BROWSING: Bear, Stearns & Co.
Motorola unleashes slew of new handsets
ROSEMENT, Ill.—Motorola Inc. expanded its family of Razr-inspired handsets, unveiling two handsets that mirror the company’s flagship phone. The world’s second-largest handset manufacturer introduced the Krzr, a narrower Razr with removable memory and a metallic gloss finish. The handset is slightly thicker than the...
Ntelos plans $175M IPO
Regional telecommunications provider Ntelos Holdings Corp. reported plans for an initial public offering of up to 15 million shares of common stock. If approved, the IPO could raise as much as $175 million for the company. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing,...
Analysts differ on wisdom of possible Verizon matches
The frenzy of consolidation sweeping the wireless industry may not be over as an industry research firm recommended that some nationwide operators could see both long- and short-term benefits by acquiring keenly focused regional players. Citing the possibility of increased penetration into key Hispanic...
Proxim sells assets to Moseley, files for bankruptcy
Proxim Corp., which provides Wi-Fi and broadband wireless access solutions, has agreed to sell substantially all of its assets to Moseley Associates Inc. The agreement calls for Moseley to buy and assume most of the domestic and foreign operations of Proxim for $21 million....
Proxim receives Nasdaq delisting notice
SUNNYVALE, Calif.-Proxim Corp. said it has received notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. that it has failed to meet minimum bid requirements and could be delisted.The company's share price has closed below the $1 per-share minimum requirement for at least 30 days. Proxim...
Connecting dots draw future of wireless
Less than 10 years ago, dot-com was the technology phrase de jour. Business plans, companies and even an economic boom (and bust) were built upon one little dot. Today, at least in the wireless world, `dot' has taken on a new meaning.Dot unites 802...
Carriers expand offerings to reach unpenetrated subs: Family plans growing piece of strategy
"We have run out of people (in the United States) who can pass a credit check and want a wireless phone," said Roger Entner, vice president of North American wireless telecommunications for research and consulting firm Ovum. With 182 million wireless subscribers in the...
Leap jumps into prepaid
Infused with new leadership, Leap Wireless International Inc. announced plans to expand its offerings with the launch of its Jump by Cricket prepaid service, providing a true pay-as-you-go plan for customers. The new offering, which Leap hinted to late last year when it signed...
Carriers must reduce acquisition costs to make thrifty customers profitable
Continued growth in the wireless industry is likely to come from untapped market segments that may not prove as financially rewarding as the saturated early-adopter segments, according to a new report from Compete Inc. and Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. The report, "Characteristics of...
Alamosa Holdings buys fellow Sprint PCS affiliate AirGate PCS
Sprint PCS' largest affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. made good on previous comments that it was interested in acquiring a fellow affiliate by signing a deal last week to purchase AirGate PCS Inc. for $630 million. The deal, which is expected to close during the...
Cingular divests markets as part of AWS buy
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. continued the business of integrating AT&T Wireless Services Inc. with a pair of deals to sell spectrum and wireless assets designed to comply with government divestiture requests related to the merger. The first deal was with Alltel Corp. and calls for...
Rural carriers likely to adopt wireless broadband
While wireless broadband technologies stir some excitement around both service providers and vendors, rural carriers are likely to take the most advantage of them in the short run as the business model catches on with the big operators in the wireline and wireless spheres,...
Mobile technologies most likely to succeed in wireless broadband arena
Mobile technologies like WiMax (802.16), MobileFi (802.20) and Flarion's OFDM are poised to garner the most success in the wireless broadband space, according to research from The Management Network Group and Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. "Mobility is the area where wireless broadband probably...
Nextel initiates notes offering
RESTON, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. initiated a cash tender offer and consent solicitation for the entire $858.8 million outstanding principal amount of its 9.5-percent senior serial redeemable notes due 2011. Total compensation for the notes will include a consent payment of $30 per $1,000 principal...
Crown suggests site builds may get boost in second half
Second-quarter results from public tower companies reflect improved financial stability and greater optimism that cell-site additions will ramp up in the coming months. Crown Castle International Corp. released its second-quarter financials late last week. The company reported revenue of $224.2 million, down slightly from...
American Tower raises $420M in note sale
NEW YORK-American Tower Corp. announced it will receive $420 million following the sale of 12.25 percent senior subordinated discount notes due 2008 of newly formed and wholly owned subsidiary American Tower Escrow Corp. and warrants to purchase 11.4 million shares of Class A American...
Bear, Stearns downgrades high-yield wireless sector
NEW YORK-Owing to what it described as industry risk and price appreciation, brokerage firm Bear, Stearns & Co. has downgraded the high-yield wireless telecom and towers sector to "underweight," promising to revisit the sector early next year."In the short term, we believe industry risk...
After the frenzy: time now a friend to venture capitalists
NEW YORK-The bad news, according to Jerry Newman, senior managing director of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., "is word of a 50-to-75 percent decline in new venture capital investments" so far this year.The good news is "there probably is in the neighborhood of $100...
GoAmerica surprises Wall Street
HACKENSACK, N.J.-GoAmerica Inc. surprised Wall Street with a better-than-expected earnings report and a reiteration of its positive outlook for the future.The company's stock was trading at $4.69 per share in afternoon trading Tuesday. Monday, the company's stock rose about 20 percent to nearly $5...
Wireless distribution takes on air of wizardry
NEW YORK-Like the Wizard of Oz working the controls unseen, electronic commerce could soon become the primary delivery and fulfillment mechanism for all goods and services, regardless of whether consumers buy those goods and services online, by mail order or in a store.Telecommunications, provided...
Illuminet files for public offering
OLYMPIA, Wash.-Illuminet Holdings Inc. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed public offering of 4.1 million shares of its common stock.The company said net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund potential acquisitions, product development, network...
Telecom vendors outsource more product
NEW YORK-Manufacturers increasingly are planning to outsource production as more companies transition to the virtual manufacturing model, according to a recent Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. study.A substantial number of electronics manufacturers plan to outsource a collective average of 72 percent of production, a...
TIW files with SEC for U.S. IPO
MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc.'s Central/Eastern European subsidiary ClearWave N.V. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States for an initial public offering of ordinary class A shares.TIW said that concurrently with the IPO, certain existing shareholders in Romanian...
Nokia applies lessons learned to wireless Internet world
NEW YORK-Nokia Corp. has spent the past five years refining lessons learned from its attempts to jump-start digital cellular in the United States, said Matt Wisk, vice president of national marketing-USA."In 1995, we tried to make the first generation of digital happen in the...