Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.The wireless industry has consolidated with regional carriers absorbed by larger national giants. Many decry...
Fourth-quarter numbers from T-Mobile USA Inc. showed that the industry's No. 3 and No. 4 players (Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA, respectively) were no match for their larger rivals during the all-important holiday shopping season.T-Mobile USA previously announced a prepaid-heavy 621,000 net customer...
On one level, Alltel Communications L.L.C. ceased to exist after Verizon Wireless closed its $28 billion acquisition of the Little Rock, Ark., company in early January. Indeed, attention promptly turned to how some Alltel wireless assets would be integrated into Verizon Wireless and how...
Leap Wireless International Inc.'s growth is going according to plan, but the carrier is paying for it, literally. In its fourth-quarter results, Leap reported operating income of $3.8 million, a fraction of the $17.9 million the carrier posted for fourth quarter of 2007. Leap...
Cricket Communications Inc. continues its nationwide rollout with its Chicago launch today, bringing its total covered pops to 77.5 million. The carrier, parented by Leap Wireless International Inc., is scheduled to double its covered pops this year. Cricket recently launched service in pockets of...
The one-time rock of the wireless industry appears set to crumble. And I think that crumbling can't come soon enough. That rock is postpaid, contract-encumbered rate plans. These were necessary evils when the industry was rife with hundreds of wireless operators, each trying to...
Leap Wireless International Inc. is bringing music to the masses, or at least those wireless consumers packing its Cricket devices.Despite the languid adoption of full-track mobile music download services, the no-contract carrier jumped into the mobile music field today with its Cricket Mobile Music...
Dallas-based MetroPCS Communications Inc., the surprise winner in a 2006 auction of $3.6 billion worth of licenses covering the New York area, made its wireless debut today in New York City. The company's network covers 10 million customers in the New York metropolitan area,...
With the economy in a recession, many Americans are trying to scale back spending. Wireless providers, however, may experience just the opposite reaction: Each carrier has a "hop to it" mantra, whether it is to upgrade the network, recruit more customers (or actively...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.With the advent of the new Boost national $50 Monthly Unlimited plan, many consumers and...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carriers--Morgan Stanley reinstated its equal-weight rating on Verizon Communications after the company's stock recently outperformed both the market and the telecom sector. Barclays Capital lowered...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Boost Mobile subsidiary unveiled an unlimited offering dubbed "Monthly Unlimited" that includes unlimited calling minutes, text messaging, wireless Web and walkie-talkie services for $50 per month. The new plan is for the carrier's iDEN-based offering.Matt Carter, president of Boost Mobile, said...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.It was a year most of us would like to forget, but one we're certain...
There's a new carrier in town. That is, if your town is located in northwest Georgia or Tennessee. Based in Dalton, Georgia, SmartPCS is a new no-contract, unlimited calling provider operating in a similar vain to Leap Wireless International Inc. and MetroPCS Communications Inc....
Leap Wireless International Inc. said it recorded a solid final quarter for 2008, adding 385,000 new customers that contributed to an overall increase of 34% for the year.The regional, flat-rate carrier announced that it ended the year with 3.84 million customers and saw growth...
It looks like MetroPCS Communications Inc. may be cashing in on the current economic downturn. The no-contract, unlimited wireless provider said it added 520,000 customers during the fourth quarter of 2008, its highest quarterly net additions in the company's history. The growth put the...
In 2009, the wireless industry is apt to suffer many of the same consequences exacted upon others by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression: layoffs (likely giving way to stepped-up outsourcing), reduced capital spending, lower revenues and slimmer profit margins, tight credit,...
A new carrier is set to enter the competitive no-contract, unlimited calling market, this time with some help from the Chinese. Smart PCS is stepping into the fray with service in parts of northwest Georgia and Tennessee. Similar to offerings from segment stalwarts Leap...
The companies listed below represent the 12 largest national and regional licensed wireless carriers and mobile virtual network operators based on subscriber numbers at the end of the third quarter of this year.
There was no movement among the top carriers when compared with numbers...
Leap Wireless International Inc. is expanding service to Milwaukee, Wisc.. Starting tomorrow, Leap's Cricket Communications Inc. service will be available in the greater Milwaukee area, including the cities of Racine, Kenosha and Madison, bringing Leap's total national covered population to 64.1 million. It's coverage...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier--RBC Capital Markets downgraded Clearwire to sector perform from outperform and lowered its price target to $9 from $15 on more conservative valuation.--RBC Capital Markets...
Another regional player is set for extinction. Earlier this month, AT&T Mobility announced plans to acquire Centennial Communications Corp. for $2.8 billion. The deal is expected to add approximately 1.1 million customers to AT&T Mobility's customer base. The deal, if approved, will also...
The ever-evolving nature of the wireless market has its eyes set on so-called 4G technologies. These are expected to be higher-capacity networks based on Internet Protocol standards that will support wireless broadband speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. While there is no...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier--Credit Suisse First Boston lowered its price target on Leap Wireless to $55 from $70 despite solid third-quarter results and positive fourth-quarter trends. CSFB said...
