Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin signaled the agency is prepared to fix a roaming snag faced by wireless providers delayed in constructing networks because spectrum licenses won at major auctions remain occupied by commercial and government users. ...
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s under-the-table Sprint Employee Referral Option has seen its final days. SERO was a plan Sprint Nextel introduced a few years ago that offered cheaper rates through an employee referral. And it wasn't as though you had to have a blood relation...
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.Why is the mobile user experience important?For many mobile service providers in developed markets, what...
Editor's Note: RCR Wireless News has teamed up with the Yankee Group to conduct a series of market surveys of RCR Wireless News' subscribers to gauge their thoughts on technology issues impacting the wireless ecosystem.Those of you who respond to the survey will get...
While wireless providers - large and small - differ on such hot-button issues as universal service support, exclusive handset arrangements and special access, the controversy over roaming has the potential to become the major fault line in the cellphone industry.The consolidation trend is making...
Mobile virtual network operator Virgin Mobile USA Inc. unveiled its new "Totally Unlimited" calling plan, which stands as a shot against the company's larger rivals by undercutting their prices by $20.Virgin's new plan, available July 1, will provide customers with unlimited minutes across days,...
Apple Inc.'s iconic iPhone could become more prevalent in official Washington - especially among subway commuters - owing to House passage of an Amtrak funding bill with a provision designed to give rail customers a greater choice of mobile-phone service providers.Verizon Wireless has a...
The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--Beeco: RTI International and Intersouth Partners co-led a $5 million Series A funding round into semiconductor company Beeco. The...
Starbucks Corp. and AT&T Mobility said they've agreed to settle T-Mobile USA Inc.'s lawsuit regarding free Wi-Fi access in the coffee chain's cafes.The brouhaha stemmed from an agreement earlier this year when Starbucks announced a deal with AT&T Mobility for the carrier to become...
The Justice Department's agreement to let Verizon Wireless purchase Rural Cellular Corp. so long as the No. 2 mobile-phone carrier sells off a handful of licenses in Vermont, New York and Washington, was perhaps the easy part. Getting the $2.67 billion transaction through the...
AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA Inc. have exchanged lawsuits claiming the other has breached agreements related to the carriers' providing Wi-Fi access in Starbucks Corp.'s locations across the country. Earlier this year, Starbucks announced a deal with AT&T Mobility for the carrier to become...
Verizon Wireless's purchase of Alltel Communication L.L.C. is leaving many gasping for breath. The $28.1 billion purchase of the nation's fifth-largest U.S. mobile operator seems to make sense for Verizon Wireless, both strategically and financially. However, for the private-equity investors who purchased Alltel less...
Verizon Wireless announced an agreement to acquire Alltel Communications L.L.C. for $5.9 billion in cash and assume $22.2 billion in debt, for a total package price of $28.1 billion. If approved, the deal would create the nation's largest carrier with more than 80 million...
Verizon Wireless' proposed acquisition of Alltel Communications L.L.C. could wound infrastructure vendors in the short term due to the carriers' network overlaps and a potential pullback on immediate buildout plans, but overall the merger shouldn't cause too much concern for suppliers.An acquisition "typically ends...
Roaming issues probably tops the list of concerns of Verizon Wireless's planned purchase of Alltel Communications L.L.C. The nation's four largest operators as well as a number of small carriers relied on Alltel and had established partnerships for roaming across what the carrier proclaimed...
VERIZON WIRELESS' PLAY for Alltel Communications L.L.C. may not necessarily trigger a classic battle over whether the government should block the deal, but rather could ignite considerable controversy over whether roaming, divestiture and other conditions should be imposed on a merged entity already boasting...
Hours after media reports indicated a deal was close, Verizon Wireless announced an agreement to acquire Alltel Communications L.L.C.for $5.9 billion in cash and assume $22.2 billion in debt, for a total package price of $28.1 billion. If approved, the deal would create the...
Vodafone Group plc will say goodbye to its fearless leader. After five years as CEO, Arun Sarin announced last week that he is retiring as head of one of the wireless industry's largest operators, and minority-interest holder in Verizon Wireless, at the end of...
Wireless Maingate, a machine-to-machine company in Europe, has chosen Blueslice Networks to provide its ngHLR 3000T to help Maingate with roaming and other applications.Blueslice said the ngHLR 3000T has a suite of applications specifically designed for M2M, including the company's Multi-IMSI that provides low-cost...
Leap Wireless International Inc. tweaked the calling plans for its Cricket service, adding some once-optional features and rolling out once-geographically limited plans to more markets. The company said it has added unlimited text messaging to Mexico for some of its "higher-value" plans, which according...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
Research In Motion Ltd. said today that its first 3G handset, dubbed the "Bold," is coming "soon" - likely in the heat of what looks to be a long hot summer in the device space. The timing of today's announcement fairly screams with competitive...
Leap Wireless International Inc. said it will launch its Cricket service in Las Vegas tomorrow using the advanced wireless services spectrum it won during the Federal Communications Commission's Auction 66 in 2006. Leap has previously launched service using its AWS spectrum in Oklahoma City...
