ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. named Randall Stephenson to succeed Gary Forsee as chairman of the nation's second largest wireless operator. Stephenson also serves as chief financial officer at Cingular's parent company SBC Communications Inc.Forsee was named chief executive officer at Sprint Corp. last month after...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Based on a new survey of the online customer care offerings of 500 companies, including 22 telecom service and equipment providers, The Customer Respect Group found one-third don't respond to inquiries sent to their Web sites, while half respond within 48 hours.The research...
NEW YORK-Despite what he called, "one of the greatest brand launches ever and excellent results in brand awareness," the Cingular Wireless name has "not delivered," said Stan Sigman, chief executive officer, at last week's Merrill Lynch & Co. "Communication Conference".The top five reasons consumers...
HELSINKI, Finland-TDC, the Copenhagen-based Danish operator in which U.S. telecom group SBC Communications holds a 42-percent equity holding, has made an outright bid to acquire all shares in its Swiss mobile subsidiary TDC Switzerland. The full acquisition transaction, which is scheduled to take place...
WASHINGTON-A key House lawmaker has requested a probe into whether the Bush administration's top telecom official acted properly in allowing wireless lobbyists to throw her a party in October 2001 and shortly afterward announcing support for lifting the spectrum cap, a move in line...
WASHINGTON-The Office of Government Ethics said National Telecommunications and Information Administration chief Nancy Victory should have disclosed costs associated with a private reception wireless lobbyists helped pay for in mid-October 2001, less than two weeks before the Bush administration's top telecom official took a...
LONDON-Vodafone Group plc reported that its Vodafone Holdings GmbH subsidiary completed its acquisition of SBC Communications Inc.'s stake in Transtel S.A., which represented a 15 percent interest in Cegetel Groupe S.A. for $2.27 billion.The acquisition increases Vodafone's interest in France's SFR to 43.9 percent.
The wireless industry's shift from focusing on growth at any expense to an emphasis on growing profitably has been reinforced recently with a number of operators deciding it will take different leadership to guide them through what many expect to be a trying time...
ATLANTA-Following a disappointing third quarter in which it reported a net loss of customers, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. named Stan Sigman president and chief executive officer replacing Stephen Carter who will take over as vice president of SBC Communications Inc. Prior to his new position,...
LONDON-Attempting to continue its acquisition path, Vodafone Group plc announced an agreement to acquire British Telecommunications plc's and SBC Communications Inc.'s stakes in French company Cegetel for about $6.2 billion in cash.Cegetel owns 80 percent of French mobile operator SFR. The buy would give...
PORTLAND, Ore.-Enhanced directory assistance provider Metro One Telecommunications Inc. said it will discontinue service for Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in California, Nevada and Washington after the contract related to the service expired last May. The Cingular contract accounted for approximately 5 percent of Metro One's...
LONDON-Rumors abound regarding the possible sale of Vivendi Universal's stake in French mobile operator SFR to Vodafone Group. Vodafone has said it is interested in taking control of SFR, but not at any cost.Market analysts have valued SFR at about US$8 billion.Vodafone already directly...
NEW YORK-Deutsche Telekom AG has proposed merging its VoiceStream Wireless Corp. operations with Cingular Wireless L.L.C., which is owned by BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.The newspaper said unnamed sources close to both companies confirmed...
CARY, N.C.—SpectraSite Holdings Inc. is terminating its build-to-suit contract with Cingular Wireless and transferring its sublease agreements in 545 SBC Communications Inc. towers to Cingular, as well as modifying its agreement with SBC to reduce its future sublease agreements by 187 towers to 707...
HELSINKI, Finland—The Danish government has requested a meeting with SBC Communications to discuss the U.S. telecom company's immediate future plans for its 42-percent equity in the Danish telecom company TDC.The invitation to talks has emerged following a confirmation by TDC's board that SBC intends...
MONTREAL—Bell Canada International (BCI) said its reorganization focusing on the Brazilian mobile-phone market will help it see revenues grow from C$374 million (US$235.1 million) in 2001 to up to C$550 million (US$345.8 million) in 2002, a potential growth of about 47 percent. The reorganization,...
WASHINGTON-2002 offers the wayward wireless industry a chance to begin to redeem and redefine itself. But it won't be easy, and survival skills will be essential. Indeed, with economic sluggishness persisting here and abroad, the industry is not totally in control of its future....
MEXICO CITY—America Movil, the mobile subsidiary of Mexico's TelMex, announced several transactions that will give it control of several Latin American companies currently held by Telecom Americas and centralize Telecom Americas' holdings in Brazil. Telecom Americas is the partnership among America Movil, SBC Communications...
LONDON—The Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) announced it is planning a domestic initial public offering (IPO) early next year. Indications are that it will involve around 10 percent of the company. The long-awaited sale will be aimed at Saudi investors and follows a new telecommunications...
NEW YORK-Calling it "the most well-known secret in corporate America," Stephen Carter, president and chief executive officer of Cingular Wireless, said the nation's second-largest mobile operator will overlay all its TDMA and analog networks with EDGE, a software enhancement of GPRS technology.Atlanta-based Cingular, with...
During the past 20 years, two overriding factors have shaped the wireless carrier landscape: customer growth and carrier consolidation. The number of wireless customers has grown from less than 100,000 subscribers after the first full year of availability in 1984 to nearly 120...
Crown Castle International Corp., SpectraSite Holdings Inc. and SBA Communications Corp. reported positive revenues for the second quarter ended June 30, but they did not escape the current telecom shakedown unscathed.All three companies laid off employees and cut back on general expenses during the...
