Sprint Nextel
SoftBank CEO: Our Sprint Deal is Better Because of TD-LTE
May 7, 2013 10:09 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsSpeaking at a press conference, Son touted his company’s success in deploying TD-LTE over 2.5 GHz spectrum in Japan. He added SoftBank is better equipped to help Sprint deploy the same kind of service on the large swaths of 2.5 GHz Sprint stands to inherit should its $2.2 billion bid to buyout WiMax wholesaler Clearwire go through.
First News Briefs for May 6, 2013
May 6, 2013 10:47 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsSprint and Time Inc. today announced a mobile content, advertising and retail alliance. As part of the arrangement, Time Inc. will deliver its branded content within a customizable section of the SprintZone application on select Sprint devices. Customers can expect the latest entertainment, lifestyle, sports and business news.
Clearwire Sends Letter to Stockholders, Urging Yes Vote on Sprint Bid
May 6, 2013 10:32 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsClearwire outlined its exhaustive efforts to turn around its fortunes in the WiMax wholesale market in a letter sent Monday to stockholders. But the company continually returned to the conclusion that Sprint’s $2.97 per share offer (translating to nearly $2.2 billion for shareholders) was not only the best deal but really the only deal that would save Clearwire before its liquidity runs dry.
U.S. Cellular Profits Down 92 Percent, 74K Postpaid Losses
May 3, 2013 9:54 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsU.S. Cellular posted a net income of $4.9 million for its first quarter of 2013, down a considerable 97 percent from the $62.5 million it posted in the same quarter last year. Similarly, diluted EPS for the quarter sank to $0.06, down from the $0.73 EPS it posted in the first quarter of 2012.
Sprint Making Good on June 29 iDen Shutdown
May 2, 2013 9:22 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsThe shutdown of Sprint's iDen network has been a longtime in coming and is very near at hand, according to the company. Sprint today confirmed that the last full day of iDEN service will be June 29, with a shutdown that begins first thing Sunday, June 30 and continuing throughout the day...
Softbank Claims Its Sprint Bid Represents 21 Percent Premium over Dish Bid
April 30, 2013 10:22 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSoftbank today went on the offensive as it sought to defend the benefits of its $20.1 billion offer to acquire a 70 percent stake of Sprint Nextel. SoftBank Corp. said it has presented an analysis of its agreed transaction with Sprint and explained to investors why its transaction is superior to what it called...
Clearwire Draws Sprint Funding for Third Straight Month
April 30, 2013 8:55 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAfter declining funding from Sprint in January and February, Clearwire has elected to take the funding for May, making it three straight months of $80 million draws for a grand total of $240 million. The initial offer from Sprint totaled $800 million to be lent...
SoftBank Allows Sprint to Conduct Talks with Dish
April 29, 2013 10:49 am | by Associated Press | News | CommentsSprint Nextel says SoftBank is allowing it to seek more information from Dish Network related to its rival bid for the third-largest U.S. cellphone company. Sprint has agreed to sell 70 percent of itself to Japan's Softbank Corp. for $20.1 billion. But it recently got a competing...
Sprint, T-Mo Delay S4 Launch on Inventory Problems
April 24, 2013 10:47 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSprint and T-Mobile, which had previously announced their customers would get first dibs on the Samsung Galaxy S4, have now said the device will be delayed. In a statement, Sprint said that while it had planned to launch the phone on Saturday, April 27, Sprint was dealing with...
Sprint’s 1Q Losses Narrow, While Customers Jump Ship
April 24, 2013 10:14 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSprint today reported shrinking first-quarter losses of $643 million, down from $863 million in the same period last year. Revenues from the Sprint platform were up 9 percent annually to $7.1 billion. Subscribers continued to jump ship however, perhaps as they wait to see how the pending merger...
FreedomPop Goes Nationwide With Freemium Internet on Sprint’s 3G
April 24, 2013 9:38 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsFreedomPop today announced it has jumped onto Sprint’s CDMA airwaves and expanded its potential coverage by more than 220,000 Americans. The freemium mobile broadband provider, which guarantees customers 500 MB free per month, had previously only operated on Clearwire’s WiMax service.
Sprint Launches New Enterprise Services
April 23, 2013 10:14 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsSprint today launched a number of new services geared toward the enterprise, addressing WAN limitations and BYOD. Data Link rolls out on Sprint 3G and LTE networks and provides enterprises with private network coverage. The 99.9-percent service level agreement Data Link supports smartphones, tablets, laptops, M2M applications, hotspots and mobile broadband cards.
