Is Verizon Wireless really looking to buy Alltel?
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Rural mobile operator would likely carry a high price, which has two analysts split over whether Verizon Wireless will be the buyer.
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AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless want to go up against other current mobile operators and some possible future competitors, including Google, in next month&#39;s&#160;auction for 700MHz wireless spectrum&#160;around the U.S.The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday released lists of accepted and incomplete applications for the auction, in which it will sell licenses to frequencies that are set to be vacated by analog TV stations. It has accepted 96 applications and reported 170 as incomplete. The latter need to be completed by Jan. 4.AT&amp;T and Verizon are not surprise entrants but are the country&#39;s biggest mobile operators. If either carrier won a portion of the spectrum that has been designated for use by any device and any service, it would have to open up its network more than any big U.S. operator ever has. Verizon has already unveiled part of a plan to further open its network.They were on the list of incomplete applications, along with smaller mobile operators Alltel and MetroPCS. Cable operator Cox Communications, an archrival of the telecommunications giants, is also preparing an application. And cellular technology giant Qualcomm, which is already building a mobile entertainment network on vacated TV channels, is also gearing up to bid. Would-be bidders with incomplete applications have until Jan. 4 to complete their paperwork.Google earlier this year&#160;offered to participate in the auction&#160;in return for the FCC imposing open-network requirements. The booming Internet company&#39;s involvement could drive up bids all around, helping the government reap its hoped-for $10 billion payday for the spectrum.&#160;Google&#39;s application&#160;has already been accepted, the FCC said Tuesday. So has that of Towerstream, a wireless broadband provider to businesses.One surprise applicant yet to complete its papers is oil giant Chevron.Participation by Chevron in the auction comes &#8220;out of the blue,&#8221; said analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates. However, oil companies and utilities are big wireless users, so he can see why Chevron might be interested.Chevron, like Google, is unlikely to actually build a network, though, he said. &#8220;I can see them potentially winning but then becoming landlords, renting it out,&#8221; he said. For both companies, that decision wouldn&#8217;t be based on the cost of building a network but on the experience required: Neither company has any history of constructing and operating a wireless network, a complicated undertaking.Also Tuesday, the agency extended the Dec. 28 deadline for upfront payments in the auction to Jan. 4 and pushed back a mock auction until Jan. 22. The auction itself is set to begin Jan. 24.Nancy Gohring, in Seattle, contributed to this report.
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The telecommunications company is said to be in negotiations, in what may be the latest round of deal making in its industry.
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One way or the other, the U.S. wireless phone industry is headed for further consolidation. Reports yesterday that Nextel and Sprint are in merger talks had Wall Street swooning and consumer advocates worrying. -washingtonpost.com
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NEW YORK, November 26  - Alltel Corporation (AT.NYS) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets from Cingular Wireless for $170 million in cash, while the two companies have agreed to swap partnership interests in
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InfoWorld - Broadcom&#160;and Verizon Wireless have reached a deal that will allow Verizon to continue importing and selling phones that are the subject of continuing litigation between Broadcom and Qualcomm.
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Vodafone recently considered making a full offer for Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) in an attempt to break the impasse over the future of its stake in US mobile phone operator Verizon Wireless.
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All the rumors about a Google phone may be just slightly off. Rather than sell a mobile handset, Google Inc. might instead offer wireless service.
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NEW YORK -- Alltel Corp. , the nation's sixth-largest wireless carrier, is in advanced negotiations about buying Western Wireless Corp. , a Northwest regional carrier which operates mainly under the Cellular One brand, for roughly $4 billion, according to a published report.
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Sprint - the US&#39;s third biggest mobile telco - and fifth-place rival Nextel are reportedly in talks about a possible merger. The deal would create a carrier with approximately 39m subscribers and a market value of around $70bn.
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By Virgil Larson, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.  Mar. 10--Alltel Corp. shares rose sharply Friday on new speculation that the wireless phone service is talking to potential buyers.   The stock price closed at $62.51, up $2.34 from Thursday's close. It traded as high as $63.93 Friday.
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Cingular Wireless said on Friday it struck a deal to sell some assets to Alltel Corp.  for &#36;170 million in cash, a move that will help it meet the government's divestiture requirements stemming from its purchase of AT&T Wireless.
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Alltel Corp., the nation's sixth-largest wireless carrier, is in advanced negotiations about buying Western Wireless Corp., a Northwest regional carrier which operates mainly under the Cellular One brand, for roughly &#36;4 billion, according to a published report.
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Now that wireless is officially a land of giants, what happens to all the Lilliputians? With Sprint and Nextel announcing their merger Wednesday â- $35 billion deal
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Vodafone Group on Monday denied a newspaper report it is considering making a $160 billion bid for its U.S. partner in the wireless phone business, Verizon Communications.
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Verizon Wireless set off a stampede to unlimited voice plans among U.S. mobile operators on Tuesday.After the carrier said it would let subscribers talk for as long as they want within the U.S. for $99.99 per month, rivals AT&amp;T and T-Mobile USA followed suit. Sprint Nextel, which offers 2,000 anytime minutes per month for $99.99, did not.Verizon&#39;s unlimited individual plan, as well as a shared family plan starting at $199.98, is available now.T-Mobile&#39;s plan, becoming available Thursday, will allow unlimited voice as well as messaging. That carrier, which targets youth as a key demographic, has been offering several plans for big talkers, including an Individual Ultra plan with 2,500 minutes for $99.99 and Individual Supra with 5,000 minutes for $129.99. AT&amp;T likewise had offered such plans, including a 6,000-minute service for $199.99.The major U.S. carriers haven&#39;t traditionally offered unlimited minutes. The rush to match Verizon&#39;s plan indicated the level of competition in the mobile market, where carriers are now pushing e-mail, Web access, and other data services as the price of voice minutes has fallen.But the new plans will probably appeal to only a small segment of the market, analysts said. Realtors and small-business owners who spend a lot of time on the road might find it useful, they said. Most carriers already offer free calls on nights and weekends and plans that include free calling to frequent contacts or people on the same network. Mobile data services such as Verizon&#39;s BroadbandAccess 3G (third-generation) will cost extra. And the $99.99 unlimited products are separate from family plans with shared minutes, which cost more.Also Tuesday, Verizon revamped its data offerings to reach different types of customers. A $39.99 plan will allow for 50MB of data traffic per month, and a $59.99 offering will cover 5GB. The new data plans will become available March 2.Sprint offers unlimited data on its EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) network, which is similar to Verizon&#39;s, for $59.99 per month. There are some uses that aren&#39;t allowed, including continuous heavy data traffic and Web hosting. AT&amp;T places a 5GB limit only on plans for mobile data cards to be used in notebook PCs, not on phone plans. Verizon and some other carriers have been criticized in the past for advertising unlimited data while actually cutting off users who went over a certain limit.
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Verizon Communications has reportedly gained the backing of its wireless partner, Vodafone Group, for a potential bid for Sprint Corp, clearing a major hurdle to such a deal.