UPDATE 3-Rogers bids C$1.4 bln for Microcell, tops Telus
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Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. (RCMb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) launched a friendly C$1.4 billion ($1.07 billion) cash bid for Microcell Telecommunications Inc.
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Rogers Communications Inc. said Monday it had reached a tentative deal to buy AT&amp;T Wireless Services Inc.&#39;s 34 percent stake in Rogers Wireless Communications in a deal worth C$1.
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Telstra Corp., Australia&#39;s biggest phone company, offered to buy back shares for as much as A$4.65 each, the first stage in a plan to return A$4.
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The U.S. sale of airwaves for advanced wireless services grossed a record $13.9 billion, and spectrum-hungry wireless carrier T-Mobile USA, and a group of cable companies were the highest bidders.
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Starbucks has upgraded its Wi-Fi offering from a tall to a venti, switching partners from T-Mobile USA to AT&amp;T in a deal that will mean free coffee-shop wireless for millions of U.S. broadband subscribers.The chain&#39;s network of hotspots, the best-known in the U.S., covers more than 7,000 company-owned stores. Users of AT&amp;T Broadband and U-verse DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) services will get free access to the networks, and the carrier will soon extend benefits to AT&amp;T Wireless customers as well, according to a news release. AT&amp;T business customers with remote-access subscriptions will be able to buy unlimited, flat-rate access at any Starbucks location.AT&amp;T had 14.2 million lines of DSL in service at the end of last year. Its wireless arm has about 70 million subscribers. T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Germany&#39;s Deutsche Telekom, said it had 28.7 million subscribers at year&#39;s end.Although 3G (third-generation) cellular networks are nearing typical wired broadband speeds, Wi-Fi hotspots in key locations such as airports, hotels and cafes remain an attractive option for people who need high-speed connectivity on the road. T-Mobile has provided the Starbucks networks as part of its national hotspot service for several years, with a variety of paid plans including US$6 for one hour, $9.99 for a day and $29.99 per month with an annual agreement. Prices under AT&amp;T will be slightly lower, including $3.99 for two hours and $19.99 per month.But the deal also opens up a whole new customer base for the hotspots: Starbucks customers with an active Starbucks stored-value card will get two hours of free access per day. All that&#39;s needed to keep a card active is to have money stored on it and to buy something with it at least once a month, said Starbucks spokeswoman Bridget Baker. Starbucks employees will also get free access.AT&amp;T will take over the networks market by market, starting in the next few months and finishing by the end of the year, the companies said. Under a roaming agreement to be implemented by March 31, T-Mobile subscribers will also be able to use the AT&amp;T Starbucks networks, Baker said.The deal significantly expands AT&amp;T&#39;s network of hotspots, giving it 17,000 U.S. sites (about 70,000 worldwide) and adding a popular Web-surfing location to its lineup, which today includes McDonald&#39;s restaurants, Barnes &amp; Noble bookstores and some hotels and airports. It builds on an existing relationship in which AT&amp;T has provided back-end networks for Starbucks stores for more than 10 years, Baker said. The carrier will provide Starbucks an enterprise-class network with increased bandwidth and redundancy, according to the release.The prospect of high-speed access at Starbucks should help AT&amp;T attract new DSL customers and hold onto existing ones, telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan wrote in a commentary on the deal.&quot;The customer wins because they get to take advantage of money saving bundles, and AT&amp;T win&#39;s because it keeps customers happy which means hanging on to the customer in an increasingly competitive marketplace, and Starbucks win&#39;s because it expands their digital entertainment platform and gives customers more reasons to spend time in the stores,&quot; Kagan wrote.
