cents per minute. Calls made on the carrier’s recently rolled-out GSM/GPRS network are considered roaming calls under the new plans. … Read more
AT&T bags 650,000 net adds
REDMOND, Wash.—AT&T Wireless Services Inc. added 650,000 net subscribers during the first quarter of this year, exceeding both company and analyst expectations of around 550,000 net additions. The carrier ended the quarter with 19.5 million customers including those acquired through its purchase of TeleCorp PCS Inc. Including its other affiliates, AT&T Wireless served 21.4 million customers. Average revenue per user was reported at $58.60, in line with estimates, with monthly customer churn of 2.6 percent coming in just below estimates of 2.7 percent. … Read more
Verizon has a rough quarter but still lands 186K net new subs
Editor’s note: For comparison, check out Verizon’s first quarter 2018 results here.
NEW YORK—Verizon Wireless reported 186,000 net customer additions for the first quarter of this year compared with 518,000 subscriber additions for the first quarter of last year. The carrier noted that while it added 452,000 retail subscribers this year, the total net additions were offset by the loss of 266,000 reseller customers as part of its focus on retail sales channels. Customer churn, including prepaid, dropped from 2.9 percent last year to 2.6 percent this year. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
