According to media reports, Korean telecom giant SK Telecom may again be looking at purchasing beleagured carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. According to reports, SK Telecom and Providence Equity last year offered to invest $5 billion into Sprint Nextel at $18.60 per share on the...
Virgin Mobile USA's purchase of fellow MVNO Helio L.L.C. allows Virgin to evolve beyond its low-ARPU customers to higher-paying subscribers, as well as gain a sophisticated handset portfolio, improve its debt levels and cut a better deal with network operator Sprint Nextel Inc.Virgin Mobile...
A couple years ago, starting your very own mobile virtual network operations company was a sizzling hot idea and everybody was trying to cash in. But now, two years and a slue of MVNO closings later, the idea has fizzled. With the shut downs...
TEXTING. IF YOU HAD ASKED AMERICANS WHAT THAT WORD MEANT 15 years ago, most would have been short for words. Now the definition of texting, even though still not listed in some dictionaries, is embedded in our brains and the words are piling up....
Just when municipal Wi-Fi seems all but dead in one place, it crops up full steam ahead in another.Oklahoma City says it just turned on the largest city owned and operated municipal Wi-Fi mesh network in the world. The wireless mesh network covers 555...
It's been said that football is a game of inches, a description that might also be applied to the handset market. And, as in football, a team - in this case a pairing of Virgin Mobile USA Inc. with its first handset from Samsung...
Boost Mobile is hoping to boost sales with a line of new retail stores.The Sprint Nextel Corp. division opened outlets in Hialeah, Fla., Huntington, Calif., and Houston, offering customers and would-be customers an opportunity to explore Boost's offerings "in a hands-on, contemporary environment." The...
THE GROUND CONTINUED TO SHIFT in the tumultuous mobile virtual network operator space this month as one player announced plans to call it quits, another explores a potential merger and a third prepares to morph into a reseller of wireless services.Embarq Holding Co. L.L.C....
First, let me say I think Wi-Fi is the best thing since sliced bread. Really, I do. That being said, a number of announcements last week made me scratch my head as different companies try to attack the wireless broadband space. Come along for...
Following much speculation, Virgin Mobile USA Inc. confirmed today that it is in "preliminary discussions" with SK Telecom to "explore possible strategic opportunities." Those opportunities are expected to include a possible merging of Virgin Mobile USA and SK Telecom-controlled mobile virtual network operator Helio...
EarthLink Inc. announced it will be shutting down its municipal Wi-Fi network in Philadelphia in 30 days, handing yet another black mark to the once-burgeoning market for muni Wi-Fi.After months of negotiations, Earthlink said the parties involved couldn't even reach a deal to give...
Mobile virtual network operators Virgin Mobile USA Inc. and Helio L.L.C. have few things in common other than a subscriber base that operates on Sprint Nextel Corp.'s network. And yet the struggling companies are said to be in merger talks nonetheless, according to media...
America is the proverbial "melting pot," a nation of immigrants and their neighborhoods. With greater than 80% wireless penetration, everyone needs a mobile phone. Add the complexity of the shifting landscape from voice to advanced data services and you have a business proposition for...
Microsoft Corp. subsidiary TellMe said it added a GPS location feature to its voice portal to give BlackBerry users information about businesses, movies, traffic, weather, maps and driving directions. The "voice in, visual out" way of receiving information is useful to people who are...
Aloft Media L.L.C. has sued several wireless handset giants over alleged infringement of a patent for transferring contact information using a mobile phone. Aloft Media, based in Longview, Texas, names as defendants Nokia, Motorola Inc., Palm Inc. Research in Motion Ltd. and Sony Ericsson...
SK Telecom and Citi hope to push the mobile-banking envelope with a new, San Francisco-based joint venture. The companies unveiled Mobile Money Ventures, a joint venture that aims to develop a platform that "encompasses all key mobile banking value propositions" as it bridges the...
Intellect Wireless Inc. has sued T-Mobile USA Inc., U.S. Cellular Corp., Virgin Mobile USA Inc. and Helio Inc. in federal court in Chicago, accusing the companies of infringing wireless image messaging patents.The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District...
Mobile virtual network operator Helio scored $171 million in revenue during 2007, way up from the $46 million in revenue the company reported in 2006.However, the company's net loss also continues to widen: In 2006, Helio's net loss was $192 million, and in 2007...
Come one and come all. Three of the nation's top four wireless carriers now plan to offer unlimited voice calling for $100 month.Verizon Wireless gets bragging rights for the being the first carrier yesterday to stick its neck out on the much-anticipated pricing model....
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless have both announced new unlimited nationwide calling plans for $100 a month. The plans give customers unlimited calls to wireless and landline phones with no roaming or long-distance charges. Verizon Wireless' new offering is available now while AT&T's will...
Don't be fooled by the flow of VC funding or the fact that Google Inc. and MySpace are in on it. The truth is, mobile social networking is not as cool as its fixed Internet brethren. An obsession with user-generated content, coupled with the...
EarthLink Inc. has officially shut down all operations related to its municipal Wi-Fi projects that hit the skids last summer. Making good on earlier promises, the company is looking for potential buyers after writing down a $20.7 million charge on discontinued operations related to...
Voce's promises are now just a hollow echo of P.T. Barnum's famous dictum, "there's a sucker born every minute." "The ultimate service," the now-defunct mobile virtual network operator's Web site still assures viewers. "Voce redefines customer care." In the case of Voce, which...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s subsidiary Boost Mobile and mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. tweaked their unlimited voice, data and messaging plans.Boost Mobile introduced a new $1 per day voice plan for pay-as-you-go customers, which includes unlimited nights, unlimited mobile-to-mobile and a daytime rate of...
