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Books, Music, Electronics, Gifts, and More Available to Alltel Customers in Time for Holiday Season

Commission action on net neutrality is not expected until at least spring 2010, but lobbying efforts among stakeholders are going strong. The council's resolution asks the FCC "to codify strong network neutrality principles in order to ensure that the Internet will continue to foster innovation, increase competition, and spur economic...

AT&T said the "There's A Map For That" series of ads has caused irreparable harm because it misleads viewers into thinking AT&T does not have wireless data coverage over a wide portion of the United States. The ads show a side-by-side comparison of the companies' 3G data coverage and claim...

Nokia said it has so far seen strong interest from corporations and enterprise users for its first netbook, the Booklet 3G, according to a company executive. The device was first unveiled in August and is set to go on sale in the United States through Best Buy. ...

The Verizon ads that take aim at AT&T's 3G network will stay on the air ? for now. A judge on Wednesday denied AT&T's request to remove the Verizon commercials while the two sides battle it out in court. Earlier this month, AT&T sued Verizon in Georgia district court for...

AT&T has lost the first battle in a legal war against Verizon Wireless to force the company to stop showing advertisements that compare its 3G wireless network coverage with Verizon's coverage. A federal judge in Atlanta on Wednesday declined to grant AT&T a temporary restraining...

AT&T isn’t the only operator whose network shortcomings have been exposed by data-hungry iPhone users. O2 — which until recently was the only UK operator to carry Apple’s gadget — said it will spend $166 million over the next several months to shore up its network to meet ever-increasing demands from smartphone users. Additionally, the [...]

Even though we’re inching ever-closer towards consumption-based broadband, not all ISPs are implementing metered or tiered plans as a way to punish users who clog their pipes. For example, Verizon plans to one day move to a consumption-based model as a way to generate additional revenue, not because of any network constraint. Brian Whitton, executive [...]

Sprint Nextel (S) has expanded its fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network to two more US cities. The third largest US carrier has officially launched commercial services in San Antonio and Austin in Texas. The company’s 4G services now covers about 25 markets in the US, with plans to address more than 120 million people by [...]

(S) Sprint Expands 4G Network – Reduces Debt

Sprint Nextel (S) has expanded its fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network to two more US cities. The third largest US carrier has officially launched commercial services in San Antonio and Austin in Texas. The company’s 4G services now covers about 25 markets in the US, with plans to address more than 120 million people by the end of 2009.
 
Subscribers across the newly launched markets can now enjoy lightning fast mobile broadband experience by paying just $10 per month over their existing 3G wireless data plans. The 4G WiMax network offers up to 10 times faster network speeds than the existing 3G deployments. The download speeds enabled by the 4G WiMax network average 3−6 megabits per second (Mbps), with peak speeds exceeding 10 Mbps.  
 
Sprint offers its 4G service under the "Sprint 4G" brand and leverages the WiMax (a mobile broadband technology) network operated by Clearwire Corporation (CLWR) in which it holds a 51% stake. Sprint recently announced its plan to invest an additional US$1.2 billion in Clearwire to facilitate the 4G service roll-out.
 
The 4G WiMax service is expected to play a critical role for Sprint’s survival in the domestic wireless market, given its continued market share losses to larger rivals. The company plans to continue the aggressive network deployments through 2010 with 4G service launches in key US markets such as Boston, Houston, New York , San Francisco and Washington D.C.
 
Sprint’s peers AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) are preparing to deploy their own 4G networks in the 2010−2011 timeframe based on the Long-Term Evaluation (“LTE"), an emerging 4G wireless standard. LTE has demonstrated higher throughput levels than WiMax in technical trials.
 
Sprint has reportedly repaid US$1 billion debt using its existing cash resources. This has effectively erased all outstanding balance on the company’s US$4.5 billion revolving credit facility.
 
This significant debt reduction initiative follows the warning issued by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services for a possible credit rating downgrade due to the company’s lackluster operating results through third-quarter 2009. The company reported a bigger net loss and lower revenue in the last quarter due to the weak performance of its postpaid wireless business.
 
Sprint is increasingly focused on cost reduction as a declining subscriber base continued to weigh on its top-line. The company recently revealed a workforce reduction plan as it targets to downsize up to 2,500 jobs by the end of the current year. This is expected to help the company to reduce costs by at least $350 million.
 
While Sprint’s 4G expansion and cost-cutting measures appear encouraging, the company is expected to remain challenged by the sustained erosion in its wireless contract customer base through 2009. However, the healthy growth at Boost Monthly prepaid mobile business may offset most of these losses.
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US telecom giant AT&T (T) has reportedly expanded its portfolio of premium cloud-based solutions with an innovative cloud computing service that delivers on-demand computing through a self-service approach over the company’s reliable and highly secured network cloud platform. The service called “AT&T Synaptic Compute as a Service” will offer businesses of all sizes on-demand access [...]

(T) AT&T Expands Cloud-based Computer Solutions

Apple will probably drop its exclusive deal with AT&T next year and offer its iPhone to Verizon subscribers as well, a Wall Street analyst said today.

The move will mean the end of Apple's "sweetheart" deal with AT&T, which pays Apple about $450 for each iPhone it sells. But the Cupertino, Calif. company will make up the shortfall in volume, Brian Marshall, of Broadpoint AmTech, said in a research note to clients today.