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The high bids totalled $3.2 billion in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission&#39;s&#160;auction of wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz band&#160;after three rounds and a day and a half of bidding.That figure is far short of the $10 billion Congress and the FCC expect to raise in&#160;the auction, which opened Thursday, but bidding could continue for weeks. In most cases, the high bids don&#39;t yet meet the FCC&#39;s reserve price set for minimum winning bids.A fourth round of bidding will happen Friday afternoon.The 700MHz auctions represent the last large chunk of spectrum available for the FCC to auction in the foreseeable future. The spectrum, now used to carry over-the-air television signals, can be used to carry long-range wireless broadband traffic. Consumer groups have said the spectrum represents the &quot;last, best hope&quot; for a nationwide wireless broadband network that competes with cable and telecom broadband services.For sale is 62MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band. In late 2005, after a decade of debate, Congress passed a law requiring U.S. TV stations to move to all-digital broadcasts and abandon analog spectrum between channels 52 and 69. The deadline for TV stations to end broadcasts in the 700MHz band is February 2009.After three rounds, 906 of the 1,099 available spectrum licenses had bids, with four more licenses receiving bids than at the end of round two late Thursday. High bids had totalled just under $2.8 billion after round 2, and just over $2.4 billion after round one Thursday morning.The top bid after the third round was $1.49 billion for eight of 12 regional licenses in the C block, a 22MHz block of spectrum covering all 50 states. The bidding for those C block licenses was up from $1.24 billion at the end of the second round. The FCC&#39;s reserve price for the C block is $4.6 billion, and the winning bidders of C block spectrum must allow any legal devices to connect to their network, including mobile phones purchased from other carriers.The second highest bid remained $472 million for the D block, a nationwide 10MHz chunk of spectrum to be paired with another 10MHz set aside for public safety agencies. The bidder of the D block would be required to build a national network to be jointly used by public safety agencies and commercial customers. The high bid for the D block has remained unchanged since round one.Bidding in the auction is anonymous.The A block, a 12MHz piece of spectrum covering parts of New York and the northeastern U.S., also generated interest. The high bid was $119.8 million after the third round, up from $100 million after the second round and $83.2 million after the first round. A similar chunk of spectrum in the E block, also covering the same area, has generated a high bid of $59.9 million after the third round.The high bid for a 12MHz block called the B block, for a local New York City license, stood at $85.6 million after rounds two and three.High bids for five blocks in the Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., areas were between $28 million and $55 million after round three.
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Rogers Communications Inc. on Thursday said it is proposing to launch an exchange offer for all of the outstanding shares of Rogers Wireless Communications Inc.
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NEW YORK -- Qwest Communications International Inc. has increased its offer for MCI Inc. by nearly $1 billion as Verizon Communications Inc. continues talks with MCI about a rival bid, according to a report.
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Rogers Communications Inc. says it will pay AT&amp;T Wireless $1.77 billion for the 34 per cent stake in Rogers Wireless that the Toronto media and cable TV company doesn&#39;t already own.
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The high bids totalled $3.2 billion in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission&#39;s&#160;auction of wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz band&#160;after three rounds and a day and a half of bidding.
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Qwest Communications International  Inc. Q.N offered more than $7 billion for MCI Inc. MCIP.O,  topping an earlier bid by Verizon Communications Inc. VZ.N,  Bloomberg News said on Sunday.
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SBC Communications Inc., the No. 2  U.S. telecommunications company, is in talks to acquire AT&T  Corp. for more than $15 billion to bolster its business with  large corporations, sources familiar with the talks said on  Thursday.
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The U.S. sale of airwaves for   advanced wireless services grossed a record $13.9 billion when   it ended on Monday, and spectrum-hungry U.S. wireless carrier   T-Mobile USA topped the bidding by offering almost $4.2 billion   for 120 licenses.
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Rogers Communications Inc. said it will offer about C$774 million ($646 million) in stock for the shares it doesn&#39;t own in Rogers Wireless Communications Inc.
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NEW YORK -- Rogers Wireless Communications Inc. said yesterday it has agreed to acquire rival Canadian cellphone carrier Microcell Telecommunications Inc. , which had been fending off a hostile suitor.
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Rogers Communications Inc.&#39;s Toronto Blue Jays agreed to buy the SkyDome from Chicago, Illinois-based Sportsco International LP for C$25 million ($21.1 million), the team said in a press release.
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Qwest Communications International  Inc. Q.N on Wednesday released details of its spurned bid for  MCI Inc. MCIP.O, saying its offer had a total value of $8  billion, or about $1.2 billion more than the winning bid by  Verizon Communications Inc. VZ.N.