U.S. Cellular Corp. completed the sale of its Daytona Beach, Fla., 20-megahertz C block license to MetroPCS California/Florida Inc. U.S. Cellular said it scored $8.5 million in cash from the previously announced deal. “This sale is another example of our strategy to exit those markets that are not strategic to the company’s long-term success,” said John Rooney, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Cellular. “As a result of this and similar transactions we have conducted over the last year, we are able to redeploy capital to more important parts of the business.”
T-Mobile International said it extended the range of devices on which it supports BlackBerry services in Europe through the introduction of BlackBerry Connect and BlackBerry Built-In. Support for BlackBerry services will initially be introduced with T-Mobile’s MDA II. Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry Connect licensing program enables device manufacturers to equip their handsets with the ability to connect the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Internet Service.
Leap Wireless International Inc. unveiled an application that allows users to download movie quotes and soundtracks to their handsets. Subscribers of the company’s Cricket service with Cricket Clicks-enabled phones can buy FlixTones, a ringtone application that includes songs and dialog clips from movies. The operator is offering a clip for $3, three clips for $8 and five for $12. 9 Squared Inc., a Denver-based ringtone company, is providing content for the application.
Nextel Communications Inc. said its year-old partnership with NASCAR has yielded a 400-percent increase in Nextel’s customer base within the NASCAR industry. “We’ve found that the NASCAR fan is a very high-value customer,” said Tim Donahue, president and chief executive officer of Nextel. “The NASCAR fan who is a Nextel customer uses 300 more minutes for calls and 150 more minutes for Direct Connect on a monthly basis in comparison to our traditional customer.”: Nextel has a 10-year, $750 million sponsorship deal with NASCAR.
