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AT&T plans to acquire Centennial Communications for $944 million (USA)

November 11th, 2008
5:01 am

AT&T, USA’s leading mobile operator, plans to buy Centennial Communications for $944 million in cash. The acquisition will enhance AT&T’s wireless coverage for subscribers in largely rural areas of the Midwest and Southeast United States and in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, Centennial’s 1.1 million wireless subscribers will have access to the wireless network and wireless devices, including iPhone 3G. Centennial’s customers who choose select smartphones — such as the BlackBerry Bold, another AT&T exclusive — and AT&T LaptopConnect cards will also enjoy free access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network.
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Centennial Communications posts 1.09 million subscribers by August end (USA)

October 9th, 2008
5:31 am

Centennial Communications, which provides fixed, cellular and broadband services in USA, US VIrgin Islands and Peurto Rico, announces it’s financial results for its fiscal Q1, in which net profit rose 30% year-on-year to USD7.5 million, on revenues that climbed 7% to USD265 million. Centennial ended the period with 1.09 million total cellular subscribers, up from 1.06 million last year.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, USA, Puerto Rico, Subscriber base, US Virgin Islands, Centennial Communications
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iPhone 3G enters Puerto Rico market (Puerto Rico)

October 2nd, 2008
5:50 am

From 17th October, iPhone 3G mobile handset will be available on AT&T networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Under the exclusive deal with Apple, AT&T is selling iPhones in USA.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, USA, 3G, Apple, iPhone, AT&T, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands
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T-Mobile rebrands SunCom Wireless network (USA, Peurto Rico)

September 8th, 2008
12:20 pm

T-Mobile, USA, announces the launch of T-Mobile brand in all former SunCom Wireless markets throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The former SunCom subscribers will now be able to access T-Mobile’s nationwide US mobile network and customer services, with improved regional coverage and advanced communications products and services.
All the former SunCom retail stores will be named as T-Mobile stores. The German telco had completed the acquisition for around USD2.4 billion in cash and debt in February 2008.
After the acquisition the telco has invested nearly USD100 million for network strengthening in the Carolinas and Puerto Rico, to give subscribers a stronger signal in a wider area and now serves 99 of the top 100 US markets nationally.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Garmin unveils navigation application for mobiles

October 4th, 2007
11:35 am

Navigation device maker Garmin International has unveiled Garmin Mobile XT, a software service that turns selected smartphones with internal GPS into high-end Garmin navigators. The mobile phone application pairs the phone’s built-in GPS with Garmin’s software so that customers can navigate anywhere in North America or Europe. Garmin Mobile XT is pre-loaded on a microSD card that includes Garmin navigation software for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, or Europe. Garmin Mobile XT builds in features such as support for travel guides, topo maps and custom points of interest, as well as advanced features such as route planning with saved routes, custom avoidances and visible trip logs. Garmin Mobile XT also includes PeerPoints, a feature enabling users to send their position to any other phone as well as view and navigate to the location of other Garmin Mobile XT users. In addition to navigation, Garmin Mobile XT includes free access to Garmin Online. Garmin Mobile XT is available now for a suggested retail price of USD 99 in the US. Garmin Mobile XT products purchased in the US include maps of all North America. In Europe, Garmin Mobile XT includes map data for 30 countries in Europe.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Mobile, Canada, USA, Europe, Puerto Rico, Garmin
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IP-rates of the Caribbean: VOZ joins Netband for consumer VoIP (Puerto Rico)

September 26th, 2007
1:18 pm

Puerto Rican ISP Caribe.Net has partnered domestic alternative communications provider VOZ to add VoIP telephony to its Netband residential high speed internet packages. Caribe.Net’s Netband service uses RF wireless technology to provide internet connections at speeds of up to 1.2Mbps (download and upload), without the need for a PSTN or cable line. A basic ‘Netband with Telephone’ package costs USD35.95 per month for a 512kbps symmetrical connection, with all calls to domestic, US or Canada numbers charged at USD0.025 per minute. There is a one-off installation fee of USD189.99 for all Netband packages. Netband is currently available in San Juan, Guaynabo, Carolina, Caguas, Bayamon, Mayaguez and Ponce. Caribe.Net was established in 1994, and offers a portfolio of internet access, data transmission, co-location , managed services and VoIP, for residential, SME and corporate customers.

