BROWSING: Moody's

NEW YORK—Moody's Investors Service Inc. has downgraded the debt of Brightpoint Inc., Indianapolis, citing the "recent decline in profitability" of the company and the "uncertainty associated with growth in the wireless handset market over the next several quarters."In its announcement after the close...

TORONTO and LONDON—Several vendors say negative downgrades and estimates from analysts this week.Nortel Networks suffered a debt downgrade from Moody's Investors Service barely a day after the company announced a contract with Telef

DENVER—Qwest Communications International Inc., which was unable to roll over part of its short-term debt on Thursday, has drawn down its $4 billion bank credit facility to address short-term liquidity needs in the commercial paper market. The telecom company said it was using the...

NEW YORK—A trio of wireless carriers tapped the deep well of the debt markets last week, collectively raising nearly US$2 billion.Korea Telecom was first out of the starting gate, raising US$1.32 billion in five-year, unsecured notes convertible into common stock. The securities, sold in...

NEW YORK—Moody's Investors Service down graded both SpectraSite Holdings Inc. and Pinnacle Holdings Inc.Moody's said it took the action because Pinnacle is unable to get longer-term covenant relief from its bank group, it severely lacks liquidity and its tenant base is eroding.In SpectraSite's case,...

NEW YORK—A trio of wireless carriers tapped the deep well of the debt markets last week, collectively raising nearly $2 billion.Korea Telecom was first out of the starting gate, raising $1.32 billion in five-year, unsecured notes convertible into common stock. The securities, sold in...

MOSCOW—Russian carrier Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) placed its first euro bonds worth US$250 million as it needs additional funds for regional expansion.MTS spokeswoman Eva Prokofyeva said the funds will be used "for a further network development, including in the regions."The yield of the three-year bonds...

NEW YORK—Cingular Wireless completed the sale of $2 billion of global bonds, which the carrier said it would use to pay down short-term debt, finance licenses and construction related to the possible acquisition of NextWave Telecom Inc.'s licenses and to fund its network sharing...

Mobile satellite service is an idea and a technology that today lies buried under the apprehension and disappointment of a number of major business deals gone bad. But about 10 years ago, the mobile satellite industry had an optimistic outlook on the future,...

FRANFURT, Germany—Moody's Investors Service downgraded French vendor Alcatel to Baa1 from A2 for senior debt rating and to prime 2 from prime 1 for its short-term debt."In the short-term, Moody's expects Alcatel to be burdened by slow orders and immense price pressure in its...

NEW YORK—MMO2, the BT Wireless unit that British Telecommunications plans to spin off in November, has received low-tier investment-grade corporate credit ratings of Baa2 from Moody's Investors Service and BBB- from Standard & Poor's.In the announcements on 18 September, the two agencies also assigned...

NEW YORK—Ericsson received mixed reviews this week from Moody's Investors Service, which confirmed the company's investment-grade A3 long-term debt ratings, but changed the ratings outlook to negative from stable."The confirmation of Ericsson's ratings is based on the expectation that the company will maintain its...

NEW YORK—Citing plans by TeleCorp PCS Inc. to deploy a "GSM overlay network in the near future" at the same time as its cash flow growth has slowed, Moody's Investors Service Inc. reaffirmed the speculative grade rating of B2 on the carrier's $2.92 billion...

AMSTERDAM—Dutch carrier KPN Telecom's chief executive Paul Smits stepped down early this week, most likely as a result of the company's failure to cut its $20.7 billion loan.The company reported losing about $906 million in its second quarter and said it plans to reduce...

CARROLLTON, Texas-CellStar Corp., a provider of value-added logistics for wireless products, has registered to exchange half of its outstanding stock plus $20 million in cash to retire up to $150 million in convertible subordinated debt, the company said Sept. 4.As filed with the Securities...

NEW YORK-Nortel Networks Corp. and Sprint PCS affiliate Alamosa Holdings Inc. tapped the debt markets for a total of $1.65 billion last week, providing another reminder that telecommunications bond buyers recently have been rushing in where stock investors fear to tread.The latest debt deals...

NEW YORK-Citing "consistently strong operating results" and a "very good liquidity position," Moody's Investors Service raised the ratings July 5 on approximately $1.3 billion in debt of Triton PCS, which in 1998 became the first affiliate of AT&T Wireless Services Inc.Moody's upgraded to B2...

Each time the death knell sounds, Lucent Technologies Inc. seems to rebound.Last week was a metaphor of what might be the roller coaster ride the Murray Hill-based telecom equipment company has experienced in the past three quarters.Moody's Investors Service downgraded the company to junk...

GENEVA-How the mighty have fallen. British Telecommunications (BT), once ranked among the world's most powerful carriers, is finding itself buckling under a crippling mountain of debt in a climate where raising equity in the telecom/information technology (IT) sector has hit an all-time low. In...

NEW YORK-Rogers Wireless Inc., Toronto, has raised $400 million through a 10-year issue of senior secured notes, which it will use to finance the costs it anticipates through 2003 for construction of a new third-generation network.Formerly known as Rogers Cantel, the carrier recently acquired...

NEW YORK-With NEC Corp. and Sony Corp. serving as "trend setters" among their in-country peers, Japanese electronics equipment companies are poised to follow the lead of their American and European competitors toward contract manufacturing, said Peter McGowan, managing director of the Lehman Brothers Inc....

The federal government recently has been looking at freeing up spectrum in the 1710-1850 MHz band, currently being used by the Department of Defense, and the 2500-2690 MHz band, which is occupied by a variety of tenants including religious, educational and fixed wireless Internet...

NEW YORK -British Telecommunications plc will undertake "a massive, massive restructuring, and I don't want to underestimate what we plan to do this year," Sir Peter Bonfield, chief executive officer, told securities analysts at a recent meeting here.Under the umbrella of a new group...

AT&T Wireless Group jumped into the very active debt capital market last week selling off $6.5 billion worth of senior unsecured notes, the largest private bond sale ever by a U.S. company.The bond sale followed Qwest Communications International Inc., Sprint Corp. and Verizon Communications,...