Sprint

Business
April 16, 2013
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Softbank plans to complete Sprint merger by July, despite offer from Dish

SoftBank plans to complete Sprint merger by July, despite offer from Dish

By on April 16, 2013 at 6:35 PM.

SoftBank plans to complete Sprint merger by July, despite offer from Dish

SoftBank doesn’t appear to be worried about Dish Network’s recent bid for Sprint. The Japanese carrier said in a statement to AllThingsD that it believes its proposed merger offers a superior option to Sprint shareholders with both “short and long-term benefits to Dish’s highly conditional preliminary proposal.” Dish on Monday challenged SoftBank’s merger proposition with a bid of its own worth $25.5 billion. The proposed deal values the carrier at $7.00 per share, considerably higher than SoftBank’s offer of $4.03 per share. Despite the higher bid, SoftBank remains confident and said that it expects the transaction to be completed by July 1st.

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mobile
April 15, 2013
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Verizon reportedly offering $1.5 billion to use Clearwire's spectrum

Verizon reportedly offering $1.5 billion to lease Clearwire’s spectrum

By on April 15, 2013 at 2:40 PM.

Verizon reportedly offering $1.5 billion to lease Clearwire’s spectrum

Clearwire disclosed in a securities filing on Friday that it had received an offer from an unnamed company for use of its spectrum. According to The Wall Street Journal, Verizon is behind the proposed deal and has offered $1.5 billion to lease Clearwire’s spectrum. Verizon is said to be interested in Clearwire spectrum in big markets to help it bolster its 4G LTE service. The carrier is expected to face a few obstacles, however. Wireless rival Sprint has a controlling stake in Clearwire and recently proposed a takeover of the company, while at the same time Sprint is in the middle of dealing with its own merger offers from Japanese carrier SoftBank and from Dish Network. Clearwire, Sprint and Verizon, nevertheless, will come together to evaluate the offer and discuss it in further detail.

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Business
April 15, 2013
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Why a Dish takeover of Sprint would be fascinating

Why a Dish takeover of Sprint would be fascinating

By on April 15, 2013 at 10:45 AM.

Why a Dish takeover of Sprint would be fascinating

Pay-TV operator Dish has made a dramatic bid for Sprint in an effort to elbow SoftBank aside. The company’s $25.5 billion bid is 13% above the offer SoftBank had made previously. What makes the situation so fascinating is the strong growth of mobile video consumption over the past year. In a recent interview with AdGent, the advertising platform company pointed out that browser-based video viewing is now the No.1 activity on tablets, growing faster than app usage. In a separate interview, David Steinberg from XL Marketing remarked that mobile video ads now have roughly three times higher CPM than app ads. More →

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Business
April 15, 2013
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Dish challenges Softbank with $25.5 billion Sprint bid

Dish challenges SoftBank with $25.5 billion Sprint bid

By on April 15, 2013 at 7:30 AM.

Dish challenges SoftBank with $25.5 billion Sprint bid

Dish Network has been looking to make serious inroads in the mobile market and it looks like the company has identified an appealing new option. Dish on Monday announced that it is challenging SoftBank’s plans for a Sprint merger with a bid of its own — $25.5 billion in total, which consists of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. The proposed Dish deal would give Sprint shareholders $7.00 per share, which represents a healthy premium over SoftBank’s offer of $4.03 per share. Sprint shares were up more than 12.5% in Monday’s pre-market session on the news. Dish’s full press release follows below. More →

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Business
April 11, 2013
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Sprint Clearwire Merger Opposed

Clearwire’s largest minority shareholder moves to fight Sprint takeover

By on April 11, 2013 at 7:35 PM.

Clearwire’s largest minority shareholder moves to fight Sprint takeover

A top Clearwire (CLWR) shareholder is waging a proxy war in an effort to stop Sprint’s proposed takeover of the troubled wireless provider, AllThingsD reported. Sprint (S) is looking to acquire Clearwire for $2.97 per share, however Crest Financial, Clearwire’s largest minority shareholder, believes the offer undervalues the company and its spectrum. The Houston-based investment company hired a proxy solicitation firm last month to help it fight the deal, and also sued Clearwire and its board for breaching their fiduciary duties. More →

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mobile
April 4, 2013
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HTC One Preorders AT&T

HTC One now available for preorder

By on April 4, 2013 at 11:15 AM.

HTC One now available for preorder

HTC’s (2498) new HTC One smartphone is one of the most stunning handsets ever to hit the market and it is now finally available for preorder in the United States. AT&T (T) on Thursday became the first U.S. carrier to begin taking preorders for the upcoming flagship HTC handset, which is set to hit store shelves on April 19th. Sprint (S) will then follow AT&T’s lead and make the HTC One available for preorder beginning on April 5th ahead of the same April 19th launch date. The HTC One features a 4.7-inch HD Super LCD3 display, a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, up to 64GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, a 4-megapixel “Ultrapixel” camera and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Links to AT&T and Sprint’s respective preorder pages can be found below.

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mobile
March 29, 2013
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Sprint Softbank Merger Huawei Equipment

Sprint, Softbank agree to ditch Huawei over spy concerns

By on March 29, 2013 at 9:33 AM.