Sprint Forms Special Committee to Review Dish Bid
April 22, 2013 9:50 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsSprint today announced a special committee of independent directors who will evaluate Dish Network’s $25.5 billion proposed merger. The committee will decide if Dish’s proposal is, or “is reasonably likely to lead to,” a superior offer to Softbank’s near $20 billion bid to acquire a 70 percent stake in Sprint.
Sprint CEO Announces LTE Roaming Agreement With C Spire
April 18, 2013 10:20 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsSprint CEO Dan Hesse, speaking at the Competitive Carrier Association’s Global Expo in New Orleans, opined on the virtues of a competitive mobile market. “We’re all going up against Goliaths,” he said, speaking about the uphill battle Sprint and other carriers, many also members of CCA, face in catching up with Verizon and AT&T.
Dish’s Ergen Says Sprint Debt Manageable
April 17, 2013 9:38 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsDish Network's combative chairman, Charlie Ergen, on Tuesday defended his $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel, saying the debt load the deal would create for the combined company will be manageable. "We will take on more leverage than we have today," Ergen said...
Report: Clearwire Might Default if Sprint Bid Not Approved Soon
April 16, 2013 9:23 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsClearwire is considering defaulting on a $255 million interest payment due in June, which is based on nearly $4.5 billion in debt. Reuters dug into the company’s proxy filing from last week and saw that the company might consider bankruptcy if Sprint’s proposed acquisition is not approved by shareholders.
Analysts Weigh-In on Dish’s Offer to Sprint
April 15, 2013 3:32 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsDish Network unleashed a whole lot of disruption Monday morning when it announced a $25.5 billion offer to merge with Sprint. The unsolicited bid threw a big wrench into Softbank’s $20-billion deal for Sprint. Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analysts, sees Dish’s offer playing out in terms of more money for Sprint’s investors.
Dish Leapfrogs Softbank With $25.5 Billion Bid for Sprint
April 15, 2013 10:26 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsDish Networks this morning announced a $25.5 billion merger bid for Sprint, a deal it says represents a 13 percent premium over the value of Softbank’s current offer to acquire the Kansas City-based carrier. Dish’s offer consists of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock.
Hedge Fund Offers Clearwire Additional $80M in Financing
April 10, 2013 10:50 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAurelius Capital Management has offered Clearwire $80 million in funding to further entice the WiMax wholesaler away from Sprint’s funding offer. In a letter to Clearwire’s board, Aurelius explains that its financing offer would be on similar terms to that of Sprint’s...
Virgin Mobile Goes After T-Mo Subs with $100 Incentive
April 9, 2013 10:35 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSprint Nextel's Virgin Mobile prepaid business is now offering T-Mobile users a $100 credit to switch carriers. A large banner ad on Virgin Mobile's homepage beckons, "Ditch T-Mobile and Get a $100 Credit." The move comes after T-Mobile earlier this month officially...
First News Briefs for April 9, 2013
April 9, 2013 10:12 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsMulti-Tech Systems, a machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions provider, has teamed up with Sprint to deliver a migration from iDEN to Sprint's CDMA services. Multi-Tech's MultiModem rCell Intelligent Wireless Router is pre-validated by Sprint and now available via the M2M Wireless Devices portal and PCD (Personal Communication Devices).
Report: Android Market Gains Tied to Sprint's Samsung Sales
April 4, 2013 11:13 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAndroid continues grabbing more market share, snagging 51.2 percent of smartphone sales in the United States during the three-month period that ended in February, according to a report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Apple's iOS took second place...
Investor Offers Clearwire $240M Alternative to Sprint’s Money
April 4, 2013 10:41 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsCrest Financial Limited has offered Clearwire $240 million in financing as an alternative to the $80 million per month funding draw Sprint has been giving to the WiMax wholesaler. The offer is meant to provide Clearwire with more time to consider alternatives to Sprint’s offer of $2.97 per share to buy the roughly 50 percent of Clearwire it doesn’t already own.
HD Voice Coming to AT&T Later This Year
April 2, 2013 10:09 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAT&T will be switching over to HD Voice later this year as it begins to migrate is voice calling over to its LTE network. The Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital blog reports that AT&T senior vice president Kris Rinne, speaking at Venture Beat’s Mobile Summit, said that HD Voice is part of the company’s LTE strategy.
Galaxy S 4 Available for Pre-order April 16 from AT&T, U.S. Cellular
March 29, 2013 1:02 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsBoth AT&T and U.S. Cellular have confirmed April 16 as the date when they’ll start accepting pre-orders for Samsung’s new flagship smartphone. AT&T has set the price at $249 with a two-year contract while U.S. Cellular has yet to reveal pricing details. Neither carrier has set a release date.
