NEW YORK-Sprint PCS affiliate US Unwired Inc. squeaked through its initial public offering May 18, pricing its 8-million-share deal at $11 each, $2 below the low end of the expected range of $13-$15.Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. was lead underwriter for the Nasdaq-listed...
CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Alltel launched a new nationwide rate plan in its mid-Atlantic markets allowing its customers to use digital wireless phones anywhere and at any time for one flat rate without any roaming and long-distance charges.The new plan dubbed "Total Freedom," began in the company's...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. will offer customers in its Southwest region digital markets national wireless rate plans that eliminate all roaming and long-distance charges.Alltel's Total Freedom coverage area will include all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the company reported.The new plan is...
WASHINGTON-A divided federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled wireless carriers and Internet firms do not have the same right as other telecom service providers to access utility poles on a nondiscriminatory basis-an unexpected decision that could hurt mobile-phone antenna siting and the rollout of...
NEW YORK-Bell Atlantic Corp. increased adjusted net income for the first quarter by 10 percent to $1.3 billion from $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 1999.The company also reported adjusted earnings per diluted share rose to 80 cents per share in this year's...
Editor's Note: The companies listed below represent the 20 largest cellular carriers in the United States. Company rankings are based on the total number of subscribers for their majority-held or controlled markets. All subscriber numbers reflect year-end 1999 figures reported by each company.Triton Cellular Partners...
NEW YORK-The Federal Communications Commission 700 MHz auctions in May will be "a significant industry-transforming event and near-term catalyst ... in the race toward wireless data," John Bensche, senior analyst for Lehman Brothers Inc., said.Bidding teams could well include Internet service and content providers,...
NEW YORK-Rural carriers, many of which began as landline providers, already have experienced a long learning curve in service bundling-a current hot topic in the telecommunications industry.No doubt they face challenges posed by downward pressures on roaming revenues and increased competition in their territories....
Rural cellular carriers have been reaping generous roaming revenues from nationwide operators since the advent of one-rate plans, but investors in recent weeks have been concerned that this trend is slowing.Rural cellular stocks, which recorded spectacular gains in 1999, have taken a hit since...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel announced it formed five operating regional headquarters as part of a deal announced Feb. 1 calling for Alltel to exchange wireless properties in 13 states with Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. The transactions are expected to close by mid-year."Each of...
NEW YORK-Bell Atlantic Corp., GTE Corp. and Alltel Corp. signed an agreement last week to exchange wireless interests in 13 states, eliminating the overlapping cellular properties that would result from the combination of Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch plc, announced Sept. 21, the companies...
LOUISVILLE, Colo. - The Federal Communications Commission approved seven additional cellular carriers to use AirCell Inc.'s air-to-ground communications system, which is targeted at general aviation aircraft and regional airlines."We are very pleased with the latest round of authorizations," Jim Stinehelfer, president and chief executive...
Several important wireless markets will be up for grabs during the next year-a result of overlapping wireless markets created by the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. with GTE Corp. as well as Bell Atlantic's agreement to merge its wireless assets with those of Vodafone...
NEW YORK-Landline replacement, the Holy Grail of wireless telephony, received a boost from an array of forces unleashed simultaneously into the communications environment.This is not a high-stakes game of winner takes all, however. Telecommunications providers are learning more about how best to exploit the...
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-Alltel said it is offering free unlimited incoming calls for its Jacksonville, Fla., personal communications services customers, adding four new wireless plans that range from $46 per month for 400 minutes, to $150 per month for 2,000 minutes."This is not a temporary promotion...
NEW YORK-Illuminet Holdings Inc., which calls itself the largest unaffiliated Signaling System 7 network provider in the country, plans an initial public offering of 3.9 million shares priced between $14.50 and $16.50 each.Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, New York, is lead underwriter for the proposed...
NEW YORK-The Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce is engaged in a monumental juggling act with significant implications for levies on telecommunications in general, judging by comments at its two-day hearing last week.Charged by Congress with recommending whether and how Internet transactions should be taxed,...
NEW YORK-As the Internet accelerates the globalization of telecommunications, mergers and acquisitions among traditional and nontraditional players have eclipsed initial public offerings as the preferred strategy for retaining competitive advantage."In the United States, the Internet economy generated $301 billion in 1998 and will generate...
DALLAS-Alltel Corp. said it selected National Telemanagement Corp.'s SmartPay billing system for its prepaid wireless product in all 174 Alltel markets."SmartPay is a simple to use billing solution that works with any standard handset," said Bill Seelie, vice president of sales for NTC. "And...
Personal communications services carriers can be credited with spurring huge demand for wireless service, but they continue to struggle with brand awareness and perceptions customers have about coverage."It's a brand game and a consumer-marketing game," said Andrew Sukawaty, president of nationwide carrier Sprint PCS,...
NEW YORK-Since the launch of carrier competition in the duopoly wireless market, third-party distributors have had to work hard to manage increasingly complex distribution issues. Carriers, meanwhile, are dealing with this same level of complexity-trying to improve sales processes for existing distribution channels while...
TeleCorp PCSTeleCorp PCS Inc. hired Raul Burgos as vice president and general manager of its Puerto Rican operations. He most recently served as general manager and vice president of operations for Nextel International Inc. in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a 10-year veteran of...
Alltel Corp. said it signed an integration agreement with Intecom Systems under which Alltel Information Systems will fully integrate Intecom's applications into its customer-care and billing system to provide converged billing, complete billing analysis and full multimedia reporting functionality to the customers of communications...
