RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. said it expects to complete the spinoff of its local telecom business, dubbed Embarq Corp., on May 17. That day, Sprint Nextel expects to distribute to its shareholders all of Embarq’s shares as a stock dividend, based on a ratio...
TORONTO—Nortel Networks Corp. released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2005 results following several delays due to the company’s financial restatements. In the fourth quarter, Nortel posted a loss of $2.3 billion due to its proposed settlement of shareholder class action litigation. "The restatements have been...
Following several years of lean results, tower companies appear to be righting their ships thanks to network expansions and new technology investments. Indeed, Mark DeRussy, analyst with Raymond James Equity Research, said the tower sector remains solid as carriers continue to focus on network...
WASHINGTON-Customers of at least one rural telecommunications cooperative are cutting the cord at the rate of five to 10 per month, J. Frederick Johnson, executive vice president and general manager of Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative, based in Rainsville., Ala., told RCR Wireless News. Johnson said...
A slew of first-quarter earnings announced last week reflected a generally upbeat quarter for regional wireless carriers. U.S. Cellular Corp. relieved some pressure, having finally released operating results from the third quarter of 2005 and financial restatements dating back to 2000.U.S. Cellular reported that...
Sprint Nextel Corp. reported a mixed first quarter, with gross additions and wireless revenues up compared to the same period last year. However, merger-and-integration and marketing costs pulled down the company's earnings. Sprint Nextel said it added 1.3 million net subscribers, with the mix...
Post-CTIA Wireless 2006, the pundits and ponderers have plenty to chew on. With the conference showcasing the leading edge, the bleeding edge and the receding edges of the wireless industry and mobile technology, it offered a view of where the industry has come from...
OKLAHOMA CITY-Dobson Communications Corp.'s wireless subsidiary, American Cellular Corp., expanded its spectrum position in Texas with the $25 million purchase of a Rural Service Area and additional spectrum in markets that the company already serves. The Texas 15 RSA covers nearly 12,500 square miles...
Network integration work has given Cingular Wireless L.L.C. a better grasp of how subscribers are using its network, according to company officials-and in some cases, that is leading to customers' service being suspended due to excessive roaming. Cingular's terms specify that customers must live...
BONN, Germany-Blackstone Group, a private investment group, has agreed to buy about 4.5 percent of Deutsche Telekom AG's outstanding shares, the German-based operator announced. Blackstone plans to purchase approximately 192 million shares from Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau, a German state-owned bank. According to DT, the...
As the highly anticipated advanced wireless spectrum auction nears, infrastructure vendors are positioning themselves to reap profits from the auction's aftermath. Both Radio Frequency Systems and Andrew Corp.'s Comsearch subsidiary said they have developed tools to help carriers, enterprises and government agencies plan and...
As earnings reports tumbled in, equipment vendors pointed to third-generation pricing wars and the still-not-granted 3G licenses for China's advanced network buildout as reasons for sluggish financials. Alcatel Inc. reported strong growth in its fixed-line business during the first quarter, but intense competition in...
The flurry of activity in the content and messaging space continued last week as Wireless Services Corp. announced the acquisition of Mobile Media North America. Terms of the deal were not announced. WSC said it plans to merge the operations of the off-deck content...
It's safe to say U.S. wireless subscribers have caught up with much of the rest of the world in terms of data consumption. But it appears American carriers still have their work cut out for them when it comes to cashing in. The United...
WASHINGTON-A bold plan to take a large swath of spectrum off the auction block and devote the valuable airwaves to a national broadband public-safety network-one having interoperability capabilities missing before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks-ran smack up against opposition from large...
WASHINGTON-The House Commerce Committee voted to streamline the process that the Federal Communications Commission uses to approve multi-mode devices. "All we are trying to do is kick in a quicker process so that we don't have to wait 64 days to get approval for...
WASHINGTON-A dispute among Democrats during a House panel debate on telecom reform underscored how lawmakers' views of network neutrality often corresponds to whether they think telephone companies should be allowed to compete in the TV space. In the end, a watered-down telecom reform bill,...
LONDON-Vonage Holdings Corp. reported plans to partner with European Wi-Fi hot-spot operator The Cloud to offer Internet-based mobile-phone calls. The companies are working to launch a service that would allow Vonage subscribers with Wi-Fi phones to make calls from The Cloud's U.K. hot spots...
LOS ANGELES-Mobile episodes of the hit TV show "Lost" are once again in the works following an agreement between Walt Disney Co. and three Hollywood unions. Disney's Touchstone Television reached an agreement with the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guild of America and the...
DURHAM, N.C.-Motricity is looking to expand its content business after raking in $40 million in venture capital. Advanced Equities Inc. led Motricity's most recent round; fellow existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Technology Crossover Ventures also participated. Motricity has raised more than $120 million...
REDMOND, Wash.-Microsoft Corp. said its Mobile and Embedded Devices unit operating loss widened during its fiscal third quarter ended March 31. The company reported a $14 million loss for the unit, an increase from the $9 million loss it reported during the same quarter...
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-Nokia Corp. has agreed to pay $253 million to InterDigital Communications Corp. to settle a long-running patent dispute between the companies, according to InterDigital. InterDigital's stock soared more than 20 percent on the news to around $27.01 per share. Nokia's stock...
Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., Motorola Inc., Nortel Networks Ltd. and Siemens AG are just a few of the heavy-hitters aiming to certify interoperability requirements through a new trade group, the Communications Platforms Trade Association. While similar groups have been lauded by industry watchers, many...
This year is supposed to be the Year of the Launch for the new generation of mobile virtual network operators, the time when these MVNOs get on their feet and begin to gain traction in the wireless race. With several high-profile MVNOs already launched,...
