Editor’s Note: The RCR Wireless News Time Machine is a way to take advantage of our extensive history in covering the wireless space to fire up the DeLorean and take a trip back in time to re-visit some of the more interesting headlines from this week in history. Enjoy the ride!
AWS sets Feb. 13 deadline for offers
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. has reportedly set a Feb. 13 deadline for companies interested in submitting bids to acquire the nation’s third-largest wireless carrier, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company expects to have until Feb. 29 to evaluate final offers, according to published reports. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, AT&T Wireless’ investment banker Merrill Lynch & Co. sent a letter outlining the timeframe to a number of potential suitors, including Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s parent companies SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., current minority shareholder NTT DoCoMo Inc., Nextel Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group plc. … Read More
Wheeler got $500,000 in Cibernet sale
Thomas Wheeler, until recently the nation’s top mobile-phone lobbyist and now a major fund-raiser for surging Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, had his $2 million salary padded in 2002 with a $500,000 bonus from the $37 million sale of a for-profit subsidiary of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. The half-million-dollar bonus went to Wheeler, currently a consultant to CTIA, at a time when wireless companies were struggling financially. However, CTIA’s revenue increased to $68 million in 2002-a $30 million increase from the previous year. … Read More
AT&T Wireless leads FCC list of consumer complaints
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. received the most consumer complaints registered with the Federal Communications Commission during the third quarter of last year according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The report noted that AT&T Wireless, the country’s third-largest operator that recently announced it would begin soliciting bids to be acquired, received 6.4 complaints per 100,000 customers, topping Sprint PCS’ four complaints per 100,000 customers and T-Mobile USA Inc.’s 3.5 complaints per 100,000 customers. … Read More
Nortel discusses $2B divesture with Flextronics
Nortel Networks Ltd. is in talks to divest most of its major operations, including factories and supply chains, to Flextronics Inc., a contract electronics manufacturer. If the talks materialize, it may lead to a major loss of up to 2,500 jobs. The deal will affect operations in Montreal and Calgary in Canada, Campinas in Brazil, Monkstown in Northern Ireland and Chateadun in France. The operations affected amount to more than $2 billion, and Nortel said it will receive more than $500 million in cash from Flextronics over a nine-month period, if a deal is concluded. … Read More
Life (mostly) good for handset makers
Most of the world’s top mobile-phone makers celebrated major fourth-quarter victories, with record numbers of shipments and revenues boosted by the holiday season, but those in the industry expect the real action is still yet to come. Although most vendors including Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. and Siemens AG reported increased handset sales in a season of high demand, the real test for the industry’s top players will come in the coming months, analysts said. … Read More
Nokia’s N.A. dominance may be at risk
The reverberations from a mega-merger involving AT&T Wireless Services Inc. could easily spark repercussions in Illinois, Finland, South Korea and a number of other mobile-phone hot spots. The creation of a new wireless powerhouse in the United States might affect the fortunes of Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and the rest of the mobile-phone industry. If AT&T Wireless were to merge with Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Vodafone Group plc, NTT DoCoMo Inc. or any of its other rumored suitors, the newly formed carrier would have a major new impact on the mobile-phone landscape in the United States. The more subscribers a carrier has, the more control it can exert over its handset providers. Thus, a new player in the U.S. market could easily propel Nokia to the top of the market, or just as easily do the same to Samsung. … Read More
After fits and starts, OnStar finds profitability
Chet Huber is selling safety, security and peace of mind. And, he says, people are buying. Huber, president of General Motors’ telematics company OnStar Corp., offers up plenty of evidence for his claim: a total of 2.5 million paying customers, renewal rates above 50 percent and-perhaps most importantly-financial profitability. … Read More
New Jersey implements second statewide driving and dialing ban
New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey (D) signed legislation banning handheld phone use while operating a motor vehicle, the second state to take phones out of drivers’ hands. New York is the only other state to impose such a prohibition, though many other states have considered doing the same. Some towns have enacted ordinances outlawing driver use of handheld phones. A number of countries have imposed restrictions on cell-phone use by drivers. … Read More
Sprint extends billing options to third parties
To Internet or not to Internet is the question. Some carriers have embraced the idea of selling wireless content over third-party Internet sites, while others have steadfastly rejected it. Content providers like Walt Disney Internet Group are clamoring for the technology in hopes that it will spur sales, but the strategic issues surrounding such a capability so far remain unresolved. The issue is being played out at Sprint PCS, which recently decided to extend its billing-on-behalf-of service to Internet sites run by its content partners. … Read More
IT jobs available, but skill levels higher, pay lower
The economy has begun to rebound, but recovery in the job market remains elusive, and information technology industries in particular continue to report cuts. “Given the non-cyclical factors that have influenced the IT labor market, it is unclear how soon unemployment rates for workers in computer-related occupations will return to pre-2000 levels,” read the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Digital Economy 2003 report released last month. … Read More
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