NEW YORK-Martin Fridson, managing director of Merrill Lynch & Co., called this year one of "difficult times" for high-yield bonds, a period characterized by "declining liquidity in the secondary (trading) market."Elizabeth Mackay, investment strategist for Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., called the status of...
Sprint PCS announced better-than-expected results in customer growth, revenues and cash-flow losses for the first quarter and released some long-awaited information about customers using its wireless Web offering.The nationwide personal communications services carrier said it added 831,000 net subscribers, ending the quarter with about...
Amid a market of as-yet unseen volatility, two wireless Internet content firms commenced with initial public offerings last week that so far have enjoyed moderate degrees of success.First to emerge was i3 Mobile Inc., formerly Intelligent Information Inc. The company aggregates Internet-based content like...
VoiceStream Wireless Corp. announced plans to invest in Canadian Global System for Mobile communications operator Microcell Telecommunications Inc., a move that sets the stage for a seamless North American footprint.VoiceStream will invest $275 million to purchase 9.59 million newly issued Class A shares of...
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...
NEW YORK-Extraterrestrial wireless received good news when Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. sold a $245 million secondary stock offering Jan. 26.In preparation for Globalstar Telecommunications' secondary offering last week, Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and chief executive officer, took an unusual step the prior weekend to test...
New sales records of all kinds were set during last year's fourth quarter, reinforcing the importance of the last three months of the year for the wireless industry."In the cellular market, the battle for market share is won and lost in the fourth quarter,...
The Canadian wireless market has seen a run-up in stock prices this year as tremendous growth and recent consolidation activity have driven increased interest in the sector."1998 was not a bad year, but it was a little wishy-washy," said George Karidis, director of research...
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...
NEW YORK-Because of the burgeoning demand for data communications in the United States, wireless local access is emerging from the shadows of its mobile brethren and coming into its own as a bona fide business opportunity."There is tremendous enthusiasm for data, and the enthusiasm...
Powertel Inc.'s stock tumbled nearly $12 last week after VoiceStream Wireless Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Stanton said his company has no immediate plans to acquire any more GSM operators in the United States.Powertel's stock had been riding in the $68 range on merger...
NEW ORLEANS-The bankruptcies of certain C-block and mobile satellite companies, coupled with mutual fund outflows, rising interest rates and other macro-economic trends, have aligned like planets in a bad omen for wireless companies that cannot get financing before Halloween.This year, there remains a window...
The economy is rolling along, wireless subscriber additions are climbing and merger and acquisition activity is heating up.This is good news for the personal communications services industry, which last year found itself suffering from tight financing and a general underperformance in small capitalized stocks....
Poor financial results continue to plague personal communications services operator Aerial Communications Inc., and its spinoff from parent company, Telephone and Data Systems Inc., is moving slower than anticipated. Analysts believe TDS may be better off selling the company.Aerial Communications Inc. added just 15,000...
NEW YORK-It is true billions of people have never made a phone call, but that fact is worthless in determining actual demand for mobile satellite telephony services, according to Larry Alletto, senior managing director of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc."Far more important are the...
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. announced its subsidiary, Dolphin Telecom plc, closed an offering of $295 million of 14-percent senior discount notes due 2009.The net proceeds were approximately $144 million, and interest payments will begin in 2004. The proceeds will be used to finance the...
WASHINGTON-MCI WorldCom Inc. last week halted talks to buy Nextel Communications Inc. after succumbing to differences over price, putting shares of the No. 2 long-distance telephone company and the last independent national wireless operator on a wild roller-coaster ride for weeks.Some Wall Street analysts...
NEW YORK-A new pricing study released by Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. indicates U.S. mobile phone carriers battled it out for high-end wireless customers in 1998.Prices did not fall as quickly in 1998 as they did the previous year, indicated David Freedman, wireless analyst...
NEW YORK-Carriers, resellers and handset makers involved in domestic prepaid wireless services have much in common with ancient mariners navigating the narrow Straits of Messina where the mythical monsters of Scylla and Charybdis threatened them on either shore."Carriers recognize there is something to this...
A new pricing study released by Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. indicates U.S. mobile phone carriers battled it out for high-end wireless customers in 1998.Prices did not fall as quickly in 1998 as they did the previous year, indicated David Freedman, wireless analyst with...
NEW YORK-Television programming often can be as good a barometer as hard numbers about trends that are hot, and so it is with the wireless tower industry.In a recent "The Simpsons," cartoon character Homer Simpson rented cell site space on his rooftop to the...
Intelligent roaming is guaranteed to change the face of the wireless industry, and smaller carriers that have built their businesses on making money from roaming better pay attention, say experts."Intelligent roaming opens up competition, and will require carriers to work hard for roaming minutes,"...
U.S. Global System for Mobile communications carriers took a financial beating in 1998, but analysts expect 1999 to look brighter for these carriers as they look to butter up their bottom lines and find strategic partners.Tight financing, high churn levels and a general under-performance...
The fourth quarter of 1998 marked both highs and lows for the various carriers that make up the paging industry, with companies meeting both significant milestones and facing continued challenges.Perhaps deserving of the most attention are SkyTel Communications Inc. and Paging Network Inc., although...
