Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. CEO Michael Prior thinks there is still a niche for smaller wireless carriers to compete against national players in rural areas. As such, AtlanticTele-Network plans to continue the innovation that was a hallmark of wireless provider Alltel once ATN closes on...
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands-Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. is putting the finishing touches on its merger with Comnet Wireless LLC., paying about $59 million to complete the acquisition of 95 percent of Comnet.ATN said it paid $12 million in cash and borrowed $47 million to...
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands-Telecommunications company Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. signed an agreement to add Commnet Wireless L.L.C. to its line-up of telecommunications holdings in a cash deal worth $59 million."As our stockholders know, we have been looking for opportunities to acquire attractive telecom operating...
MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. showed its prowess in two third-generation technologies through two contract announcements, one for CDMA2000 1x EV-DO and the other for UMTS equipment.In its DO announcement, Lucent said Bermuda Digital Communications will deploy its solution by upgrading its CDMA2000 1X...
BURR RIDGE, Ill.—Commnet Wireless said its company has been restructured into two separate corporate entities.Commnet Supply L.L.C. will focus on wireless infrastructure distribution and Commnet Wireless Inc. will focus on building and operating rural cellular and personal communications services markets. Both companies will continue...
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 discriminatory patchwork of state and local taxes on telecommunications carriers imposes a roadblock to providers of the highways over which all Internet traffic travels, according to recent testimony before a federal commission.To remedy that disparity and confusion, the vice chairman of the...
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,...
More than 660,000 U.S. and Canadian customers subscribed to GSM wireless service in the second quarter of 1999, according to the North American GSM Alliance. This brings the total number of GSM customers in North America to 4.2 million.CanadaBell Canada announced plans to purchase...
The industry has seen AT&T Wireless Services Inc. pick up smaller cellular carriers in order to fill in gaps and avoid paying high roaming fees, and Vodafone AirTouch plc's acquisition of rural cellular carrier CommNet Cellular Inc. indicates other carriers are feeling the roaming-fee...
Yet another study has been done on the merits of reselling wireless service. This one, conducted by Professor John Mayor of the Georgetown University School of Business, Mark Burton of Marshall University and David Kaserman of Auburn University, concludes that reselling wireless services contributes...
Iridium L.L.C. announced the deadline for meeting certain customer and revenue thresholds, under the financial covenants of its $800 million senior secured credit facility, has been extended to Aug. 11.This marks the third extension of the deadline, originally set for March 31, first postponed...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Wireless Foundation hosted its annual Industry Achievement Awards Dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C.The dinner brought together key leaders in the wireless industry along with members of Congress and government officials to honor...
Dear Editor: In the March 15 article in RCR, "SMR's juggle multiple trade group memberships," you write that "Three trade associations, all based in the Washington, D.C., area, purport to represent the SMR industry: the American Mobile Telecommunications Association, the Personal Communications Industry Association and 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,"...
MarketwaveRichard Bryan is the new senior vice president of sales and marketing at Marketwave Corp. Bryan previously worked for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as its vice president of sales and marketing, in charge of staff, national accounts and retail sales.Kansas CellularKansas Cellular announced several...
Second-tier wireless companies are hot properties, helping to push wireless stock prices past the Standard &Poor's index.Centennial Cellular Corp. earlier this month became the third second-tier cellular carrier to be bought by an investment firm when New York-based Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe agreed...
Northern Telecom Ltd. and Matra Communication launched a joint-venture subsidiary in France. Matra Nortel Communications will provide French customers with one-stop access to a range of integrated solutions, including multimedia products, said the companies. The company is expected to begin operations in May once...
The recent merger activity involving second-tier cellular companies has touched off speculation about which companies may be next to tie the knot.Alltel Corp. and 3600 Communications Co. last week announced they will merge in a transaction valued at more than $6 billion. Just a...
DENVER-Daniels & Associates, an investment banking and financial services company specializing in media and telecommunications, announced its telecommunications group completed 20 transactions during 1997, including 15 mergers and acquisitions and five other engagements, valued at $907 million.The Daniels telecom group is a specialized team...
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.-CommNet Cellular Inc. announced it has closed the merger with AV Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of The Blackstone Group's Blackstone Capital Partners II Merchant Banking Fund L.P.AV purchased an 87-percent interest in CommNet for about $142 million of new equity. The transaction is...
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.-CommNet Cellular Inc. announced that its shareholders last week voted to approve the merger of AV Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Blackstone CCI Capital Partners L.P., with and into CommNet.The merger is expected to be consummated shortly after all conditions have been satisfied,...
The whisper on Wall Street is turning into a roar.Suddenly, telecom stocks are "hot" again, springing back to life in recent weeks following a painful and prolonged two-year slump.Telecom stocks-Wall Street darlings during the early 1990s-had been taking something of a beating the past...
