BROWSING: SBC Communications
SBC extends Yahoo! agreement to wireless
SBC Communications Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. signed a multi-year extension of their current agreement to provide co-branded DSL and Dial services and announced plans to extend the alliance to wireless technology. In addition to offering services to personal computers, home televisions and audio systems,...
SBC sells stake in Danish carrier for $740M
SAN ANTONIO-SBC Communications Inc. Thursday said it has completed the sale of its remaining 20.6 million shares in Danish telecommunications provider TDC A/S for approximately $740 million. SBC Wednesday announced its intention to dispose of the TDC stake and said the sale would be...
Hertz to offer Wayport Wi-Fi service, directions
Wireless and wired neutral host broadband service provider Wayport Inc. said it has reached a preliminary agreement with Hertz Corp. to provide high-speed Internet access to Hertz customers at more than 50 airport locations across the country beginning early next year. Hertz and Wayport...
The New Cingular and the intermodal pass
The union of Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. gives new meaning to The Great Experiment.Indeed, nothing approaching it-in scale, complexity and consequence-has ever been attempted in the spectacular 21-year-young history of the cellular industry. Cingular, 60-percent owned by SBC Communications Inc....
Aggressive Verizon counts 42M customers
The top spot in the contest for the nation's largest carrier soon could be a tug-of-war. In the shadow of Cingular Wireless L.L.C. completing its $41 billion buy of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to become the nation's largest carrier with more than 47.6 million...
A NEW NO. 1
WASHINGTON-The fanfare surrounding last week's government approval of Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. proved to be short-lived, with Moody's Investors Service reacting immediately by downgrading long-term debt ratings of the new No. 1 U.S. mobile-phone carrier and its...
Merger fanfare short-lived with downgrades
WASHINGTON-The fanfare surrounding final government approval of Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. proved to be short-lived, with Moody's Investors Service downgrading long-term debt ratings of the new No. 1 mobile-phone carrier and its two Bell telephone parent companies....
BellSouth completes first stage of L.A. sale to Telefonica: Proceeds will help fund AWS buy
BellSouth Corp. said it has completed the $1.2 billion sale of its ownership interest in three Latin American wireless operations to Telefonica Moviles, which BellSouth said it would use to help fund its financial obligations for Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s pending $41 billion acquisition of...
SBC lines up $12B credit for AWS buy
NEW YORK-SBC Communications Inc. entered into a one-year, $12 billion revolving credit agreement with investment and commercial banks to help fund its wireless subsidiary Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s pending acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., according to an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange...
Cingular-AWS merger before FCC
WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. moved a step closer to winning government backing for its proposed $41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell signing off on the deal and setting in motion the possible start of a political...
Plaintiff says Cingular suit has merit
Dear Editor: I would like to comment on the Jeffrey Silva article of Sept. 20 in regard to lawsuits and/or racial and employment allegations against Cingular Wireless. As I seem to be one of the focal points of that article and I was one...
SBC president opposes divesting wireless assets in merger
WASHINGTON-SBC Communications Inc. President Edward Whitacre today said he opposes having to divest any wireless assets as a condition of winning government approval of the proposed $41 billion merger between Cingular Wireless L.LC. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and conceded there is a risk...
Cingular/AWS merger action could be delayed even with Powell approval
WASHINGTON-Sources indicate Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has conditionally approved the proposed $41 billion merger between No. 2 Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and No. 3 AT&T Wireless Services Inc., but potential complications could delay expected final government action on the deal to later this...
Landline group predicts consumers will see price increase from Cingular/AWS merger
WASHINGTON-The leading association of competitive landline carriers told the Federal Communications Commission that wireless consumers will see an annual increase of $2.7 billion if the merger between Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. is approved. "The merger of Cingular and AWS will...
Consumer groups warn regulators on Cingular/AWS merger
WASHINGTON-Consumer groups today warned federal and state regulators that a merger of Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. would lead to excessive concentration in the local telecom access market in top U.S. markets. "Approval of a merger between the No. 1 and...
CPUC delays vote on Cingular fine in wake of talks
WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless L.L.C., steadfast in its claim that it did not deceive California consumers, has initiated negotiations with the California Public Utilities Commission to settle a proposed record $12 million fine against the No. 2 mobile-phone carrier for business practices that the agency said...
SBC’s FreedomLink Wi-Fi offered in Mich. parks
LANSING, Mich.-SBC Communications Inc. said it will begin providing access to its FreedomLink Wi-Fi service at 10 state parks in Michigan as part of the state's MiWiFi project designed to provide wireless Internet access for Michigan residents and travelers at docks, rest areas and...
Sprint, SBC sign Wi-Fi roaming pact
Sprint Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. announced they have entered a reciprocal Wi-Fi roaming agreement. Through the partnerships, the carriers' customers will be able to access each other's public Wi-Fi networks using existing user IDs and passwords, and will be charged according to their...
Sprint, SBC sign Wi-Fi roaming pact
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. announced they have entered a reciprocal Wi-Fi roaming agreement.Through the partnerships, the carriers' customers will be able to access each other's public Wi-Fi networks using existing user IDs and passwords, and will be charged according to...
Cingular to use AT&T brand six months after merger
Cingular Wireless L.L.C., AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and AT&T Corp. reported an agreement resolving issues related to the use of the AT&T brand in connection with Cingular's pending acquisition of AWS, as well as a provision for the purchase of AT&T network services by...
Wireless cries foul over plan to rework traffic compensation
WASHINGTON-A group of nine wireline companies, two with wireless affiliates, are proposing to radically change the way carriers compensate each other to carry traffic on each other's networks, and most of the wireless industry is none too happy about it. "It is an awful...
Muleta discounts Cingular/AWS merger impact on local telephone competition
WASHINGTON-The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau does not see the proposed merger of Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as having the potentially negative impact on local telephone service that some consumer advocates have claimed."There are some intermodal issues that have been raised....
Wireless carriers upset over traffic compensation plan
WASHINGTON-A group of wireline companies, two of which have wireless affiliates, are proposing to radically change the way carriers compensate each other to carry traffic on each other's networks, and most of the wireless industry is none too happy about it."It is an awful...
SpectraSite closes SBC purchase contract
SpectraSite Inc. said it has purchased 191 wireless communications towers from affiliates of SBC Communications for $50 million in the final closing in its commitment to acquire SBC's leasehold and sub-leasehold interests.In all, SpectraSite purchased 319 SBC towers for $84 million."We are pleased that...