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!
The biggest news this week was Verizon Communications’ announcement that it planned to acquire Vodafone’s 45% stake in domestic wireless operator Verizon Wireless for $130 billion in a move to gain full control of its wireless operations. The deal has been rumored as on the table for years, with action heating up on negotiations over the past several months.
Connected with the deal was Verizon’s announcement that it was no longer interested in entering the Canadian wireless market, sending shares of current Canadian wireless operators soaring.
–U.K.-based mobile operator EE announced that its LTE network coverage surpassed 100 markets at the end of August, swelling to 105 total markets covered, or 60% of the U.K.’s population. The network was initially launched last October, with the carrier announcing surpassing the 500,000 customer mark this past June.
In addition to expanding LTE coverage, EE announced it had turned on its so-called “double-speed” LTE services in five new markets, pushing coverage to 20 markets. EE noted that the “double-speed” LTE service provides customers with average downlink speeds of up to 30 megabits per second. The higher speeds are provided through the doubling of the spectrum supporting those services with the increase of 1.8 GHz spectrum dedicated to its offering from the current 10 megahertz to 20 megahertz.
—Verizon Wireless aced J.D. Power’s latest network quality performance survey, posting the best scores across all six regions, which J.D. Power noted was the first time since it moved to the regional format in 2004 that one carrier has scored top ratings across the board.
According to J.D. Power, the semi-annual survey evaluates wireless customers’ most recent usage activities in three areas it claims impact network performance: calling, messaging and data. “Overall network performance is based on 10 problem areas that impact the customer experience: dropped calls; calls not connected; audio issues; failed/late voicemails; lost calls; text transmission failures; late text message notifications; Web connection errors; slow downloads; and e-mail connection errors.” Carriers are scored on a measurement of problems per 100 network connections, with a lower score signifying fewer problems and “better network performance.” Regions of the survey included the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, North Central, Southwest and West.
Verizon Wireless posted scores of “9” in the Northeast; “8” in the Mid-Atlantic; “9” in the Southeast; “8” in the North Central where it tied with regional carrier U.S. Cellular; “9” in the Southwest; and “8” in the West.
AT&T Mobility was runner-up across all regions, while Sprint and T-Mobile US traded the final two positions across all regions.
The survey also found that customers reported “significantly fewer data problems” with LTE smartphones (16 problems per 100 network connections) versus 3G phones (18 pp100); LTE-equipped smartphone customers were more loyal to their carrier; “full-service carriers” recorded fewer problems than “non-contract” carriers; and customers spent on average $17 more per month after having switched to a new carrier in order to “obtain better network or coverage.”
–Latin American telecommunications giant América Móvil announced that it was looking at withdrawing its offer to acquire controlling interest in Dutch operator KPN following moves by KPN’s supervisory board to block such an attempt.
“In the event that the Foundation maintains its current position and seeks to prevent the offer from proceeding to the detriment of KPN’s customers, employees and shareholders, and also to the detriment of telecommunication services in the Netherlands, all of whom América Móvil firmly believes will benefit from the offer, América Móvil is prepared to withdraw its offer,” the company noted in a statement.
América Móvil announced in early August its intention to make a voluntary cash tender offer for the outstanding ordinary shares of KPN at a price of $3.20 per share, which was a 35.4% premium over the average closing price of KPN’s ordinary shares on Euronext Amsterdam for the previous 30 trading days. The bid for the approximately 70% of Dutch telecoms group it does not already own is forecasted to reach $9.6 billion.
América Móvil said at the time that the move was aimed at exploring opportunities to expand its operations to other regions outside the Americas in order to achieve geographical diversification and create attractive long-term returns for its shareholders. América Móvil noted “it aims to support to a greater extent KPN’s plans in a rapidly changing environment in Europe so that both companies benefit from their respective experiences in the sector.”
However, KPN’s supervisory board has since allowed the granting of an option to the “Stitching Preference Shares B KPN,” also known as the “Foundation” to purchase shares in KPN that would prevent América Móvil from gaining controlling interest.
–Wireless spectrum licenses in the 218-219 MHz band are open for bidding, according to Equity Partners and Moglia Advisors, who stated they have been retained by current license owners in several markets to sell or lease those licenses. The markets involved include Detroit; Los Angeles; Denver; Little Rock/North Little Rock, Ark.; Topeka, Kan.; Ft. Wayne, Ind.; and potentially up to nine additional “top U.S. markets.”
Equity Partners and Moglia Advisors noted that the spectrum could be aggregated to allow for the deployment of a private wireless network serving smart grid, railway, traffic monitoring and shipping operations.
“While Equity Partners and its clients intend to aggregate and offer up to 1 full megahertz of bandwidth in the aforementioned markets, additional bandwidth may be accessed from owners of adjacent spectrum if required,” the companies noted in a statement.
Additional carrier news can be found on the RCR Wireless News “Carriers” page.
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