Following several quarters of year-over-year customer growth, the wireless industry's nationwide operators could be set for a softer third quarter. Customer additions are expected to fall just short of the nearly 5 million customers added last year and below the 5.2 million added during...
Sprint Nextel Corp. released preliminary third-quarter customer growth results below many analysts' estimates, but noted that its integration efforts are ahead of schedule and raised the net present value of expected merger synergies.Sprint Nextel said it expects to post 1.2 million total net customer...
Verizon Wireless is on track to post another record quarter of net additions driven by back-to-school and family-plan additions, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. Based on more than 80 store visits in five markets, the firm said it raised its third-quarter net...
Verizon Wireless announced it will support phones that include MP3 players. The news comes a day ahead of the likely unveiling of Motorola Inc.'s iTunes-capable phone. Verizon said three of its newly released Vcast phones will include digital music players. UTStarcom Inc.'s CDM-8940 and...
Wireless operators rank among the most prolific advertisers in the business world. The wireless industry spent $692 million on advertising during the first quarter, a 17.7-percent increase from the $588 million the industry spent during the first quarter of 2004, according to Nielsen Media...
Bolstered by a relatively speedy and uneventful approval process and a new ticker symbol that began trading on the New York Stock Exchange last week, Sprint Nextel Corp. said it is in position to become a differentiated wireless provider focused on providing advanced services...
Nearly 80 percent of wireless shoppers said they prefer to use cell-phone company Web sites to compare plans and products compared with visiting retail stores for such comparisons, according to a study conducted by Keynote Systems Inc.The study noted that in terms of mainstream...
IRVINE, Calif.-Boost Mobile users can exchange e-mails, instant messages, pictures and profiles with like-minded subscribers under a new localized community application.The mobile virtual network operator launched Boost Hookt, which allows users to connect with each other based on geography and similar interests. The service,...
The second-quarter earnings race got off to a relatively solid start as Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Nextel Communications Inc. posted financials largely in line with Wall Street expectations. The results-coupled with those from the handset and infrastructure markets-served to underpin predictions of continued growth...
Nextel Communications Inc. scored a strong farewell quarter as the carrier prepares to be acquired by Sprint Corp. Nextel recorded customer additions and earnings per share ahead of most expectations. The company's stock was up slightly after the news to about $32.53 per share."Second-quarter...
The coming surge of mobile virtual network operators will target virtually every demographic, from ethnic groups to sports fans to rural users. But no group of consumers is being courted as much as America's youth. As wireless enters the multimedia era, the market of...
Investment banking firm Merrill Lynch said it expects the continued strong growth of family plans to drive the wireless industry's five nationwide operators to post a 14.8-percent year-over-year improvement in net subscriber additions in the second quarter. The firm said it expects the carriers...
The industry's heavyweights are not the only wireless operators benefiting from the recent consumer surge. A handful of regional operators posted first-quarter results that included generally strong customer growth numbers as well as improving financial metrics. Western Wireless Corp.Posted a company record 58,600 domestic...
Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s tenure as the nation's fastest-growing wireless operator came to a screeching halt as Verizon Wireless took back the title it lost in 2004. Surpassing even the most optimistic forecasts, Verizon Wireless said it added 1.64 million subscribers during the first quarter,...
The MVNO wave is building strength as a growing number of companies have announced plans to enter the wireless space using established operators' mobile networks. Analysts' note that while the wave is gaining momentum, an even stronger surge is expected in the next 12...
Nextel Partners Inc. posted strong first-quarter results led by company-record 99,400 net customer additions, compared with the 88,800 customers the carrier signed up during the first quarter of 2004. Nextel Partners ended the first quarter of this year with more than 1.7 million total...
Nextel Communications Inc. said it added 810,000 customers during the first quarter of this year, including 496,000 customers through Nextel-branded services and 314,000 customers to its Boost Mobile prepaid offering. Analysts were expecting Nextel to add between 450,000 and 500,000 direct subscribers during the...
Few customer segments have drawn as much consternation from the wireless industry as prepaid subscribers. Non-contract customers have traditionally rewarded operators with lower revenue and higher churn rates when compared with postpaid subscribers and thus have been offered only token rate plans. But, with...
"We have run out of people (in the United States) who can pass a credit check and want a wireless phone," said Roger Entner, vice president of North American wireless telecommunications for research and consulting firm Ovum. With 182 million wireless subscribers in the...
The nation's big five operators are not about to slow down. Following a record-setting year in which the wireless industry added more than 22 million customers and surpassed 60-percent penetration, analysts expect the industry's largest operators to post more than 4.5 million net subscriber...
Fresh off its public launch at this year's CTIA event, soon-to-launch mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile Inc. reported several content and marketing sponsorship deals with a number of action sport athletes. The sponsored athletes include surfers Andy Irons, Bruce Irons and Sunny Garcia;...
The mobile virtual network operator market welcomed back one of its early members last week as former Boost Mobile L.L.C. executive Peter Adderton announced plans for Amp'd Mobile Inc., a venture set to launch later this year. Adderton's non-compete clause with Nextel Communications Inc,...
Infused with new leadership, Leap Wireless International Inc. announced plans to expand its offerings with the launch of its Jump by Cricket prepaid service, providing a true pay-as-you-go plan for customers. The new offering, which Leap hinted to late last year when it signed...
Sprint Corp. Chief Operating Officer Len Lauer said the company plans to hold some cash in reserve following its pending acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. to help fund additional requirements related to the deal or buy back stock. Lauer, speaking at Reuters Technology Summit,...
