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Report: U.S. Cellular picks up A-Block licenses from CenturyLink

Interference concerns surrounding lower 700 MHz spectrum licenses does not appear to be derailing U.S. Cellular, which according to a report picked up a handful of A-Block licenses from a fellow regional telecom operator. According to a report released today by Wells Fargo Securities, U.S....

Reality Check: Time for the board questions – a primer

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.The end of the third quarter is quickly arriving with surprisingly little fanfare: no last minute sales...

Broadband subsidies may test Obama’s savvy on ethics, public patience

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Billions of new dollars may become available for broadband in national stimulus spending, with wireless companies and...

Broadband subsidies may test Obama's savvy on ethics, public patience

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.Billions of new dollars may become available for broadband in national stimulus spending, with wireless companies and...

CenturyTel and Embarq to marry in $11.6B deal

CenturyTel Inc.'s board of directors gave the company the green light to acquire Embarq Corp. in a projected $11.6 billion transaction. CenturyTel will also acquire $5.8 billion of Embarq's debt.If the deal goes through, Embarq shareholders would own 66% of the combined company, while...

Financial ratings wrap-up: Adtran, Nokia, Texas Instruments and more

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its rating on AT&T Inc.'s commercial paper program, which has been raised to $15 billion from $12 billion. --Morgan...

700 MHz auction ends: Wireless heavyweights biggest players, others surprise

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility ran the table at the 700 MHz auction, accounting for most of the record $19.6 billion in bidding that broke historic ground on open access, lost ground on public safety and gave dozens of mostly white-male-owned small businesses a...

700 MHz: Industry takes stock as dust clears

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility ran the table at the 700 MHz auction, accounting for most of the record $19.6 billion in bidding that broke historic ground on open access, lost ground on public safety and gave dozens of mostly white-male-owned small businesses a...

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility on top in 700 MHz auction results: Google leaves event empty-handed

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility won the vast majority of the 700 MHz spectrum up for grabs during the Federal Communications Commission's recently completed auction. Verizon Wireless was the event's biggest spender, doling out $9.63 billion (fully half of the almost $20 billion in...

3 smaller carriers report increases in data ARPU

Dobson Communications Corp. reported solid results for the final period of 2006, growing its subscriber base and increasing its average revenue per user. Dobson ended the year with an ARPU of $49.92-up $3.82 year-over-year. The data portion of Dobson's ARPU also increased, jumping from...

Leap, MetroPCS break into major markets with AWS spectrum

There were no last-minute bombshells when the advanced wireless services spectrum auction wrapped up last week after a few final, tedious rounds with a mere handful of bids. T-Mobile USA Inc. was the undisputed and unsurprising highest bidder, walking away with a hefty new...

Auction reaches $13B as telcos add to portfolio

If, as the saying goes, pops are tops in an auction, then T-Mobile USA Inc. is certainly outdoing itself in the advanced wireless services spectrum auction thus far. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel Corp.'s joint venture with several cable companies also is doing well, despite losing...

Weekly infrastructure awards wrap-up

The value of the contract is included when available. Click here for additional infrastructure awards from RCR Wireless News.CellularFrance: Bouygues Telecom selected Nortel Networks as a supplier for its national high-speed mobile Internet and voice network. Nortel will provide HSDPA technology for the deployment...

AUCTION NEWS: T-Mobile USA continues aggressive play

WASHINGTON—T-Mobile USA Inc. is dominating the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction after three rounds in terms of sheer dollars, with $226.6 million in bids so far. The carrier is the high bidder on 25 spectrum licenses covering 235 million potential customers.Click here for the...

Broadband, universal service pop up in assorted Hill venues

WASHINGTON-The issue of broadband availability for all Americans was a reoccurring theme on Capitol Hill last week as lawmakers of all political stripes and from all parts of the country weighed in on whether and how the universal-service program should be reformed. The Senate...

S&P sees cable companies threatening wireline, wireless

NEW YORK-Credit ratings firm Standard & Poor's is turning a sharp eye on wireline companies and their wireless offspring, citing concerns about wireline businesses' ability to compete with Voice over Internet Protocol providers, particularly cable companies. Verizon Communications Inc. and its related companies, including...

Pure-play Alltel must decide whether to buy into national market

With Alltel Corp.'s announcement last week that it would spin off its wireline business and merge it with Valor Communications Group, the nation's fifth-largest carrier is on its way to becoming purely a wireless player in an increasingly consolidated mobile marketplace. The declaration had...

Dobson buys Cellular One brand

OKLAHOMA CITY-Dobson Communications Corp., the primary licensee of the Cellular One brand, said it plans to purchase the brand from Alltel Corp. for $1.3 million. Alltel acquired the Cellular One brand when it purchased Western Wireless Corp. in August. Raymond James & Associates analyst...

Dobson buys Cellular One brand

OKLAHOMA CITY-Dobson Communications Corp., the primary licensee of the CellularOne brand, said it plans to purchase the brand from Alltel Corp. for $1.3 million. Alltel acquired the Cellular One brand when it purchased Western Wireless Corp. in August. Raymond James & Associates analyst Ric...

Alltel completes sale of Irish subsidiary, moving closer to wireline sale

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-Alltel Corp. said it completed the sale of its Ireland-based Meteor Mobile Communications Ltd. business to a subsidiary of fixed-line telecommunications provider Eircom Group plc. for $500 million. The sale was originally announced in late July ahead of Alltel's $6 billion acquisition...

Alltel expands into Midwest for $1 billion

Alltel Corp. continued its rural expansion by gobbling up privately held Midwest Wireless for $1.075 billion in cash. The acquisition comes just months after Alltel closed on its $6 billion purchase of Western Wireless Corp. and follows its 2002 acquisition of CenturyTel Inc.'s wireless...

Alltel rolls up Midwest Wireless

Alltel Corp. continued its rural expansion by gobbling up privately held Midwest Wireless for $1.075 billion in cash. The acquisition comes just months after Alltel closed on its $6 billion purchase of Western Wireless Corp. and follows its 2002 acquisition of CenturyTel Inc.'s wireless...

Verizon, Alltel possible buyers for Midwest

Midwest Wireless is the latest regional wireless operator to look at potential strategic alternatives for its operations. The privately held carrier serves more than 420,000 customers on its CDMA-based network in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Midwest Wireless Chief Operating Officer Scott Bergs...

CenturyTel halts MVNO trials on Cingular system due to coverage

MONROE, La.-Regional telecommunications provider CenturyTel Inc. said that network coverage issues have delayed its plans to begin offering wireless services using Cingular Wireless L.L.C.'s network under a mobile virtual network operator arrangement. CenturyTel noted that it was trialing the service with Cingular in a...