The Canadian wireless market has seen a run-up in stock prices this year as tremendous growth and recent consolidation activity have driven increased interest in the sector."1998 was not a bad year, but it was a little wishy-washy," said George Karidis, director of research...
WASHINGTON-MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. jointly filed with the Federal Communications Commission an application for approval of their merger.MCI WorldCom and Sprint announced their agreement to merge last month.The application includes a brief and several affidavits by company officers and outside experts. It...
CLINTON, Miss.-MCI WorldCom Inc. declared a three-for-two stock split to be effected as a 50-percent stock dividend.The new shares will be distributed Dec. 30 to shareholders of record as of the close of business Dec. 15. Cash will be paid in lieu of fractional...
Vodafone AirTouch plc Friday launched a hostile takeover bid for Mannesmann AG after the German company flatly rejected an earlier all-stock bid of about $106 billion."We made a friendly approach to Mannesmann last Sunday," said Chris Gent, Vodafone AirTouch's chief executive officer. "That proposal...
Sprint Corp. is in deep negotiations with owners of Mexican wireless operator Pegaso PCS to gain a stake in the carrier, sources close to the companies say.An ownership agreement would give Sprint, which agreed to merge with MCI WorldCom Inc. last month, its first...
NEW YORK-Not unexpectedly, the multiservice telecommunications giants led the way in revenues and profits for the first half of this year.Profit leadersBell Atlantic Corp. led in profits for the period, posting $2.315 billion, a 19.5-percent increase from the same period of 1998. It traded...
In a deal loud with industry-shaking repercussions, the nation's top two paging carriers announced their intention to merge last week, raising the consolidation bar to a level as yet unseen in industry's history.Arch Communications Group Inc., the second-largest paging carrier, emerged as the victor...
WASHINGTON-With the tidal wave of telecommunications mergers occurring, regulators must ensure that whatever conditions they impose on companies to protect consumers are done right the first time."It is not really practical to go back later. You do the best you can ... we have...
Sprint PCS and Sanyo Fisher Co. announced the nationwide availability of the Sprint PCS SCP-4000 dual-band, Internet-ready wireless phone by Sanyo. The phone offers access to the Sprint PCS Wireless Web via an integral Web mini browser. With the optional Sprint PCS Wireless Web...
STAMFORD, Conn.-AT&T Corp. jumped from fifth to second place in Corporate Branding L.L.C.'s latest annual ranking of telecommunications companies, the firm said. Motorola Inc. retained the study's top spot, while GTE Corp. was bumped from second to third."Acquisitions and other aggressive moves by CEO...
WASHINGTON-While lawmakers and industry executives debated the proposed $130 billion merger between MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp.-the largest transaction in history-Senate Judiciary Committee Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) introduced legislation last week to relax regulatory and financial requirements for smaller mergers.The MCI WorldCom-Sprint deal, largely...
During the last five weeks, merger and acquisition announcements have flooded the telecommunications arena. Carriers in Asia, Europe and North America continue to jockey for positions in an industry that promises to exclude players without multinational footprints.Telia/TelenorThe merger of Telia of Sweden and Telenor...
BellSouth Corp. last week announced plans to restructure the company to better position itself to provide bundled services.The move comes just weeks after BellSouth failed in a bid to acquire Sprint Corp., which agreed instead to merge with MCI WorldCom Inc.Jeff Battcher, a spokesman...
NEW YORK-US Unwired Inc., a Sprint PCS affiliate headquartered in Lake Charles, La., plans to tap the public debt markets for $200 million in 10-year notes, Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Oct. 12.The New York-based rating agency assigned a speculative grade rating of Caa1...
WASHINGTON-The merger train rolled through the Federal Communications Commission last week as the FCC reacted to a number of telecommunications industry-changing mergers.The FCC does not officially review mergers but has to review the transfer of licenses, considered to be a key part of any...
Dear Bernie,Congratulations on your promotion into the wireless industry. While I admired your foray into wireless with MCI WorldCom's acquisition of SkyTel, I admit I was surprised at your company's coup in picking up Sprint's PCS licenses.You obviously are a savvy businessman with a...
MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. last week agreed to a definitive merger agreement that will combine the second- and third-largest U.S. long-distance carriers and give MCI WorldCom a much-needed nationwide wireless presence.According to the agreement, each share of Sprint will be exchanged for...
American Mobile Satellite Corp. began offering its eLink wireless e-mail service commercially last week, featuring two-way wireless extension of desktop Internet e-mail to handheld devices and personal information management functions. The solution uses AMSC's Ardis packet data network and Research In Motion Ltd.'s 850...
Got a scandal? You a friend of Gore? Who ya gonna call? Stan Brand, of course. Stan the Man is the go-to guy for Dems in decline. Brand helped Tennessee developer Franklin Haney escape unscathed from the FCC-Portals probe. Now Brand is trying to...
Speculation circulated last week that MCI WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp. were in merger talks, following published reports that linked the two companies.Neither company would comment on the reports.Meanwhile, MCI WorldCom closed on its acquisition of SkyTel Friday.Both MCI WorldCom and Sprint long have...
NEW YORK-Illuminet Holdings Inc., which calls itself the largest unaffiliated Signaling System 7 network provider in the country, plans an initial public offering of 3.9 million shares priced between $14.50 and $16.50 each.Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, New York, is lead underwriter for the proposed...
NEW ORLEANS-The bankruptcies of certain C-block and mobile satellite companies, coupled with mutual fund outflows, rising interest rates and other macro-economic trends, have aligned like planets in a bad omen for wireless companies that cannot get financing before Halloween.This year, there remains a window...
When the clocks roll over at midnight on 31 December, the world will usher in not only a new century, but a new paradigm in the way people communicate.What took decades to build in developed countries-a telecommunications infrastructure-will take a matter of months or...
About the time PCS licenses were first up for grabs, industry prognosticators predicted that four or five mega-carriers would one day rule the U.S. wireless industry.Are we there yet?As Bell Atlantic admits it is talking with Vodafone AirTouch plc about a link-up between their...
