German operator group Deutsche Telekom has submitted what it says is a final offer for US operator MetroPCS. The firm hopes to persuade a number of MetroPCS’s shareholders that voiced objections to the terms of the initial bid.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the potential merger between operators T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS.
US carrier MetroPCS has taken a lead in the US by becoming the first network to offer Rich Communications Services (RCS) on its LTE network. RCS is designed to offer enhanced features such as chat, messaging and content sharing directly via the network, rather than through third party offerings.
Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS have announced plans to merge with DT owning 74 per cent of the combined company and MetroPCS the remaining 26 per cent. The deal will strengthen T-Mobile’s position in the US, increasing total subscribers by 28 per cent to 43 million and increasing market share from 10 per cent to 13 per cent.
Solyman Ashrafi is vice president of product management at MetroPCS and is on the LTE North America advisory board. He is speaking on the Voice over LTE track on Day Two of the LTE North America 2012 conference, taking place on the 14-15th November 2012 at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel, Texas. Ahead of the conference we speak to him about where MetroPCS is with its VoLTE deployment and what the challenges it expects to face in the future.
South Korean operator SKT and USA’s MetroPCS have both announced launches of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services. SKT will brand its VoLTE offering ‘HD Voice’ and said that the service will allow it to begin cutting the ties with legacy voice networks as well as better compete with over-the-top VoIP services.
We speak to Ed Chao, senior vice president, corporate engineering & network operations for MetroPCS,following the announcement of the company winning the Significant Progress for a Commercial Launch of LTE by a Carrier category at the LTE North America Awards 2011, held earlier this week in Dallas, Texas, USA.
The LTE North America awards 2011 are taking place on the 8th November 2011 at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, USA. The awards celebrate the innovation and excellence in that has taken place over the past 12 months in the LTE industry and features 60 nominees across 9 categories.
In the lead up to the awards, we are featuring close looks at each of the companies shortlisted and here we bring you a preview of the category: Significant Progress for a Commercial Launch of LTE by a carrier – 2010/11.
Figures from industry body the GSMA reveal that 208 operators in 80 countries are now investing in LTE. But while rollouts aimed at consumers are gaining momentum, a study undertaken by research house mobileSquared indicates that one third of operators have no trials or network deployments underway at the moment.
US operators could be forced to state the capabilities and coverage of their networks more clearly if a bill introduced into the senate this week becomes law. The confusion over the blanket marketing of all types of next generation networks as 4G has long been a contentious issue in the industry, with all the major networks touting 4G services, regardless of the technologies on which they are based and the speeds they actually deliver.
With experience of a number of LTE deployments in one of the world’s most advanced markets, Ericsson’s VP for strategy and market development in the US, Arun Bhikshesvaran, shares his thoughts on key strategic and technical issues surrounding rollout of the new technology.
Things are looking up for MetroPCS as it continues to roll out its LTE network. The operator, which was the first US network to launch LTE, has announced record first quarter results of US$285m, an increase of approximately 28 per cent over first quarter of 2010.
US carrier Metro PCS has launched LTE in Las Vegas, marking the launch of the first LTE network in the US and an industry milestone in the shape of the world’s first LTE handset.
Not content with engineering a large scale merger in the UK with French owned carrier Orange, Deutsche Telekom has now set its sites on some monster consolidation in the US. That’s the rumour, anyway, and as any follower of international soccer-ball knows, you can never discount the Germans.
The final nail may have already been thought to have gone into the coffin of CDMA, but it looks like there are more to come as US-based CDMA operator MetroPCS joins the throng of those moving to LTE.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a list of 266 bidders for the forthcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. Among those companies listed as having accepted applications is Google Airwaves. Other interested parties include Alltel, AT&T, MetroPCS, Qualcomm, Verizon and investment company Vulcan Spectrum, which is headed up by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen. Google has said [...]
Regional US mobile operator, Leap Wireless, said Sunday that it has rejected an unsolicited offer from rival company MetroPCS. In a letter from one board to another, the managers of Leap said: “Your publicly-announced merger proposal, however, is completely inadequate in a number of critical areas.” The response continued in much the same vein, leaving [...]
Lean and MeanWith summer supposedly fast approaching, many look to trim some fat and get in shape for the sunny months. The Informer has never been a huge fan of gyms; in fact his favourite machine in the gym is the one that sells chocolate. Telefonica’s UK arm O2, is one business that is looking to get lean for the holidays, though, and this week it announced that it is to trim 3,500 UK employees.
Cross-border opportunities are there, but Telenor has work to do in BulgariaPan-European operater group Telenor is making another move into Eastern Europe, this time buying Bulgaria’s Globul. The move makes sense for several reasons, but success won’t come easy in a country with high mobile penetration and a sluggish economy.
Telecoms.com speaks with Ali Agan, who has risen through the ranks of TeliaSonera Group to become CEO of KCell in Kazakhstan. With a young population Agan is keen to deploy LTE and exploit nascent demand for data services.
Jonathan Bell, VP of Marketing at OpenCloud, discusses how policy and pricing are just two dimensions along which telecoms operators can differentiate their propositions. By adding a third dimension, the service behaviour itself, operators can define and bring true innovation to the market that surpasses the traditional approaches of the past, he says.
Loading ...
Calls for consolidation in the European mobile market grow louder by the week and four-operator markets look increasingly challenged. Now, those mobile operators that have already built scale seem to be suggesting that there is no option but to expand yet further through diversification.