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 those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Oracle eyes all-IP with Acme Packet acquisition
Oracle agreed to acquire Acme Packet, which makes network solutions to deliver voice, video, data and unified communications services and applications across IP networks. Under the agreement, Oracle will pay $29.25 per share in cash representing a fully diluted equity value of $2.1 billion. Net of cash this represents an enterprise value of $1.7 billion. Dana Cooperson, principal analyst at Ovum, believes the acquisition should strengthen Oracle’s hand both with enterprises and carriers by giving it a more central role in controlling and improving how devices and subscribers interact and communicate. Following the acquisition, Oracle expects to accelerate the migration to all-IP networks by enabling secure and reliable communications from any device, across any network. Combined, the companies aim to address service providers and enterprises’ needs. … Read more
Clearwire weighs its options, leans toward Sprint
Clearwire appears to be leaning towards an outright acquisition by current parent company Sprint Nextel, though noted that it was still reviewing options. The update was provided as part of a proxy statement filed by Clearwire with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Clearwire today announced that it has filed a preliminary proxy statement in connection with its definitive agreement with Sprint Nextel Corporation for Sprint to acquire the approximately 50% stake in Clearwire that it does not already own for $2.97 per share,” Clearwire noted in a statement. Clearwire in mid-December accepted an offer that would have Sprint Nextel acquire the remaining 50% of the company it does not currently control for approximately $2.2 billion. That deal followed an offer by Japan’s Softbank to acquire a 70% stake in Sprint Nextel for $20.1 billion, which Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse said was necessary in order to put in the offer on Clearwire. However, that proposal was usurped last month by an offer from Dish Networks to “acquire up to all of Clearwire’s common stock for $3.30 per share (subject to minimum ownership of at least 25% and granting of certain governance rights) and provide Clearwire with financing on specified terms.” The offer also calls for Dish to acquire approximately 24% of Clearwire’s total megahertz/pops of spectrum for $2.2 billion and would provide Dish with the option to acquire or lease up to an additional 2 megahertz of spectrum adjacent to the spectrum being acquired at an additional cost. … Read more
Android surges amid flat mobile phone growth
As mobile phone users around the world upgrade to smartphones, they are overwhelmingly choosing Android. Google’s operating system was installed on more than one-third of all mobile phones that shipped last quarter, and on more than two-thirds of all smartphones. Research firm Canalys estimates that 438 million mobile phones shipped during the fourth quarter of 2012, roughly the same number as in the year-ago quarter. But a much larger portion of those were smartphones – 216.5 million or just under 50% of the total. Canalsys says Q4 smartphone shipments were up 37% from the year-ago quarter. The numbers from Canalys are very close to those released last month by IDC, which estimated total Q4 smartphone shipments at 219.4 million. Both firms ranked Samsung as the market leader with roughly 63 million smartphones shipped. (Samsung does not publicly report shipment numbers for its mobile devices.) Apple is of course the No. 2 vendor in the worldwide smartphone market; the company said last month that it shipped 47.8 million iPhones last quarter. In the United States, Apple remains the leading smartphone vendor with more than one-third of the market by some estimates. … Read more
Opensignal assesses the state of LTE
Tapping into the increasing consumer mindset to share information, as well as the possibilities brought about by smartphones and Google’s Android operating system, United Kingdom-based startup OpenSignal released statistics from its smartphone app showing the growing breadth and depth of LTE networks around the world. Using information gleaned from its Android application across more than three million smartphones, OpenSignal claims that LTE networks are now available in 62 countries around the globe. That data also showed the vast disparity in speeds consumers are receiving from such networks. OpenSignal’s data showed that Swedish LTE operators provided the fastest speeds to consumers, with average download throughput of 22.1 megabits per second. Hong Kong was No. 2 in speeds with an average download throughput of 19.6 Mbps, followed closely by Denmark with 19.1 Mbps. Denmark was home to the fastest single operator, with 3 in that country posting average download speeds of 25.1 Mbps. Of the nine countries compared, the United States came in at No. 8 with average download speeds of 9.6 Mbps. Of the domestic operators providing LTE services, AT&T Mobility posted the fastest speeds with average download throughput of 13 Mbps. … Read more
T-Mobile US revs up
T-Mobile USA’s comeback from its 2011 abyss continues as the carrier’s plan to reinvigorate the industry’s competitive landscape is in full flight. Those efforts have also spilled over to its enterprise offerings, where the carrier is looking to build on the foundation laid in 2012. T-Mobile USA rolled out its plans for the enterprise market at last year’s CTIA event in New Orleans, where the carrier found itself under represented. That conclusion was drawn from the fact that the carrier said it had about 12% of the domestic wireless business, but just 5% of the enterprise ¬market. Helping to propel the continued focus is the support T-Mobile USA received late last year from parent company Deutsche Telekom. Following a failed attempt to unload T-Mobile USA onto AT&T in 2011 for $39 billion, DT decided to re-double its efforts in gaining market share in the competitive domestic space. The carrier came out in early 2012 with a network enhancement plan that included the rollout of LTE services, a move that was bolstered by the spectrum assets it gained from AT&T following the collapse of that deal. DT then looked to further infuse T-Mobile USA’s spectrum portfolio late last year with a proposed deal to acquire MetroPCS that will see DT trim its ownership of the T-Mobile USA to 74%. Frank Sickinger, head of business sales at T-Mobile USA, reiterated the importance of the MetroPCS deal in providing the carrier with the spectrum assets needed to bolster its LTE plans. … Read more
Rumor mill: Apple might make a watch
Reports that Apple (AAPL) is preparing to launch a Bluetooth wrist watch picked up steam over the weekend, as sources in Cupertino and Taiwan both spoke to the U.S. press about work on wearable smart devices. The Apple smart watch rumor surfaced in December when a Chinese news source reported that Apple was working on such a device with Intel (INTC). A win with an Apple mobile device would be a coup for the world’s largest chipmaker. Intel started supplying chipsets for Apple’s Macintosh computers about 7 years ago, but Apple has relied on ARM-based technology for the iPhone and iPad. Now ARM and Intel are in a race to create the world’s smallest mobile processor, with Intel promising a 22nm chip this year, and ARM aiming for 14nm in a partnership with IBM (IBM). Corning (GLW) could be another beneficiary of an Apple wristwatch. The company’s bendable Willow Glass is a logical choice for a smart watch, and Corning already has a relationship with Apple as the glass supplier for the iPhone. Apple is not commenting on the wristwatch reports, but there are several reasons to think they hold credence. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
