The hunt for spectrum by wireless carriers continued last week as Verizon Wireless, the country's largest operator, offered more than $2 billion for Price Communications Wireless, a wholly owned subsidiary of Price Communications.While the purchase was not surprising-Price has been looking for a buyer...
MONTREAL-Microcell Telecommunications Inc. announced it has extended the reach of its personal communications services network into more communities and on more highways.New highway coverage includes Highway 10 and 15 in Quebec; Highway 401 in Ontario; and Highway 2 in Alberta. Mont-Tremblant, Quebec and Windsor,...
NEW YORK-Despite substantial increases in subscribers and revenues last quarter, VoiceStream Wireless Corp. experienced growing losses it attributed to rapid growth and expenses related to acquisitions.VoiceStream, headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., posted a loss of $661.3 million, or $3.02 per share, on revenues of $562.2...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Samsung Telecommunications America Inc. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. have agreed to develop GPRS phones using Microsoft Corp.'s Stinger smart phone platform and Mobile Internet Explorer microbrowser software for VoiceStream's GSM network.VoiceStream has stated it plans to launch GPRS services sometime next year. The...
Deutsche Telekom expects to obtain approval of its proposed purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. by the first quarter of next year, according to a report in German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The deal, valued at $37 billion, still requires U.S. regulatory approval.Lucent Technologies...
WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court, in a major blow to the wireless industry, last week said it would not hear an appeal of a lower court's antenna-siting ruling favoring a Pennsylvania town."It would appear that it gives towns again the opportunity to say the burden of...
CanadaBell Mobility began offering two-way wireless data service in October in Ontario and Quebec, with plans to extend service nationwide by the end of the year.United StatesA report stated Japan's NTT DoCoMo is in talks with AT&T regarding taking a minority stake in the...
WASHINGTON-Aggressive industry lobbying and strong bipartisan backing by the Washington state congressional delegation in this election season of giving helped win removal of a measure that would have killed the VoiceStream Wireless Inc.-Deutsche Telekom AG merger in the final days of the 106th Congress.Sen....
WASHINGTON-In what appears to be a win for bankrupt PCS carriers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans has ruled in favor of Metro PCS (formerly General Wireless Inc.) and against the Federal Communications Commission.The current and future fate...
NEW YORK-The $41.6 billion bid by Deutsche Telekom AG for VoiceStream Wireless Corp. was the largest merger announced last quarter and the second-largest during the first nine months of this year, Mergerstat L.P., Los Angeles, reported.The semiconductor sector, with mergers totaling $49.5 billion, led...
WASHINGTON-As the unlikely union of labor and business leaders ratcheted up pressure last week to kill legislation that would nix Deutsche Telekom AG's $50.7 billion purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp., it appeared the controversy could get dragged into a bigger fight between European Union...
WASHINGTON-The German government said it will sell its stake in Deutsche Telekom AG, a move that could blunt legislative attempts to prohibit DT's takeover of VoiceStream Wireless Corp.Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said last week he opposes legislation that would prohibit U.S. telecom...
WASHINGTON-From the beginning, the stickiest issue with the implementation of wireless enhanced 911 has been who would pay for what and when.This issue has come to the forefront again as wireless carriers urged the Federal Communications Commission on Sept. 18 to reject a proposal...
WASHINGTON-In a follow-up to a recent hearing on the proposed Deutsche Telekom AG takeover of VoiceStream Wireless Corp., the House telecom subcommittee last week sent a letter to Charlene Barshefsky, the United States trade representative, asking her to explain why USTR has apparently not...
WASHINGTON-With worries in some quarters that America will lose the third-generation mobile- phone market to Europe and Asia, the blame game has begun.Leading the finger-pointing is John Stanton, chief executive officer of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and chairman of the Cellular Telecom-munications Industry Association.Stanton, addressing...
Time was when stock options were a big deal, the stuff of digital dreams. Overnight millionaires and billionaires everywhere. But, as we're learning, stock options can be a pain when associated with questions of conflict of interest. It's a dilemma for GOP vice presidential...
WASHINGTON-With Congress back at work for a fall legislative session that will be cut short by the 2000 presidential election, several key bills of interest to the wireless industry remain in play.The GOP-led Congress, among other things, is anxious to repeal the 3-percent federal...
WASHINGTON-Is Deutsche Telekom AG's proposed purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. a case of foreign investment or a protectionist grab of a foreign government? This was the question examined last Thursday by the House telecom subcommittee in a five-hour hearing."We know good and well that...
The Federal Communications Commission late Friday substantially changed its implementation rules for enhanced 911 Phase II handset deployment and granted a waiver to VoiceStream Wireless Corp. that will permit it to offer its hybrid solution on a different schedule.Public-safety officials regretted that the FCC...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission, as expected, last week rejected a request by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. that the FCC reconsider its Jan. 12 decision to cancel its licenses and re-auction them. The FCC also set the re-auction for Dec. 12.Meanwhile, the FCC found itself...
WASHINGTON-The multi-agency government panel that will be responsible for assessing national security implications of Deutsche Telekom AG's $56 billion purchase of VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and other future telecom mergers involving foreign buyers was sharply criticized by congressional investigators in a little-noticed report two months...
It was no surprise. Powertel Inc., one of the last major U.S. regional carriers, will fold operations with VoiceStream Wireless Corp. Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG, which weeks ago announced plans to buy VoiceStream, has agreed to purchase Powertel for around $5.89 billion.Analysts speculated on...
TORONTO-The consolidation trend in the North American wireless sector is intensifying. The prevailing wisdom is that it is no longer good enough to be merely a regional or national carrier with transborder capabilities. The game plan is to be part of a global presence,...
Handset subsidies are falling as digital mobile phones gain huge volumes, but as carriers begin targeting new segments and a new cycle of data-enabled handsets come to market, analysts wonder how low carriers can keep subsidies.The days of 1-cent handsets tied in with contracts...
