Shares of satellite provider EchoStar Communications Corp. surged more than 25% yesterday, prompted by speculation that the company may be purchased by AT&T Inc. TheStreet.com reported that AT&T is close to a deal with EchoStar for a $29.5 billion buyout, citing a "source familiar...
THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION relaxed the small-business bidding rule for the 700 MHz national commercial/public-safety block, but the agency cannot seem to shake lingering legal challenges that have the potential to disrupt the upcoming auction-as well as last year's sale of advanced wireless services...
The Bush administration's top telecom advisor John Kneuer is stepping down later this month, ending a rocky tenure characterized by the Democratic-led Congress' intense oversight of major public-safety, spectrum-reform and digital TV programs.Kneuer has headed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a unit of...
The Federal Communications Commission's revised roaming rules may have exacerbated an already divisive industry issue, with warring carriers challenging new guidelines and feuding over the possibility of their extension to wireless broadband service providers. The FCC's Aug. 7 decision concluded automatic roaming is...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis' Avi Greengart, iGR's Iain...
Crown Castle International Corp. reported growth in site rental revenues, although its losses widened year-over-year.The company's results included those of Global Signal Inc., which Crown Castle acquired earlier this year.On a pro forma basis, site rental revenues jumped 7.3% year-over-year. The company's total figures...
LITIGATION SURROUNDING RULES for auction-bound 700 MHz wireless licenses took an unexpected turn last week.Verizon Wireless filed to withdraw its appeal of the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz open-access rule, only to have cellphone industry trade association CTIA immediately fill the void by challenging...
Wireless customers aren't pleased with their retail sales experience, and their opinion of it has gotten steadily worse since 2006, according to the most recent survey of retail sales satisfaction from J.D. Power and Associates. The semi-annual survey examined evaluations from more than 6,300...
In the past, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has managed now and then to wrestle away the spotlight (albeit temporarily) on major telecom-tech issues of the day from the Federal Communications Commission. NTIA, a Commerce Department unit that serves as the principal adviser...
Litigation surrounding rules for the Jan. 24-scheduled 700 MHz auction has taken a sudden turn. Verizon Wireless filed to withdraw its appeal of the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz open-access rule, only to have cellphone association CTIA immediately fill the void by challenging the...
The municipal wireless market is undergoing a correction, but the re-evaluation of business models eventually will benefit the space and the emergence of WiMAX technology offers new possibilities, according to a Yankee Group webinar last week.After the now-collapsing adoption of "for-free" models that characterized...
Signs are popping up that carriers are getting closer to making use of the spectrum they acquired in the advanced wireless services auction last year. T-Mobile USA Inc. confirmed that it has begun offering its first 3G handset to customers in New York, although...
With the content-centered, postpaid mobile virtual network operator market in decline, analysts have already begun talking about the next evolution of the MVNO model. Apple Inc.'s iPhone is one example. So is recently launched Sonopia.Juha Christensen, CEO of Sonopia, compares his company to credit...
After 42 years at AT&T Inc., Stan Sigman announced his retirement as president and CEO of the company's wireless unit. The company said that Ralph de la Vega, group president for regional telecom and entertainment, will immediately take over Sigman's post at AT&T Mobility....
A recent study from Forrester Research predicts that the mobile enterprise market won't really arrive for another six years or so. But some application developers are hoping to bridge that gap by helping on-the-go employees to be less connected.The study, which was released in...
THE MOBILE-PHONE INDUSTRY FINDS ITSELF ADRIFT in a sea of uncertainty as the 2008 election year approaches, with litigation, legislation and other factors casting a collective cloud over spectrum auctions critical to rollout of next-generation wireless services and the existing regulatory regime.Competition for new...
WIRELESS CARRIERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS generally seem to operate with a disconnect on customer friendliness: carriers insist they are, but subscribers often scoff. However, customer satisfaction with carriers has generally been on an upswing lately, and operators have been putting into place new policies...
Family plans are the glue that keeps customers sticky, according to the most recent survey of customer satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates-and in households where family members share minutes, they are substantially happier with their wireless service than those who do not.The survey...
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected on procedural grounds a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's small business bidding rules, delaying for another day a ruling on the merits of a case with the potential to overturn the results of last year's...
These are tenuous times for T-Mobile USA.Having spent $4.2 billion for 120 licenses in last year's advanced wireless services auction and seeing its German sister company ready to live with the iPhone, you can understand why T-Mobile USA might be getting a little antsy...
The Federal Communications Commission launched a rulemaking on the highly-sought 2155 MHz-2175 MHz spectrum band, setting the stage for a resumption of a wireless open-access debate that gained strength during in the agency's 700 MHz proceeding.Late last month, the FCC tossed out applications of...
Verizon Wireless challenged in federal appeals court the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz open-access rules, the opening salvo in what could evolve into a messy legal battle. The move puts a cloud of uncertainty over the upcoming auction of more than a thousand wireless...
METROPCS COMMUNICATIONS INC. last week made public a proposal to merge with flat-rate rival Leap Wireless International Inc. in a move that could create a fifth carrier with a national presence and catapult no-contract offerings from the fringe to the spotlight.So far, Leap has...
Despite the Federal Communications Commission's publicly stated desire to avoid anti-competitive behavior in the 700 MHz auction and its embrace of blind bidding as a safeguard against such activity, there are growing concerns that the combination of hefty reserve prices on key spectrum blocks,...
