About this time last year, AT&T's plans to buyout T-Mobile were crumbling. Thanks to strong opposition from its competitors — namely Sprint, and the US government, the carrier was forced to withdraw its merger application from the FCC.
With that in mind, it's no surprise that AT&T is being vocal about the recently announced Softbank-Sprint-Clearwire deal. The carrier says it's worrisome that a foreign carrier will have control over such a large chunk of US airwaves...
It was reported that the nation's third-largest telco Sprint Nextel is looking to buy a controlling stake in Clearwire without an acquisition. Sure enough, Sprint instead opted to buy out one of Clearwire's other shareholders to increase its 48 percent stake to a controlling 50.8 percent stake. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Sprint acknowledged as much in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday...
Verizon reported today it activated 3.1 million iPhones during the three-month period ending September 30. About 650,000 were iPhone 5 units that had been purchased in just one week, the largest US carrier reported. The iPhone represented 46 percent of smartphones Verizon sold during the period. Overall, smartphones now account for 53 percent of the handsets Verizon sells.
The 650,000 iPhone 5 sales figure is impressive, given Apple's latest handset was released in late September, permitting only one week of sales during the third quarter. The Cupertino, California-based Apple confirmed it sold 5 million of the new handsets during its opening weekend last month...
Sprint is said to be in high-level negotiations with Clearwire, a wireless broadband provider, that would give it greater control over its long-time partner. The deal would give the carrier the ability to appoint a majority of the company's board members, without having to pony up cash for a buyout.
The news actually comes as a bit of a surprise, as many folks (especially investors) believed that Softbank's announcement that it was going to take a controlling stake in Sprint from earlier this week would lead to a Clearwire acquisition. But apparently, the carrier had other plans...
There were reports last week that Softbank was interested in making a major investment in Sprint. Well those rumors materialized today, as the Japanese carrier is said to have purchased a 70% stake in the company.
The deal isn't exactly official yet, but the two parties are expected to make an announcement tomorrow morning. The purchase will give Softbank the controlling interest in the third largest carrier in the US...
This just in. According to a new report out this morning, Softbank, Japan’s third-largest wireless operator, is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Overland, Kansas-based Sprint, the nation's third-largest carrier. The transaction is said to be worth an estimated 1.5 trillion yen, or $19 billion, and would file as the largest purchase of a foreign company by a Japanese firm.
SoftBank used to be the only official iPhone carrier in Japan until the release of iPhone 4S last November. According to people familiar with the situation, Softbank is aiming to buy all of the outstanding shares in Sprint, which had more than 56 million users at the end of June...
Sprint executives must be consuming antacids by the barrel about now. Not only is the carrier a mere footnote when U.S. wireless providers are mentioned, but today's agreement between T-Mobile and MetroPCS could put on life-support Sprint Nextel's only real market: inexpensive prepaid cell service.
Until today, when the two carriers announced they'd merge, T-Mobile was known as the carrier without an iPhone and was left at the altar after a marriage to AT&T was derailed by federal regulatory concerns. As for Metro-PCS, it was a regional carrier barely on anyone's radar. Now, however, the combined companies (if the merger is approved) will boast 43 million subscribers, closing in on Sprint's 56 million...
When it comes to sales of Apple products, the much-publicized Apple Stores are like a cruise ship captain: lots of glitz and glamour, but having little connection to the mostly-hidden work which keeps the boat steaming along. That's the view of new research finding Apple's retail partners sold more iPhones than Apple's physical stores...
Oh my! The iPhone 5 has officially gone on sale this morning at 8am in the United States and eight oversea markets and already U.S. carrier Sprint has burned through its initial allotment of devices. The company just reported it sold out of the iPhone 5 at many of its retail stores on East Coast, just hours after the device went on sale. The stores will remain "seriously constrained" until Sprint receives additional devices from Apple...
When Apple unveiled its new smartphone last week, it also announced some changes to its iPhone lineup. For starters, the 16GB iPhone 4S is going to drop to just $99 with a two year contract.
In addition, the company is also getting rid of the 3GS, making the iPhone 4 its $0 offering. But according to some new information, it doesn't look like all providers are going to carry it...
For those wishing to avoid signing up for a lengthy two year contract, Verizon or AT&T's website will let you easily order an off-contract iPhone 5 that you can configure with a month to month plan.
Signing up for a carrier's month to month plan will provide you with an unsubsidized phone for $649, $749, and $849, for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions of the iPhone 5 respectively. Here's how to do it...
Remember back when Verizon first launched the iPhone 4? AT&T, whose network was struggling at the time, launched a campaign highlighting the fact that AT&T users could talk and browse the web at the same time, and Verizon users couldn't.
Over time, the problem faded into the background. And since Verizon's LTE network — which is now in nearly 400 markets — supports simultaneous voice and data, we didn't think it'd be a problem with the iPhone 5. But apparently, we were wrong...