UbiquiTel Inc. touted its solid fourth-quarter results last week and company officials spoke of future plans for a prepaid product and possible benefits from Sprint Nextel Corp.'s joint venture with several cable companies-even though analysts expect that the Sprint Nextel CDMA affiliate will be...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Boost Mobile and wholesale channels did much of the carrier's heavy lifting in the fourth quarter, helping propel the carrier to 2 million net customer additions. The numbers put Sprint Nextel, technically, on equal footing with Verizon Wireless' record-breaking net adds,...
RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp.’s earnings took a hit from merger-related expenses, but the company’s wireless segment stepped into the limelight with 2 million net additional customers, tying a record performance by Verizon Wireless and outshining Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s 1.8 million net adds.The top three...
Postpaid customers may take for granted their ability to outfit their phones with jazzy ring tones, flashy wallpaper and nifty games, but prepaid customers historically haven't been offered those luxuries. Increasingly, however, prepaid services are beginning to include a wider selection of downloads and...
Crown Castle International Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. are placing huge bets on mobile TV, spending a combined $1.3 billion to build networks dedicated almost entirely to one-way wireless video. Traditional TV networks and film studios are hastily establishing divisions to produce content for "the...
Tier 1 operators are beginning to use retail outlets to build long-term customer relationships and generate revenues from lucrative data applications. But when it comes to the brick-and-mortar sales counter, the wireless consumer is still very much up for grabs. While the wireless industry...
Mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile Inc. last week made its long-awaited and much-hyped soft launch. The carrier is offering a range of postpaid calling services, including an unlimited calling option and push-to-talk capabilities, as well as a trio of CDMA2000 1x EV-DO handsets....
LOS ANGELES-Brightpoint Inc. announced an agreement to distribute products for mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile Inc. The Indiana-based distributor of phones and accessories will perform inventory management, product fulfillment and distribution, returns management and credit services for Amp'd, which is slated to launch...
IRVINE, Calif.-Boost Mobile said it is offering a photo-sharing service known as Boost Snaps for a monthly fee of $3 plus printing charges. "What good is taking pictures on a mobile phone if there are only limited ways to share them? With Boost Snaps,...
The potential breadth of the mobile virtual network operator model was evident last week as a pair of companies reported plans to enter the wireless space with services spanning the gamut from the loftiest of the high end to entry-level prepaid services. Seeking to...
PHOENIX-Circle K Stores Inc. joined the prepaid wireless space with the launch of its Talk-and-Go Mobile service that offers no-contract, prepaid calling services using Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s GSM network. Circle K said the service, which is powered by mobile virtual network enabler Ztar Mobile Inc., uses...
IRVINE, Calif.-Boost Mobile L.L.C. launched a downloadable client that allows AOL, MSN and Yahoo instant messaging (IM) users to access the services from their handset.Montreal-based mobile IM developer Oz is powering the service, which is designed to duplicate the PC messaging experience from each...
Verizon Wireless continued to dominate its competitors during the third quarter by adding more than 1.9 million net customers. The strong growth was a 15-percent improvement on the 1.7 million the carrier added last year and handily trumped the 969,000 direct customers added by...
RESTON, Va.-Sprint Nextel Corp. said it added 1.272 million total customers to its network during the third quarter, which was in line with guidance it provided late last month, but below the 1.697 million pro forma customers added by Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications...
Expectations for a strong third quarter got off to a rocky start as early reports from three of the industry's five largest operators have shown customer growth falling short of the previous year and analysts estimates. Reigning heavyweight Cingular Wireless L.L.C. missed reduced expectations...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Samsung Telecommunications America and Verizon Wireless launched the SCH-a950 handset, a music-centric phone that includes an MP3 player and dual stereo speakers. The phone accommodates a TransFlash memory card that fits into the handset's expandable memory slot for storing songs. Phone users can...
Much of the wireless industry's strong subscriber growth over the past several quarters has been attributed to carriers' ability to target customer segments that had previously been unable to qualify for service using either prepaid or family plans. Some analysts have attributed up to...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Samsung Telecommunications America and Verizon Wireless launched the SCH-a950 handset, a music-centric phone that includes an MP3 player and dual stereo speakers.The phone accommodates a TransFlash memory card that fits into the handset's expandable memory slot for storing songs. Phone users can press...
Prepaid services are continuing their march up the feature-rich ladder with an increasing number of operators beginning to offer wireless Web browsing services to their noncontract subscribers. Many operators offer basic text messaging or even more advanced access to downloadable content to their prepaid...
IRVINE, Calif.-Boost Mobile unveiled its latest phone for the youth market, the glossy black i835 from Motorola Inc. The phone features Boost's Walkie-Talkie service and support for multimedia messaging and downloadable Java applications. It will sell for $175."The black i835 handset makes a bold...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s youth-oriented prepaid service Boost Mobile L.L.C. unveiled its Boost Premium Plan hybrid plan that combines the no-contract or credit check features of its traditional prepaid service with the reduced per-minute pricing and unlimited extras of contract calling plans.Boost said the new...
SAN FRANCISCO-Several highly anticipated mobile virtual network operators last week revealed plans to begin rolling out services in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season. One of the biggest names in the burgeoning space, ESPN Inc., said it plans to begin offering its sports-themed...
Amp'd Mobile Inc. and Disney both offered details this week about their upcoming mobile virtual network operator services. Amp'd Mobile said it's on track for a pre-holiday service launch of its MVNO service that will target the increasingly attractive youth/young adult market and rely...
Leap Wireless International Inc.'s service expansion continues, as the carrier announced plans to launch high-speed wireless data capabilities and WAP-based browsing. The carrier also plans to loosen the rein on its Jump prepaid service to better target the youth demographic. Leap's high-speed wireless data...
