NEW YORK-Because of their relative scarcity, augmented by their growth history and potential, wireless carriers seeking financing enjoy elevated status in the eyes of investors, even in volatile capital markets.Good timing still matters, particularly since the trickle of initial public offerings in this sector...
WASHINGTON-The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau appears willing to remove some, if not all, of the small business restrictions on the licenses it reclaimed from NextWave Telecom Inc.This during the same week a House subcommittee signaled it would pass legislation returning the licenses to NextWave...
SAN DIEGO-Wireless communications carrier, Leap Wireless International Inc., signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding to purchase personal communications services operating licenses in Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y., for an undisclosed amount.The acquisition, which is expected to be finalized by May 1, will give Leap the...
The flurry of consolidation in the wireless industry leads the industry observer to believe a nationwide presence is a necessity to compete in this market going forward.AT&T Wireless Services Inc. raised the bar in 1998 offering its nationwide plan, the Digital One Rate plan....
PARIS-France Telecom announced it will take a 28.5-percent stake in Germany's MobilCom, which provides mobile, wireline and Internet services, for about $3.6 billion. The German company has about 2 million wireless subscribers.In connection with the deal, the companies said they will create a joint...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission's decision to delay until June 7 the auction of broadcast spectrum has raised questions about the agency's motives and intentions.The spectrum, freed up as a result of TV broadcasters transition from analog to digital technology, is known as 60-69 because...
MEXICO CITY-Leap Wireless International announced an agreement between its Mexican wireless service provider, Pegaso PCS, and Sprint PCS that will allow cross-border services and an alignment between the two Code Division Multiple Access carriers. Sprint will invest $200 million in the Mexican company.The agreement...
I missed out on the conga line of carriers, vendors and Digerati who stole the show last week in New Orleans. It's a wireless data world after all. The Net is revolutionizing the wireless industry. It's revolutionizing everything, everywhere.Just last week, a Hong Kong...
PHOENIX, United States-Some observers have compared the broadband wireless industry to a hockey game: lots of skating around, many dramatic clashes, but not much scoring.Still, like a hockey game, broadband wireless attracts plenty of fans. Interest is downright rabid among telecom carriers, equipment vendors and...
DENVER, United States-Attention to wireless security concerns has emerged as several internationally recognized corporate security software firms stated their intentions to concentrate on the wireless industry going forward."Everybody has made the leap that there's going to be a wireless front-end to that Internet world....
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-With four operators competing nationwide, Chile boasts a wireless client base that grew 175 percent during 1999, thanks to the implementation of calling party pays. CPP also has facilitated a wireless-penetration rate that is now almost 15 percent.When CPP was launched in...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-Foreign investment in South America's Southern Cone telecommunications sector has increased during the past decade thanks to new globalization, privatization and liberalization politics in the region. International investors, including a heavy U.S. contingent, have increased their presence in the region most recently...
MELBOURNE, Australia-In a part of the world that still relies on word of mouth as a means to keep in touch, cellular communications-both digital and analog-is continuing to spread through the Pacific Islands as greater numbers of people in the region adjust to using...
NEW YORK-Leap Wireless International Inc., San Diego, sold $1.245 billion in debt and equity securities Feb. 17, a substantial sum that was more than it expected to raise.Leap, which Qualcomm Inc. spun off in September 1998, launched its Cricket brand Code Division Multiple Access...
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. reached a definitive agreement to acquire personal communications services operating licenses in Macon, Columbus and Albany, Ga., from Zuma PCS L.L.C. covering 1.3 million potential subscribers.According to the company, Leap now owns or has the rights to acquire operating...
Attention to wireless security concerns emerged as the de facto theme of this year's RSA Security Conference in San Jose, Calif., where several internationally recognized corporate security software firms stated their intention to concentrate on the wireless industry going forward."Everybody has made the leap...
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless Communications International Inc. announced it reached definitive agreements to acquire personal communications service licenses in Denver and Pittsburgh for its domestic subsidiary, Cricket Communications Inc.The acquisition, subject to Federal Communications Commission approval, will add approximately 5 million potential customers to Leap,...
WASHINGTON-NextWave Telecom Inc. at RCR press time was expected to file papers with the bankruptcy court asking Judge Adlai S. Hardin Jr. to explicitly declare that any attempt by the Federal Communications Commission to cancel and/or re-auction its 90 personal communications service licenses without...
During the first half of 1999, Latin America handset sales exceeded 9.8 million, according to Dataquest, a U.S.-based market research firm. Handset sales were forecasted to reach 24.5 million units by the end of 1999. Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia accounted for 78 percent of...
SAN DIEGO-Sprint PCS plans to acquire a 30.5-percent interest in Mexican wireless carrier Pegaso, said Leap Wireless International Inc., a co-founder and major shareholder in Pegaso.A memorandum of understanding between the companies calls for Sprint PCS to acquire the stake for up to $250...
Tritel Inc., a Jackson, Miss., personal communications services affiliate of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., raised $168.75 million Dec. 14 in an initial public offering of 9.375 million shares. Tritel registered Nov. 18 for the IPO with an expected price range of $15-$17 per share....
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase personal communications services licenses in Denver and Pittsburgh for an undisclosed amount.The agreement, if completed, will give Leap the right to add nearly 5 million pops for its domestic subsidiary,...
SAN DIEGO-Leap Wireless International Inc. said that Metrosvyaz Ltd. has filed a lawsuit against Leap and certain of its officers in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Leap indirectly owns 35 percent of Metrosvyaz, which is attempting to establish joint...
Leap Wireless International Inc., which has seen a run-up in stock in recent weeks, announced a new branding strategy for its Chilean operating company.Leap in April bought out its former Chilesat PCS partner, long-distance carrier Telex-Chile. Leap has since renamed the company Smartcom PCS...
