The Federal Communications Commission said it plans an Aug. 1 vote on Verizon Wireless' proposed $2.67 billion purchase of Rural Cellular Corp., a controversial transaction that consumer advocates and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have argued should be blocked unless conditions are attached to safeguard...
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....
According to media reports, Korean telecom giant SK Telecom may again be looking at purchasing beleagured carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. According to reports, SK Telecom and Providence Equity last year offered to invest $5 billion into Sprint Nextel at $18.60 per share on the...
A tax holiday may be in the future for wireless providers and the nation's 262 million cellphone users after all. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced legislation to impose a five-year moratorium on new or increased wireless taxes. "Americans...
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. ...
The iPhone 3G’s “opening weekend” — get used to the movie lingo in this context — saw “one million devices sold” in 21 countries, according to Apple Inc.’s CEO Steve Jobs. If true, that’s more than three times the volume of last year’s iPhone...
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN said it will be hard to hold either the D-Block re-auction or advanced wireless services-3 bidding this year because of intense controversy over rules. Thus, competition for two valuable blocks of public airwaves likely will play out under...
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...
Parent companies of the nation's three largest wireless providers can breathe a giant sigh of relief, with President Bush set to sign new electronic surveillance legislation that can free them from dozens of privacy lawsuits. The loud grumbling in the background is from lawmakers...
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is coming under mounting pressure to back off a controversial plan to auction a national wireless Internet license that would require the winning bidder to provide free broadband service, open access and filtering to block obscene content. But...
The Federal Communications Commission approved testing guidelines for wireless providers that decide to transmit emergency alerts to subscribers as part of a government effort to modernize a Cold Era, mostly broadcast-based public warning system. The issue came to the fore following the Sept. 11,...
The Federal Communications Commission begrudgingly agreed to a brief public comment extension on a controversial free-wireless Internet plan. The plan is opposed by major mobile-phone carriers, which fear interference to their operations, and Republican lawmakers, because of license conditions they claim will lead again...
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that a Missouri city can recover back taxes from AT&T Mobility and Alltel Corp., a ruling related to convoluted litigation among scores of municipalities and wireless providers in which multimillion-dollar settlements have been the rule rather...
Despite ongoing government and industry efforts to improve safety, maintenance of mobile-phone and other communications towers continues to be the most hazardous work around. And because of the relatively small number of employees in the business compared to other industry sectors, tower climbing -...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today said it will not rule on wireless providers' challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's backup power rule until Bush administration budget officials complete their review of controversial guidelines designed to respond to...
Could the skies be clearing over beleagured Sprint Nextel?According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited comments from Verizon Communications President Denny Strigl, the nation's No. 3 carrier could be turning a corner. Strigl reportedly told an investor conference that Sprint Nextel's performance had...
The one-two punch of a typically slow quarter and overall economic challenges dazed regional wireless provider MetroPCS Communications Inc., which posted customer growth results for the second quarter that came up short of analysts' expectations. The carrier said it added 183,530 net customers during...
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...
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Bush administration in federal court to obtain records on allegedly unchecked cellphone tracking by the government."This is a critical opportunity to shed much-needed light on possibly unconstitutional government surveillance techniques," said Catherine...
Sprint Nextel Corp. is facing a class-action lawsuit that alleges the No. 3 mobile-phone carrier violated federal and state labor laws for failing to pay wages to employees at retail stores and to compensate them for overtime work."Defendants could easily and accurately record the...
Even with a probable end in sight, Alltel Communications L.L.C. is pulling out all the stops. Shortly after the carrier's announcement to expand and speed up its network, Alltel announced it will add a texting option to its MyCircle offering.The plan currently allows subscribers...
Virgin Mobile USA's purchase of fellow MVNO Helio L.L.C. allows Virgin to evolve beyond its low-ARPU customers to higher-paying subscribers, as well as gain a sophisticated handset portfolio, improve its debt levels and cut a better deal with network operator Sprint Nextel Inc.Virgin Mobile...
Regional wireless carrier MetroPCS Communications Inc. announced a new promotion, MetroFlash, that will allow shoppers with a compatible CDMA handset to connect to the MetroPCS network; users will be able to sign up for MetroPCS service without having to buy a new phone. The...
