Rogers Wireless trumps rival with $1B Microcell deal
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Canadian telecommunications provider Rogers Communications Inc. reported that its wireless subsidiary Rogers Wireless Communications Inc.
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Sprint Corp.'s &#36;35 billion acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. could challenge Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless for supremacy in a ruthlessly competitive business where prices are constantly dropping.
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Wireless telephone company Nextel Communications confirmed Wednesday it is being bought by rival Sprint in a cash and stock deal said to be worth more than $35-billion US.
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U.S. telecom Verizon  Communications Inc. clinched a deal to buy long-distance  carrier MCI Inc. for $6.8 billion, outflanking rival Qwest  Communications International Inc., sources familiar with the  situation said Monday.
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One Has The Chips, The Other Owns Wireless Spectrum. Together, They Aim To Bring WiMax To The US More Quickly Than Rivals Expected.
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Rogers Communications said on Monday it  doubled its annual dividend to C$1.00 per share from 50  Canadian cents and offered revenue and operating profit outlook  for 2008.
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Rogers Communications Inc., Canada&#39;s largest cable-television operator, had a third-quarter profit of C$61.6 million ($50.4 million) as its wireless phone service added subscribers.
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Almost a year after Sprint Nextel Corp. disclosed it would develop a mobile broadband network using WiMax technology, the wireless provider said yesterday it is teaming up with competing provider Clearwire Corp. to help build it.
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Federal regulators approved the $41 billion purchase of AT&amp;T Wireless by Cingular Wireless, a crucial step in a merger that will create the nation&#39;s largest cellphone company.
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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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Cellular service competitors followed Verizon with unlimited monthly voice plans for $99.
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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.
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(InfoWorld) - With wider national coverage than either company could have had on its own, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. say they can achieve on their joint WiMax network some of whatÂ Google Inc. and others want to seeÂ in the prized 700MHz band. TheÂ companies announced Thursday they will link their respective WiMax wireless broadband networks to give subscribers a seamless roaming experience across territories that eventually will cover 300 million U.S. residents. The network will deliver between 2M bps (bits per second) and 4M bps downstream and about half that speed upstream, they said. Sprint and Clearwire plan to use WiMax so that subscribers can choose among a wide range of devices built to the open standard on which the technology is based. In addition, they intend to let users access any application or service on the Internet, said Atish Gude, senior vice president of mobile broadband operations at Sprint. The upcoming auction of 700MHz radio spectrum around the U.S. has sparked a fierce debate between traditional carriers and Google Inc., Frontline Wireless LLC and others over how that spectrum should be used. Current mobile operators generally sell a limited set of devices locked to their networks and favor their own applications among the offerings their customers can access on their phones. Google told the FCC on Friday it won't bid unless the government requires any-device, any-application networks. It also wants a rule forcing the winners to sell wholesale network access to other service providers. Sprint doesn't have plans for wholesale access. Sprint, which announced its WiMax plans last year, said Thursday it owns spectrum licenses for the WiMax band that cover 185 million U.S. residents. Clearwire has spectrum in the same band to serve 115 million people. The combined network should be fairly comprehensive, covering urban, suburban and rural areas across the country, which today has a population just over 302 million, the Census Bureau estimates. After "soft" launches in Chicago and Washington, D.C., at the end of this year and commercial availability starting next year, the companies together aim to reach 100 million people by the end of 2008. This is the same 2008 goal Sprint had given previously by itself, but it was an aggressive goal then and is now a conservative estimate, Gude said. The companies did not estimate when the full network would be completed. Given the higher frequency Sprint and Clearwire plan to use, at 2.5GHz, their network is likely to need more base stations than a similar network using 700MHz, which travels over long distances and through walls more easily. Clearwire already operates a wireless broadband service and has been planning to convert it to standard mobile WiMax, which is only now emerging as a commercial technology. The company is backed by heavy hitters including Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. Sprint, struggling against larger rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless Inc., could use Clearwire's helping hand. The deal may let Sprint realize its WiMax dream at less expense, said IDC analyst Godfrey Chua. There seems to be little overlap between the two carriers' licenses, so the partnership won't really hurt competition and is likely to win government approval, Chua said. The first users will access the network with standalone modems, notebook add-on cards or PCs and smaller Ultra Mobile PCs with embedded modems, Sprint said. But it sees mobility as the key driver of the network and believes WiMax handsets will arrive by 2009, Gude said. However, Chua thinks ever-faster cellular technologies have the edge for mobility. The Sprint-Clearwire network will compete mainly against DSL (digital subscriber line) and cable modem services, with the advantage that subscribers can set up a notebook away from home and enjoy the same service. It could significantly boost broadband competition, he said. "It's making the world a little bit more interesting now," Chua said. Â
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Rogers Communications Inc.&#39;s media division on Wednesday said is now the sole owner of Rogers Sportsnet Inc. after purchasing the remaining 20 percent interest from Fox Sports Net Canada Holdings LLC for 45 million Canadian dollars ($36.9 million).
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Cingular Wireless marked the completion of its $41 billion takeover of AT&amp;T Wireless Services Inc. by immediately expanding unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling between the two networks. Subscribers of the original Cingular and AT&amp;T Wireless who have had plans that gave them unlimited calls to fellow subscribers now also get free unlimited calls to subscribers of the other carrier. Cingular is now ...
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AT&T Wireless reached an agreement with Rogers Communications to help sell AT&T Wireless's 34 percent stake in Rogers Wireless Communications Inc.
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(InfoWorld) - Wireless carriers planning to offer next-generation wireless services have bid $13.9 billion in a spectrum license auction that ended Monday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said. The FCC sold 1,087 of 1,122 available licenses to 104 companies in its first auction of so-called advanced wireless service spectrum, often called third-generation or 3G wireless. The licenses can be used to offer several services, including voice, data and video, the FCC said. The bidders with the fiveÂ highest winning bidsÂ were T-Mobile License, Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo, MetroPCS, and Cingular, the FCC said. The unsold licenses remain held by the FCC and will be made available again in a future auction. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, in a statement, called the auction "the biggest most, successful auction" in FCC history. It was the largest auction of wireless broadband in a single FCC auction, Martin said. "Although we cannot envision our lives without access to the Internet, I believe we are only beginning to imagine the way mobile broadband networks will impact our lives -- changing the business and entertainment possibilities available to consumers," Martin added. The auction made available "raw material" needed for next-generation wireless broadband, said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom analyst. "The remaining question is, what will these companies do with this spectrum?" he said in an e-mail. "What new services or new competitors will we see using this spectrum? We will have to stay tuned to see what hatches from this auction."