BROWSING: Policy

Clearwire letter to investors favors Sprint Nextel offer

Clearwire’s management continues to show its preference for an acquisition by Sprint Nextel, sending a letter this morning to investors urging them to approve the pending $2.2 billion deal and laying out reasons for its decision. The letter, authored by current Clearwire Executive Chairman John...

Softbank-sponsored report touts superiority of its Sprint Nextel offer; duelling websites set up

Softbank continued its push to convince Sprint Nextel shareholders that its proposed $20.1 billion acquisition of a 70% stake in the carrier is superior than a competing offer from Dish Network, with the latest salvo involving a sponsored report undercutting the proposed value of...

Clearwire ‘special committee’ favors Sprint Nextel offer

Clearwire looks to have officially endorsed its pending acquisition by Sprint Nextel, with a “special committee” set up by the carrier sending a letter out this morning to investors recommending they vote in favor of the $2.2 billion deal. The vote is scheduled for...

Wheeler tapped to head FCC; industry put on notice

President Obama followed through on expectations today in nominating wireless industry veteran and former lobbyist Tom Wheeler as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Wheeler would be replacing current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who announced today that he will be leaving by the middle...

Time Trippin’: iPhone invades Canada; Carriers gorge on spectrum … 5 years ago this week

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...

FirstNet names D’Agostino, Jr., GM

The nation’s attempt to put together a public-safety wireless network gained leadership today as the FirstNet board of directors announced the hiring of Bill D’Agostino, Jr., as GM. D’Agostino will head up FirstNet’s ambitious attempt to construct a nationwide mobile broadband network to serve...

CCA Spring 2013: C Spire makes bold moves into LTE space (video)

NEW ORLEANS – Regional wireless operator C Spire has been one of the more aggressive smaller operators in rolling out LTE services, having last year launched services using its own spectrum and network assets. The carrier’s LTE plans were at first expected to take...

Verizon Wireless expands LTE in Rural America program to Alaska

Verizon Wireless continues to attract rural operators to its LTE in Rural America program with the announcement that Alaska-based KPU Telecommunications has signed up for the offering. KPU, which is officially known as Ketchikan Public Utilities, is a municipally-owned telecom provider currently offering fiber-to-the-home...

CCA Spring 2013: Bluegrass provides details into extensive LTE plans (video)

NEW ORLEANS – Amongst all domestic wireless carriers, regional operator Bluegrass Cellular is in a unique position in that it is set to offer LTE services to customers across two separate networks. One offering will run across a network completely controlled by the carrier...

Openwave Mobility partners with Sandvine to manage video traffic (video)

With mobile video projected to represent two thirds of all mobile data traffic by 2017, service providers must manage and monetize video traffic to stay competitive. Openwave Mobility and Sandvine said this week that they will integrate their software solutions to enable "the most...

Time Trippin’: D-Block fiasco for FCC; Spectrum hangover for carriers … 5 years ago this week

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...

CCA Spring 2013: Bluegrass Cellular doubles up on LTE

NEW ORLEANS – With many operators still not offering LTE services, rural provider Bluegrass Cellular has made the move to now offering two separate LTE networks to its customer base. Who said there is no innovation in rural America? Bluegrass today unveiled plans for its...

CCA Spring 2013: Sprint Nextel moves to enable LTE roaming

NEW ORLEANS – In a move that could jumpstart a fallow LTE roaming market, Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse told attendees at this week’s Competitive Carriers Association event that the carrier was instigating a move to bridge the gap between LTE service in the...

RCRTV: Regulatory Review

RCR Wireless News Editor-In-Chief Dan Meyer talks with Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, about the current wireless regulatory environment, including the impact current regulations are having on mergers and acquisition and competitive balance; device unlocking; and the IP Task Force initiative. RCR Wireless News...

Feature Report: Regulatory Review: Regulations continue to shape wireless industry

RCR Wireless takes a look at the regulatory challenges facing the wireless industry, including spectrum issues, potential for additional spectrum auctions, regulations on the second-hand spectrum market, M&A regulations and sitting challenges. As a special bonus, we will provide an annual FirstNet update. Bonus: FirstNet...

Report: Verizon Wireless puts in bid for Clearwire spectrum, chaos set to ensue

Further muddying Clearwire’s future is a report that Verizon Wireless has offered up to $1.5 billion to acquire the rights to some of Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz spectrum licenses. The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that according to a Clearwire filing late last week, the...

Dish puts in $25.5B offer for Sprint Nextel

Merger-mania continued to spin around the wireless space as this morning Dish Networks put in a $25.5 billion bid to acquire 68% of Sprint Nextel. The deal further spices up current scenarios that have Japan’s Softbank attempting to acquire $70% of Sprint Nextel for...

Reader Forum: Is 2013 the year of VoLTE?

The mobile core is changing. Fast. Mobile network operators around the globe are embracing the transition from legacy mobile technologies to next generation infrastructures and the new LTE core

Carrier Wrap: Prepaid space heats up; Vodafone, China Mobile team in Myanmar

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! --AT&T Mobility this week announced a...

DT alters MetroPCS terms to solidify investor support

With MetroPCS’ shareholders set to vote tomorrow on a proposed merger with T-Mobile USA, Deutsche Telekom altered the arrangements of the deal in an attempt to better tempt those investors that partnering with its U.S. subsidiary is the right thing to do. In what it...

Webinar: 2013 Regulatory Review: A deep dive into the wireless industry’s regulatory challenges

RCR Wireless News Editor-in-Chief Dan Meyer was joined by esteemed guests, including long-time industry analysts Roger Entner, former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, former Senior Attorney with the Competition Division in the FCC’s Office of General Counsel Lawrence Spiwak and former FCC Wireless Bureau Chief...

F5 Webinar – Evolving to the Application Delivery Network

Service providers have been buffeted by the explosive growth in data traffic. Meanwhile many networks remain highly siloed and are becoming more complex even as service providers move to converge infrastructure and adopt more flexible cloud-based approaches. In this webinar, we'll share some of...

U.K.’s EE doubles spectrum allocated to LTE service

U.K.-based operator Everything Everywhere said it was set to double its current LTE network speeds with the increase of 1.8 GHz spectrum dedicated to its offering from the current 10 megahertz to 20 megahertz. The carrier noted the move should see average network speeds...

NII Holdings sells off Peru operations for $400M

NII Holdings, which is based in Reston, Va., announced it has sold its Peru operations to Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ENTel) for $400 million. The deal furthers NII’s plans to focus its efforts on its core operations in Brazil and Mexico. The deal was...