Editor’s Note: Wireless operators are a busy bunch, and as such RCR Wireless News will attempt to gather some of the important announcements that may slip through the cracks from the world’s largest carriers in a weekly wrap-up. Enjoy!
Consolidation was the name of the carrier game over the past week as T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS finally consummated their merger resulting in a stronger No. 4 operator under the T-Mobile US banner, while Clearwire’s “special committee” threw its support behind Sprint Nextel’s current bid to acquire the remaining stake in the carrier.
Both deals are expected to produce stronger rivals for the domestic markets dominate two operators in Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, though there are still plenty of hurdles in place to trip up those efforts.
–Korean telecom giant SK Telecom reported a 3.6% year-over-year increase in first quarter revenues, which hit $3.8 billion for the most recent quarter. The carrier attributed the strong growth to continued uptake of its LTE services, which hit 9.33 million subscribers at the end of the quarter. That number has since surpassed 10 million subscribers as of April 21.
SK Telecom’s consolidated net income increased 15.2% year-over-year, which the company attributed to strong performance from its SK Hynix memory semiconductor business. SK Telecom said it expects its media and healthcare businesses to begin contributing more to its bottom line moving forward.
–India-based telecom operator Bharti Airtel reported that it has acquired the remaining stake in Airtel Bangladesh that it did not already control. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
That deal was quickly followed by news from Bharti Airtel that it had sold a 5% stake in it operations to the Qatar Fondation Endowment for $1.26 billion. Bharti Airtel noted that it would use the investment to strengthen its capital structure and provide funds for future growth opportunities.
—Sprint Nextel unveiled its CloudCompute infrastructure-as-a-service offering, integrating CSC’s virtualized, utility-based cloud computing platform with Sprint Nextel’s MPLS network. The offering is targeted at providing networking and IT services to domestic enterprise customers.
Sprint Nextel said the IAAS offering provides “class of service” as part of the deal, which is designed to manage network traffic through prioritization.
—AT&T Mobility continued its LTE expansion, announcing the availability of services in more than a dozen new markets. The new markets include Warrensburg and Sedalia, Mo.; Jacksonville, Beeville and Palenstine, Texas; Manhattan, Kan.; Frankfort, Ky.; McMinnville and Cookeville, Tenn.; Huntington and Ashland, W. Va.; Aberdeen, Wash.; Monroeville, Ala.; Saginaw and Bay City, Mich.; and Vieques, P.R.
In addition to its network expansion, AT&T said it has expanded its relationship with IT consulting and outsourcing company Wipro to implement a machine-to-machine solution targeting “all major industries.” The offering will use AT&T’s M2M Application Platform.
–Not to be done in the LTE rollout race, Verizon Wireless also announced expansion of its network this week, with an emphasis in the Northeast. The carrier said it has expanded service in Rochester, Victor, Buffalo, Niagra, Syracuse, Albany and Guilderland areas of New York, as well as expansion along the Atlantic coast of New Hampshire and Maine.
–This week also witnessed the final round of quarterly operating reports from wireless carriers, with T-Mobile USA releasing full Q1 results, and the last for the company in its previous incarnation; Ntelos posting robust results for a rural operator; and U.S. Cellular posting results impacted by postpaid churn and financial obligations tied to smartphone sales. Here’s hoping that U.S. Cellular’s plans to offer Apple products this year can at least stem the postpaid defection tide.
–And finally, though slightly off the carrier topic, tower company CiG Wireless said it has acquired 38 tower sites and 252 work-in-progress sites from Liberty Towers for $33.2 million.
Additional carrier news can be found on the RCR Wireless News “Carriers” page.
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