Sprint, Softbank agree to ditch Huawei over spy concerns

Sprint (S) and Japanese carrier Softbank (SFTBY) have confirmed to U.S. lawmakers they won’t use equipment from Huawei following their upcoming merger, Bloomberg reported. Softbank announced plans last October to pay more than $20 billion to acquire a 70% stake in Sprint. The deal was approved by the board of directors at both companies and was awaiting the green light from the Federal Communications Commission. More →

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mobile
March 26, 2013
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Rumor
Sprint Windows Phone 8 HTC Samsung

Sprint rumored to launch HTC ‘Tiara’ and Samsung Ativ S Windows Phones this summer

By on March 26, 2013 at 10:44 PM.

Sprint rumored to launch HTC ‘Tiara’ and Samsung Ativ S Windows Phones this summer

Sprint (S) does not offer any Windows Phone 8 devices, however a new report suggests that the carrier will launch two Windows-powered smartphones in the coming months. According to The Verge, the carrier will start offering the HTC (2498) Tiara and Samsung (005930) Ativ S this summer. The unannounced Tiara smartphone is rumored to be a mid-range handset with a 4.3-inch WVGA Super LCD2 display, while the Ativ S offers a 4.8-inch 720p display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, NFC and an 8-megapixel rear camera. Both devices are expected to be available at Sprint stores in May or June.

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mobile
March 26, 2013
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ATT Sprint Respond

AT&T issues one-word response to T-Mobile attacks: ‘Whatever’

By on March 26, 2013 at 3:45 PM.

AT&T issues one-word response to T-Mobile attacks: ‘Whatever’

T-Mobile formally declared war on rival carriers with the announcement of its new “UNcarrier” initiative at a press event in New York City on Tuesday. John Legere, the company’s president and CEO, called out every major player in the mobile industry but spent extra time bashing AT&T (T). The executive repeatedly pointed out the carrier’s “misleading pricing model” and network quality, claiming customers will save more than $1,000 over the course of two years on T-Mobile, which he also said could handle 50% more bandwidth than AT&T’s network. The carrier was not phased, however. More →

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mobile
March 22, 2013
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Sprint Genachowski Praise

Sprint thanks Genachowski for blocking the AT&T-T-Mobile merger

By on March 22, 2013 at 6:42 PM.

Sprint thanks Genachowski for blocking the AT&T-T-Mobile merger

Wireless carriers and soon-to-be-former Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but it seems that at least one carrier will miss seeing him go. Sprint (S) on Friday put out a statement commending Genachowski for his four-year tenure as head of the FCC and made a list of his accomplishments that the company said had made the wireless industry “better off as a result.” At the very top of Sprint’s list was Genachowski’s “decision to block AT&T’s (T) proposed takeover of T-Mobile,” a move that earned him kudos from Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and scorn from AT&T executive Jim Cicconi, who said that the FCC’s decision was “so obviously one-sided that any fair-minded person reading it is left with the clear impression that it is an advocacy piece, and not a considered analysis.”

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mobile
March 11, 2013
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Rumor
Sprint All-Touch BlackBerry

Sprint will launch an all-touch BlackBerry phone in 2013, but not the Z10

By on March 11, 2013 at 4:35 PM.

Sprint will launch an all-touch BlackBerry phone in 2013, but not the Z10

BlackBerry (BBRY) fans were upset to hear that Sprint (S) decided to pass on the company’s flagship smartphone. The carrier confirmed that it would not offer the BlackBerry Z10 and instead would only carry the QWERTY keyboard equipped BlackBerry Q10 later this year. According to a report from AllThingsD, however, Sprint will launch a different all-touch BlackBerry smartphone sometime in the second half of 2013. The device is described as a “follow-on handset” to the Z10 and not just a slightly modified version of the smartphone that is being offered by AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile.

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mobile
March 11, 2013
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4G Network Speeds

AT&T LTE network tops speed test, but Verizon still has the best LTE coverage

By on March 11, 2013 at 4:04 PM.

AT&T LTE network tops speed test, but Verizon still has the best LTE coverage

You can’t go five minutes without seeing an advertisement for the fastest, largest, cheapest or most reliable network in the United States. Mobile service providers keep pushing their own brands of 4G wireless services to entice consumers, however it is becoming increasingly difficult to decide between Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Sprint (S), T-Mobile and the assorted number of smaller carriers. Besides price and coverage, which are both important aspects consumers should consider, data speeds should play a major role in carrier choice especially when signing a lengthy two-year service agreement. With all the advertising hoopla going on, however, it can be hard to get the facts. To make things a little easier, research firm RootMetrics recently tested the four major carriers to find out which one operates the fastest network in the America. More →

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mobile
March 5, 2013
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Sprint Unlocked Smartphones

Sprint encourages customers to unlock old phones and use them on prepaid networks

By on March 5, 2013 at 7:57 PM.

Sprint encourages customers to unlock old phones and use them on prepaid networks

A day after the White House came out in support of unlocking cell phones, Sprint (S) announced a new program that encourages customers to use their old devices on prepaid carriers that utilize its network. The “Bring Your Own Sprint Device” program looks to reduce the number of inactive phones in the U.S. and keep them out of landfills. At the same time, it intends to help Sprint’s MVNO partners attract customers by offsetting the burden of phone subsidies through the “reactivation of used and inactive Sprint-branded devices” on qualified price plans. Sprint’s press release follows below. More →

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