BROWSING: Towers

As mobile matures, marketers seek consumer affinities

Age, income, gender and location are among the familiar elements of demographic-based marketing across industries and, to an extent, the wireless industry has embraced the basics. One-touch dialing for pre-teens and seniors, feature-loaded, expensive gadgets for early adopters, pink handsets for (presumably) women, satellite...

Full-length music tracks force change in ringtone biz

The days of charging consumers $3 for a 30-second ringtone may be coming to an end. But for carriers, record labels, artists and software developers, there is still plenty of money to be made in mobile music "personalization." Analysts long have predicted the demise...

DBS, cable bidders may seek alternative partners: Nontraditional bidders withdraw from AWS auction

Despite initial anticipation that cable and satellite companies would use the advanced wireless services spectrum auction to catapult into the mobile marketplace, the hype doesn't seem to be panning out. However, walking away from the spectrum auction may not be a bad thing, at...

AUCTION NEWS: Satellite players call it quits

WASHINGTON—Satellite television providers EchoStar Communications Corp. and DirecTV Group Inc. have pulled out of the advanced wireless service spectrum auction.Click here for the latest headlines from the AWS auction. Click here for full AWS auction coverage.Look below for full details on round 18The satellite...

SBA unit picks up 79 towers from Horvath

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Horvath Communications Inc. sold 79 towers in Midwestern and eastern metropolitan markets to HC Acquisition L.L.C., a subsidiary or SBA Communications Corp. Horvath said it still owns several facilities and has plans to build more than 100 towers by the end of...

Former Comverse executive caught in stock option net

NEW YORK-The broadening investigation into stock-option grants continues to plague wireless as federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against three former executives of Comverse Technology Inc. The criminal complaint, which was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, accuses founder and former Chief Executive Officer Kobi...

Tower firms post mixed 2Q, bet on bright WiMAX buildout

There's nothing like a new nationwide WiMAX network to invigorate the already booming tower industry, though news of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s WiMAX plans didn't come in time to boost second-quarter results from Global Signal Inc. or American Tower Corp. During an earnings conference call,...

AWS spectrum could be boon for tower players

In addition to the potential impact from Sprint Nextel Corp.'s WiMAX deployment, analyst firms expect tower companies to see an impact from the ongoing advanced wireless services spectrum auction. In a recent report, Merrill Lynch provided insights on potential tower industry challenges from the...

Weekly wireless ratings wrap-up

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms. Click here for wireless ratings from past weeks from RCR Wireless News. CarrierRBC Capital Markets downgraded Sprint Nextel Corp. to sector perform from outperform and...

Worst of the Week: Sprint Nextel’s magic trick

Fear not, Mike Dano-ranting fans, your leader has not disappeared, but is only resting so as to return stronger with your beloved ravings about all things wrong in wireless. In the meantime, I have been tapped by the all-powerful-foaming-from-the-mouth-one to handle this week’s edition...

Former Comverse executive caught in stock option net

NEW YORK—The broadening investigation into stock-option grants continues to plague wireless as federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against three former executives of Comverse Technology Inc. The criminal complaint, which was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, accuses founder and former Chief Executive Officer Kobi...

Global Signal Q2 losses grow, but Sprint Nextel buildout could offer gains

SARASOTA, Fla.—For the fifth quarter in a row, Global Signal Inc. blamed its net losses on the company’s $1.2 billion cash purchase of 6,600 Sprint Nextel Corp. towers, which the company announced in May 2005. Global Signal said its second-quarter net losses grew to...

Investors flat on SBA’s higher losses

BOCA RATON, Fla.-SBA Communications Corp., the nation's fourth-largest tower owner, posted second-quarter losses of $75.6 million despite increased revenues of $87.4 million. Last year in the same quarter the company recorded $63.2 million in revenues and a loss of $26.2 million. The company said...

SEC launches investigation of Crown Castle

HOUSTON-Following Crown Castle International Corp.'s good news-the company's shrinking net loss in the second quarter-the company released some not-so-good news that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal inquiry into the company's stock-option practices. Crown said it will cooperate with the SEC...

American Tower mulls earnings restatement due to stock-option investigation

BOSTON—American Tower Corp., the nation’s largest tower company, released limited second-quarter results—but said it will probably restate its past earnings as a result of its investigation of stock option-granting practices. AMT said it expects to report its full second-quarter results in the next four...

SEC launches investigation of Crown Castle

HOUSTON—Following Crown Castle International Corp.’s good news—the company’s shrinking net loss in the second quarter—the company released some not-so-good news that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal inquiry into the company’s stock-option practices. Crown said it will cooperate with the SEC...

Investors flat on SBA results

BOCA RATON, Fla.—SBA Communications Corp., the nation’s fourth-largest tower owner, posted second-quarter losses of $75.6 million despite increased revenues of $87.4 million. Last year in the same quarter the company recorded $63.2 million in revenues and a loss of $26.2 million. The company said...

Weekly wireless ratings wrap-up

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms. Click here for wireless ratings from past weeks from RCR Wireless News. CarrierStandard & Poor’s Ratings Services cut its corporate credit and unsecured debt ratings...

Device security demands precious processing power

Device-based security, which despite competing notions of stored data vs. data-in-motion, has its role. In that case, according to the Tower Group's Bob Egan, keep in mind that the drivers-both legal and "reputational," if you will-are powerful and the market is small. Smart phones...

MVNOs resolute amid whispers of pulling the plug

The mobile virtual network operator bandwagon, cruising along smoothly a few months ago, appears to be suffering from a case of backlash. Recent MVNO news and rumors haven't been particularly pretty. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a scathing assessment of MVNOs' performance thus...

Securing phones for enterprise: It’s all data-in-motion now

16The spate of recent headlines can only feed the well-founded paranoia of corporate IT managers struggling to serve their colleagues' quest for mobility. The enterprise's demand for data on-the-go naturally includes e-mail and requests for proprietary corporate information, including access to the corporate network-sending...

Mobile WiMAX to outpace fixed solutions, Juniper says

HAMPSHIRE, England—Mobile WiMAX is set to outpace fixed WiMAX technology, according to a new report from Juniper Research, which claims that mobile WiMAX will grow from 1.7 million subscribers in 2007 to 21.3 million by 2012. Juniper released its WiMAX report as the initial...

Colleges: The textbook MVNO target

A growing number of colleges and universities around the country are grappling with how to communicate with and provide services for students who are part of a mobile generation, often have their own cellular phones and likely aren't going to sign up for landline...

Mobile WiMAX taking shape

Given all the recent WiMAX announcements, it seems that the communications infrastructure community has convinced the rest of the world to invest in WiMAX technology, whether for fixed or mobile networks. In Seoul, South Korea's top two carriers, SK Telecom Co. Ltd. and KT...