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T-Mobile to Buy SunCom for $2.4B (USA)

September 18th, 2007
6:20 am

European telecoms carrier Deutsche Telekom said on Monday it will acquire SunCom Wireless Holdings, a longtime roaming partner of its T-Mobile arm in the U.S. for $2.4 billion in cash and assumed debt.

The deal will help fill out T-Mobile’s wireless coverage in five southeastern states including the Carolinas and Georgia, along with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The deal will also position T-Mobile, the fourth largest cell phone carrier in the U.S., for an upcoming wireless spectrum auction, which could have fundamental impact on the mobile market, according to one analyst.

Deutsche Telekom will pay $1.6 billion for SunCom and assume $800,000 of the Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based carrier’s debt.

In return, the Bonn-based telecoms giant will gain more than 1.1 million subscribers and annual revenue of $242.5 million for its U.S. arm.

“T-Mobile is essentially cleaning up some of the blank spots on its map, gaining more spectrum, and getting more customers,” said Peter Gorham, an independent wireless analyst.

The addition of SunCom’s spectrum will put T-Mobile in a better position to supplement its coverage when it bids on highly coveted 700 MHz spectrum slated to be auctioned by the U.S. government early next year.

The 700MHz spectrum is particularly attractive because the strength of the signal means carriers can service a wider area with fewer cell sites. Carriers are expected to use 700 MHz spectrum to support third generation, or 3G, services such as broadband Internet access and video.

“So the 700 MHz spectrum auction could be crucial to T-Mobile. They need it to deploy 3G,” said Mr. Gorham.

T-Mobile is an amalgamation of carriers including VoiceStream, Aerial Communications, OmniPoint, and Powertel, which along with a patchwork of roaming agreements, was fashioned into a national carrier in 2001.

Mr. Gorham said that T-Mobile had to sell of swaths of spectrum to fund many of those acquisitions, leaving the carrier with thin coverage in many markets.

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Mobile, USA, T-Mobile, Puerto Rico, SunCom
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Centennial Puerto Rico sales down(Puerto Rico)

August 10th, 2007
2:06 pm

Full-service telco Centennial Puerto Rico’s revenues for the twelve months ended May 2007 dropped 1.9% to USD413 million from USD421 million the previous fiscal year. Mobile revenues in fiscal 2006/07 dropped 3.9% year-on-year to USD302 million, although broadband turnover increased 5.1% to USD123 million. At the end of May 2007 the Puerto Rican unit had a total of 406,500 mobile subscribers, up 5.9% compared to 383,500 a year earlier, with 99% of users on post-paid contracts. The US-owned company is currently rolling out CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A technology and reported that it has completed the overlay over around a third of its network. In the March-May period the unit’s post-paid wireless ARPU fell to USD65 from USD67 in the previous three months, largely due to a drop in ‘equipment and miscellaneous’ revenue, but partially offset by an increase in data revenue. Data ARPU was USD5.88, a 77% increase from the same period last year. Centennial plans to increase its SME customer base through the deployment of WiMAX services, following the acquisition of wireless ISP Islanet in May.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Claro to launch Puerto Rican GSM early next year

July 26th, 2007
3:30 pm

Mexican mobile operator América Móvil (AM) is planning a commercial launch of GSM services in the first quarter of 2008 at its recently acquired Puerto Rican fixed line and CDMA operator PRT. AM plans to migrate to GSM to bring PRT’s mobile operations –now operating under its Claro brand – into line with its regional sister companies. However, in a conference call, the company added that the CDMA platform will continue to operate and customers would not be obliged to migrate to GSM. AM completed the acquisition of PRT from US telco Verizon Communications in March for USD939 million. It launched its Claro brand on the island in mid-May.

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Mobile, GSM, CDMA, Verizon, Claro, Puerto Rico
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Centennial takes a SIP

June 26th, 2007
2:00 pm

Centennial de Puerto Rico has selected US-based Occam Network’s Broadband Loop Carrier (BLC) system, including Occam’s new Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) VoIP telephony applications, to support its expansion of fibre-to-the-business (FTTB) Ethernet services. Centennial has around 85,000 fixed lines in service in Puerto Rico, and around 400,000 wireless customers.

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