Carriers

Leap Wireless reports improved iPhone sales after dismal quarter

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Back in February, Leap Wireless submitted a rather alarming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It had been seeing much weaker demand for the iPhone than expected, and it was only on track to sell through half of its first-year commitment.

But apparently, the problems were only temporary. Yesterday, the company—who sells the iPhone through its subsidiary Cricket Wireless—reported its earnings for its first operating quarter this year, and it told investors that it is seeing much better iPhone sales...

AT&T flips the switch on LTE in 15 new markets

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2013

After adding five more cities to the list of LTE-covered places and announcing a major expansion of its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, the nation's second-largest wireless carrier AT&T Mobility on Tuesday announced fifteen new LTE markets across ten U.S. states.

If you live in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania or Texas, you could be seeing increased download speeds provided AT&T's LTE expanded to your area. Go past the fold for the full breakdown...

Cash cow is dying as messaging apps overtake SMS by volume

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

For the first time, more messages are being sent via applications such as iMessage, WhatsApp and Viber than traditional texting. That's the message of a new study which found that messages sent using such apps outnumbered those sent through carrier-based SMS in 2012.

That lead is expected to widen this year as chat apps send twice as many messages as texting. The study by Informa suggests the lucrative business of text transmissions could be winding down for carriers.

Although traditional SMS has a larger user base, iMessage, WhatsApp or other chatting apps are sending more texts per user, giving them the momentum...

Sprint activates 1.5M iPhones in Q1, 43 percent to new customers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

Sprint Nextel, the nation's third-largest wireless carrier, Wednesday posted its fiscal 2013 first quarter earnings. The telco saw strong smartphone sales of five million units, with iPhone sales exceeding 1.5 million with 43 percent to new customers.

A whooping 86 percent of quarterly Sprint platform postpaid handset sales were smartphones. Sprint described the 43 percent of iPhone sales that were to new customers as a rate "that continues to outperform larger competitors"...

AT&T activates 4.8M iPhones in Q1

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 23, 2013

Just as we're counting down the remaining time until Apple's earnings release, the company's trusted iPhone distributor AT&T reported corporate earnings related to the first three months of this year. The company added 1.2 million new subscribers and sold six million smartphones, of which 4.8 million were iPhones, accounting for a whopping 80 percent of new smartphone additions.

By contrast, rival Verizon last week said it added 677,000 net new subscribers during the first quarter. Additionally, out of the 7.2 million new smartphone owners in the quarter, Verizon reported that four million were iPhones.

Even with the slowing growth slowed, key metrics matched Wall Street expectations. That wasn't enough to prevent shares from going down by nearly 1.25 percent in after hours trading. We'll be listening to AT&T's conference call later this afternoon for additional data points...

T-Mobile planning to leapfrog LTE competition with 3x faster LTE Advanced

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 23, 2013

T-Mobile is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the United States and also the furthest behind of the four major telcos in terms of deployment of the fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular technology.

You'll recall T-Mobile has only begun testing its LTE last month, ahead of its April 12 iPhone distribution deal with Apple.

Right now, T-Mobile has LTE towers in just seven cities and their coverage plans call for 100 million LTE users by the end of the summer and 200 million by the end of the year.

Despite the slow pace of LTE deployment, the carrier thinks it can do better and take its rivals by surprise by deploying LTE Advanced fast, tapping its existing hardware already in place...

Cricket lowers unlimited iPhone plan to $50

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Cricket, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, started offering the iPhone last year. Initially, it was the only prepaid carrier offering the popular smartphone, but it has since been joined by Straight Talk and other low-cost competitors.

So it's no surprise that the wireless provider announced today that it's revamping its iPhone plans, bringing them more inline with its Android plans and the competition. The service now starts at $50 for unlimited everything...

Sprint, Verizon and AT&T announce major LTE expansion

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

Sprint and AT&T, respectively the nation's third and second-largest wireless carriers, announced availability of their fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology in new markets. Sprint confirmed its customers in 21 new markets can take advantage of high-speed cellular downloads, including Los Angeles, Contra Costa County, California, Charlotte, North Carolina, Norfolk, Virginia, and Memphis, Tennessee. AT&T on its part announced it has turned on LTE in Florence, Massachusetts, Cushing, Oklahoma and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Verizon flipped the switch on LTE in two new markets...

Verizon in Q1 activated 4M iPhones out of 7.2M smartphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 18, 2013

Verizon just posted its calendar 2013 first quarter earnings. The nation's top wireless carrier activated four million iPhones on its network throughout the quarter, half of which were the iPhone 5. The figure beats the 3.5 million unit consensus and represents a 25 percent increase over the 3.2 million iPhones Verizon activated a year ago. Representing just over 55 percent of all smartphone activations for the quarter, the iPhone during Q4 2012 represented nearly two-thirds of activations, which isn't surprising given the holiday rush, iPhone 4/4S price cuts and the iPhone 5 launch hype.

The company added 720,000 net new subscribers, including 677,000 people who signed two-year contracts, up 35 percent year-over-year. Turnover rate increased slightly to 1.01 percent from 0.96 percent a year ago. Smartphones represented 61 percent of contract subscribers, a record smartphone penetration. Shares climbed 1.94 percent during Thursday’s pre-market session...

Can you hear me now: 60,000 disgruntled users urge Verizon to drop contracts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 24, 2018

T-Mobile's 'Un-carrier' decision to separate device subsidies from the wireless service and its introduction of no-contract plans predictably agitated spirits in this lucrative industry. But Verizon Wireless, the top U.S. carrier, wouldn't budge. In fact, the big red carrier responded rather autistically to T-Mobile by delaying phone upgrades from 20 to 24 months.

At the same time, Verizon is attempting to appease to users by offering smartphone financing program beginning April 21. That Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam refuses to clarify his company's stance on monthly installments isn't helping either.

Deciding enough is enough, one Verizon fanboy started a petition recently, urging the carrier to ditch wireless contracts. And guess what? Already 60,000+ disgruntled customers put their signature on it. Verizon, can you hear me now?

Dish puts $25B on table towards snagging Sprint from Japan’s Softbank

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Dish Network has launched a $25.5 billion cash and stock bid to snag carrier Sprint from Japan's communications giant Softbank, according to reports Monday morning. Should Sprint accept the offer and regulators approve the deal, consumers will get a new service that could combine mobile, broadband and television.

Dish is the nation's second-largest direct-broadcast satellite service provider which serves just over fourteen million Americans. Sprint Nextel with its 47.5 million subscribers files as the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States. The proposed merger comes at an interesting time, just as Softbank's proposed acquisition of 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion is nearing its completion in the second quarter of 2013...

Verizon responds to T-Mobile with Device Payment Plan for smartphones, due April 21

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 13, 2013

Boy, did T-Mobile's 'Uncarrier' initiative hit a nerve. As you know, the nation's fourth-largest carrier landed the iPhone yesterday and just recently "canceled our membership in the out-of-touch wireless carrier club" by unleashing monthly installments separate of wireless service, reducing upfront cost of unsubsidized gear a great deal.

And just as T-Mobile yesterday announced "gangbusters" iPhone opening (even if that's not really a number), Verizon swiftly responded by delaying phone upgrades from 20 to 24 months. The backlash ensued and Verizon quickly realized the change may not be “consistent with how the majority of customers purchase new phones today,” as it argued.

Therefore, the big red carrier followed up by announcing a one-year monthly installment plan for high-end smartphones costing over $349.99. It's called Device Payment Plan and we have all the details right after the break...