Sprint gets waiver from Softbank to weigh Dish’s $25.5B bid

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Two weeks after Dish Network jumped into the bidding for Sprint with a $25.5 billion offer, the wireless carrier has formed a special committee and received a waiver from SoftBank to consider the deal. (You may recall that SoftBank bid $20.1 billion for Sprint earlier this year). “The waiver will permit Sprint and its representatives,… Read More…

T-Mobile revenue falls 5% as company signals future cuts

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T-Mobile USA, looking to rebound against its larger rivals, reported lower fourth quarter revenue and profits overnight, and gave a clear signal that it will be making additional cuts in attempt to to shore up its business. The Bellevue-based company, part of Deutsche Telekom, reported a 5.2 percent decline in total revenue, to $4.92 billion,… Read More…

Clearwire shares surge after Sprint positions for full buyout

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Shares of Clearwire jumped more than 10 percent today after CNBC reported that Sprint Nextel may try to acquire its remaining interest in the Bellevue broadband wireless provider by the end of the year. CNBC’s David Faber said that Sprint — which has agreed to be acquired by Japan’s Softbank — may attempt to acquire the… Read More…

Report: Dish made a $4 billion play for MetroPCS weeks before T-Mobile deal

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Here’s some more evidence that wireless carrier MetroPCS was a hot commodity this summer. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Dallas-based carrier was approached by Dish Network about a $4 billion deal in August roughly two months before T-Mobile USA announced its offer. The deal — disclosed in a SEC filing in which an… Read More…

Federal funding alone can’t deliver wireless broadband

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Americans in urban and suburban areas take wireless service for granted. This is not so much so for those living in the rural and remote areas of the Washington where service is not always available. There are vast areas without 3G wireless coverage, much less the new 4G LTE technology. And because of the mountainous… Read More…

Cee Lo Green and Stephen Baldwin stump for controversial wireless startup Solavei

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Solavei has its fair share of critics, but it turns out the company also has some well-known celebrities in its corner. The Bellevue wireless carrier brought in actor Stephen Baldwin and musician Cee Lo Green for recent launch party at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Solavei has drawn criticism for a controversial multi-level marketing… Read More…

Google, Boingo bring free Wi-Fi to 4,000 hotspots (but not for Windows Phone or iPhone)

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Boingo Wireless and Google Play announced a new partnership today to bring free Wi-Fi to more than 4,000 hotspots across the country, including 15 airports (Chicago O’Hare, New York’s JFK, Seattle-Tacoma, etc.) as well subways, restaurants, hotels and shopping malls. The offering is part of Boingo’s new Cloud Nine Media platform, an advertising platform which… Read More…

NetMotion Wireless sold to private equity firm

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Seattle’s NetMotion Wireless, a maker of wireless network performance management software, has been sold to Clearlake Capital Group in a deal of undisclosed size. “NetMotion is the clear market leader with unmatched technology and an exceptional leadership team that has successfully continued to grow its suite of offerings. We look forward to working closely with management… Read More…

Craig McCaw pays $35M for classic Ferrari — most expensive car ever sold

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If you’ve ever driven off a car lot feeling like you spent more than you should have, you can take comfort in knowing that at least you didn’t spend as much as Craig McCaw. The Seattle-area wireless pioneer and classic car collector has been identified as the buyer of a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, pictured… Read More…

Shares of Sprint continue to fall as analyst cites bankruptcy fears

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Could the country’s third largest wireless carrier Sprint be headed toward a bankruptcy filing? That’s the fear of at least one stock analyst who said the company — led by telecom vet Dan Hesse and a big backer of Clearwire — faces a very uncertain future. The stock continued to fall today, down another percentage… Read More…

T-Mobile executive: Key to fixing industry is removing device subsidies

Cole Brodman, CMO of T-Mobile, speaks at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle (Karen Ducey Photography)

As mobile devices become more powerful, prices continue to fall. And while consumers now have more computing power in the palm of their hands than ever before, T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Cole Brodman said that the way carriers subsidize devices is hurting the industry. “It actually distorts what devices actually cost and it causes OEMs,… Read More…

Clearwire intros $49 USB modem to connect users to 4G

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Clearwire today introduced a new 4G USB modem called the Clear Stick Atlas, a device that’s designed to give customers access to the company’s 4G wireless network without the hassle of installing additional software. Weighing in at 1.1 ounces and measuring 1.2 inches wide, the company says that the Clear Stick Atlas easily fits into… Read More…

Money-hungry Clearwire tells investors it needs even more cash

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It was just two months ago that Clearwire inked a deal to receive up to to $1.6 billion in financing from its partner Sprint. That’s a lot of coin, but it is not quite enough to satiate the demands of the Kirkland wireless broadband provider. In a SEC filing Thursday, Clearwire said that it will… Read More…

Do you live in a 4G city?

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When it comes to wireless networks, everyone loves speed. And with more data-intensive activities taking place on mobile devices, the race to 4G is serious and intense. But how is is your city actually doing when it comes to these high-speed wireless networks? A new report from Bellevue’s RootMetrics takes an inside look at that question,… Read More…

Clearwire shares jump as it nears 10 million subscribers, cuts loss

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Shares of Clearwire have been on a turbulent course in recent weeks. And the company today saw yet another double digit change — this time for the better — as it reported a jump in subscribers and revenues during the third quarter. The Kirkland-based provider of wireless broadband now as 9.54 million total subscribers, up… Read More…

How to buy a phone: Watch the AmazonWireless rap video

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Buying a new mobile phone can be a serious pain. To sort through the mess, Amazon.com has resorted to short-form video vignettes to tout its wireless store. The online retailer recently partnered with Zooppa to host the Amazon Freedom to Choose Video Contest, asking for video submissions of 60-seconds or less that best show how Amazon.com… Read More…

Centri raises $1.6M to help carriers boost performance

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More and more smartphones are ending up in the hands of Americans, and with those new devices come added stresses on wireless networks. Seattle startup Centri, which plans to launch its technology next week, has scored $1.6 million in funding from members of the Alliance of Angels and others. Vaughan Emery declined to disclose the… Read More…

Clearwire boosts wholesale subscriber count as headwinds mount

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Investors have been treating  Clearwire as if it is pretty much dead. But the Kirkland broadband wireless company today preannounced selected third quarter results showing that wholesale subscriber growth jumped 29 percent to 1.9 million subscribers and revenues topped analysts’ estimates, coming in at $332 million. Wall Street is responding, pushing the stock up more… Read More…

T-Mobile’s discount strategy now includes a $30 plan at Walmart

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T-Mobile plans to begin selling a $30 wireless plan at Walmart, one of the latest moves by the Bellevue carrier to sell phones and services at discount retailers across the country. In August, T-Mobile inked deals to sell a prepaid T-Mobile phone, the LG GS170, for $30 in 7-Eleven and Family Dollar discount stores. Customers… Read More…

Seattle trio accused of crazy high-tech crime spree

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A federal grand jury indictment announced today against three Seattle men reads like the plot for a high-tech crime novel — accusing them of hacking into wireless networks using long-range antennas on a specially equipped vehicle, using lost and stolen laptops to gain access to corporate networks, burglarizing businesses to upload password-stealing malware, using that… Read More…