Western Wireless Corp. reported 22,900 net customer additions during the first quarter of this year for its domestic operations, ending the quarter with more than 1.3 million total domestic customers. The carrier said customer churn dropped from 2 percent during the first quarter of...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. expanded its CDMA2000 1x network to provide its OpenDoor wireless Internet service and Hello2Pix picture messaging service to its Cellular One customers in Colorado, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. The carrier launched 1x services in it Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri,...
NEW YORK-Moody's Investor Services assigned its B2 rating to Western Wireless Corp.'s $1.5 billion senior secured credit facility and confirmed its B2 senior implied and Caa1 issuer ratings with a positive outlook for the rural wireless provider.Moody's noted the proposed refinancing of Western Wireless'...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint said it will sell a revised version of its PCS Vision Picture Phone SCP-8100 built by Sanyo, a device that includes an improved screen, built-in flash and supports Sprint's Ready Link push-to-talk service. The phone will sell for $130 with rebates."The...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. said it is reviewing options to refinance its existing senior secured credit facility due to "attractive" current market conditions.The carrier noted any refinancing would be subject to market conditions and other considerations, and there are no assurances that a refinancing...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. appointed Peggy Phillips to its now nine-member board of directors. Phillips previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Immunex Corp. until Amgen Inc. acquired it in 2002."Peggy has been an extraordinarily successful and effective executive, and...
WASHINGTON-A group of senators, many of them alumni of the 1996 Farm Team, are urging the Federal Communications Commission to reject a recommendation to restrict universal-service subsidies to primary lines. "Imposing a primary-line restriction whereby neither second lines nor cell phones are included for...
WASHINGTON-As May 24 looms ahead as the date the rest of the wireless industry has to implement local number portability, a move is afoot that would allow states, not the federal government, to extend that deadline.Rural wireline carriers in Nebraska last week received a...
WASHINGTON-The National Park Service has violated the law in allowing the construction of an 80-foot cell phone tower in close proximity to Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).According to PEER, the tower was built by Western...
Verizon Wireless ended 2003 in the same position as it began the year, as both the nation's largest carrier as well as the highest ranked wireless provider based on five operating metrics measured by N. Moore Capital Ltd. during the fourth quarter. The rankings...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. introduced its Unlimited Home Calling Plan for Cellular One customers in the Midwest that provides unlimited voice service minutes when calls are made within the Cellular One Midwest network coverage area for $50 per month. The plan does not include...
WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers and alternative telecom carriers decried a recommendation to restrict universal service subsidies to one line per household.The Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, created to find a way to fix the Universal Service Fund before it runs out of money, said one...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Western Wireless Corp. reported $413.6 million in consolidated revenues during the fourth quarter of 2003 compared with $305 million during the previous year. Net income also increased from a loss of $22.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2002, a loss of 29...
Identity theft, a popular catch phrase in the financial services industry, is also the leading type of fraud afflicting the telecommunications industry, according to a new survey by the Telecommunications Risk Management Association. The TRMA's findings bolster last year's estimate from the Communications Fraud...
The wireless industry's love-hate relationship with Wall Street appears to be on the mend as investors again flocked back to the segment that just over a year ago was offering investors a broad selection of stocks for less than a dollar. While most wireless...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission granted Virginia Cellular L.L.C. eligible telecommunications carrier status, and in the process, provided clues about what criteria should be used for ETC designation, which is necessary to receive universal-service subsidies."We find that the designation of Virginia Cellular as an ETC...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission has granted Virginia Cellular L.L.C. eligible telecommunications carrier status, and in the process, has provided clues to both the divisions within the commission about what criteria should be used for ETC designation, which is necessary to receive universal-service subsidies."We find...
WASHINGTON-FCC Chairman Michael Powell last week appointed Lisa Zaina to be chief executive officer of the Universal Service Administrative Co. "I will sorely miss Lisa, but I'm proud to know she will continue a mission we both believe in so strongly: making universal service...
Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications Inc. again led the wireless industry in N. Moore Capital Ltd.'s ranking of wireless carriers during the third quarter of this year, with the carriers garnering a first-place tie in the ranking of five select operational metrics with 31...
WASHINGTON-Western Wireless International Corp. and Modern Africa Growth & Investment Co., U.S.-based majority owners of a mobile firm in Cote d'Ivoire, have filed a $54 million expropriation claim against the government of Cote d'Ivoire in an effort to reclaim assets seized by the government...
Wireless local area network aggregator Boingo Wireless Inc. reported a roaming agreement with WorldCom Inc., providing the telecommunications provider's MCI customers with remote access service to Boingo's more than 2,000 global wireless hot-spot access points. MCI noted it currently has about 600 Wi-Fi access...
Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications Inc. again led the wireless industry in N. Moore Capital Ltd.'s ranking of wireless carriers during the third quarter of this year, with the carriers' garnering a first-place tie in the ranking of five select operational metrics with 31...
The past few years have forced mobile carriers to change tactics on many fronts. During the telecom boom, having a global presence seemed essential. But wireless carriers recently have been selling stakes in operations outside their core markets and honing in on their main...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson said it will host, operate and manage Western Wireless Corp.'s multimedia messaging service offering throughout the carrier's domestic CDMA coverage area.Ericsson noted that in addition to supplying the platform and integrating the application with Western Wireless' network and billing system, it...
