nextel

AT&T's fight with Sprint Nextel over its right to buy T-Mobile USA keeps getting uglier.

The latest move by AT&T: claiming Sprint is two-faced, pointing out contradictions between its publicly made arguments and its confidential responses to the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T won the right to access Sprint's confidential documents because it needs to prepare for its defense against the Department of Justice. AT&T filed a document pointing out the difference in opinion to the FCC.

The war of words has gotten increasingly bitter, as AT&T scrambles to … Read more

Sprint Nextel introduced several lower cost mobile broadband plans today in an effort to push data services beyond the smartphone.

The company offers four new data plans to power tablets, mobile hot spot cards, USB cards, and connected laptops or Netbooks. The prices range between $19.99 and $79.99. The new plans don't affect Sprint's smartphone data offer, which remains unlimited.

While much of the attention has been on smartphone data plans, the wireless carriers are also seeing growth from so-called connected devices. By bringing down the prices of its monthly plans, Sprint is hoping more consumers … Read more

HTC is hoping a little horsepower will spark some interest in its tablet offering.

The Taiwanese mobile device manufacturer is expected to unveil a quad-core-powered tablet in February at Mobile World Congress, Digitimes reports, citing a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

HTC declined to comment.

In the same boat as just about everybody else in the mobile industry, HTC hasn't been able to crack the tablet market, with Apple and its iPad being the only real success story. Much like the Xoom, PlayBook, and other tablets, HTC's two offerings so far have failed to draw in consumers. The company … Read more

It's shaping up to be a rough holiday for T-Mobile USA.

The carrier, a unit of Germany's Deutsche Telekom, earlier today reported a slight improvement in its results for the third quarter. That modest uptick was largely due to its uber-aggressive pricing promotions on the prepaid end, as well as an improving lineup of smartphones.

That's the good news. The bad news is that T-Mobile's most valuable customers--the ones willing to sign long-term contracts and pay more each month--are still leaving in droves. And there's no sign that the outmigration will stop in the fourth … Read more

The merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA would create more than 100,000 jobs in the United States, a major telecommunications union said today, again putting its weight behind the deal.

The Communications Workers of America said a new analysis has found that the deal, which would combine the second- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers, would create an additional 96,000 jobs, alongside the 5,000 outsourced jobs AT&T has pledged to bring back.

The CWA also lashed out at opponents of the deal, noting that their concerns over lost jobs stemmed from "sloppy … Read more

AT&T recorded a minor victory after Sprint Nextel was ordered to hand over internal documents to its rival.

The two companies continue to be bitterly locked over AT&T's proposed acquisition of Mobile USA, which Sprint has fiercely fought against. U.S. Special Master Richard Levie ruled yesterday that Sprint would have to hand over additional critical documents to AT&T that it hadn't already given to the U.S. Justice Department, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported yesterday.

AT&T had originally sought even more documents, which give insight into Sprint's game plan and … Read more

Nowadays, everybody has to work with developers.

Just ask HTC. Not content to build Android and Windows Phone smartphones, the company in June launched a developer-outreach program, HTC Dev. The goal: to give developers access to some of its products' niftier features while drumming up support for the company.

"Android and mobile in general is so competitive, developing mindshare is important," said Leigh Momii, a developer evangelist for HTC. "For developers, it offers them a way to stand out."

Prior to HTC Dev, the company had a developer following its long history of smartphones. But HTC … Read more

Sprint Nextel inched closer to potentially providing funding to cash-strapped Clearwire in its latest debt offering.

The company said today that it plans to offer a private placement of debt due in 2018 and 2021. The uses include general expenses, network upgrades, and the repayment of existing debt. The most interesting, of course, is the potential funding of 4G WiMax provider Clearwire, which Sprint has so far been mum on.

"Securing the capital to fund those items while maintaining a solid cash balance in the case that Clearwire needs funding is important for Sprint's future," said Walter … Read more

The regulatory scrutiny is starting to get to AT&T and its bid to acquire T-Mobile USA.

AT&T disclosed in its quarterly regulatory filing that it now expects the deal to close in the first half of 2012, compared with its previous target of the first quarter. The Dow Jones Newswires was the first to report the change.

The regulatory scrutiny has also caused it to push back the target date for its acquisition of spectrum from Qualcomm. AT&T now expects that deal to close in the first quarter of 2012, rather than the end … Read more