FCC approves T-Mobile merger with MetroPCS

Well on its way to approval from every legal entity required to make it a reality, the merger between T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS has been given the thumbs-up by the FCC. This merger is referred to by the FCC in the official documentation issued today as “Newco” but will be called “T-Mobile US, Inc.” when all is said and done. Together they’ll move forward into the future with such possibilities as the advanced facilitation of 4G LTE and the expansion of what up until now has been MetroPCS’s brand into “new geographical markets.”

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The FCC’s statement also makes clear that this merger will very possibly create a “more robust, national network” and will move to make the fourth-largest carrier in the United States a service provider with “improved quality of service” from top to bottom. The FCC has concluded that, per their mission to decide,

“Any potential public interest harms would be outweighed by the resulting public interest benefits” – FCC

This decision is made with several conclusions including that Deutsche Telekom has the right to select a name other than the one listed above any time prior to the close of the deal “Deutsche Telekom AG Application, ULS File No. 0005446627, Exhibit 1, Description of Transaction and Public Interest Statement at 3 n.5″ Deutsche Telekom is the parent company of T-Mobile USA, you should know, if you did not know before right this minute.

Four FCC heads, Chairman Genachowski, Commissioner Rosenworcel, and Commissioner Pai, have released statements in support of the approval, letting the public know why they’ve supported the merger and how it’ll affect us all.

“When markets are competitive, consumers are better off when the government forbears from intervening and allows private parties to negotiate and enter into voluntary agreements. As I have said before, mutual consent implies mutual benefit, and it is accordingly in the public interest for freely-negotiated contracts to be allowed and enforced so long as third parties are not harmed. ” – Commissioner Pai

“I have expressed to the parties my concern that as they move ahead, American workers do not get left behind. Major job losses are not in the public interest. The companies have pledged to me that they have no plans to close any domestic call centers, to move them offshore, to close any retail stores, or to reduce retail positions as a result of this deal. They have also assured me that they plan to increase the overall number of workers they employ in the United States. I expect that the company will keep its word—and live up to these promises.” – Commissioner Goldman

Above you’ll see Commissioner Pai‘s statement as well as the statement of Commissioner Goldman. You’ll see that Goldman made a point to assure the public hat both T-Mobile and MetroPCS have promised to keep all of the stores and workers they’d had before this deal, and have no plans to fire any workers or close any stores as a result of the deal.

“Mobile broadband is a key engine of economic growth, with U.S. annual wireless capital investment up 40% over the last four years, the largest increase in the world, and few sectors having more potential to create jobs. In this fast-moving space, of course challenges remain, including the need to unleash even more spectrum for mobile broadband and continuing to promote competition and protect consumers. The Commission will stay focused on these vital goals.” – Chairman Genachoswki

Above you’ll also see the statement of FCC Chairman Genachoswki, who opts to address the situation from a more broad perspective. Have a peek at the timeline below to see more on the history of this deal as it began and ran through to today, where it’s closer than ever to being fully approved.


FCC approves T-Mobile merger with MetroPCS is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

AT&T BlackBerry Z10 lands March 22 but is $200 crazy money?

AT&T will begin offering preorders of the BlackBerry Z10 from March 12, with the BlackBerry 10 smartphone itself shipping from March 22, though you’ll need to stump up a hefty $199.99 in order to jump on-board. New and existing personal customers will be offered the phone first, with business users and in-store sales waiting until later this month.

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The Z10 will use AT&T’s LTE network, for faster download speeds, but early-adopters of the new BlackBerry 10 platform will have to stomach the usual two-year commitment and a price more commonly associated with a new iPhone or top-tier Android device. That could be overly-ambitious for AT&T and BlackBerry, with the Z10 decidedly occupying the “challenger” category right now.

As we found in our review, the Z10 does some things well – the screen is good, and the software is a significant improvement over BlackBerry 7 – but it also falls short in places. Mediocre low-light camera performance has in part been addressed by a recent firmware update, but the handset also has middling design and build quality in comparison to, say, Apple’s phone.

Still, AT&T isn’t the only carrier to have high expectations for what BlackBerry fans might pay. Verizon confirmed some time ago that it would be offering the Z10 this month, also pricing it at $199.99 with a new, two-year agreement. T-Mobile, meanwhile, will begin sales to business customers from today.


AT&T BlackBerry Z10 lands March 22 but is $200 crazy money? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

AT&T Plus trial winding down on March 31st

AT&T Plus trial winding down on March 31st

AT&T has been testing the viability of loyalty rewards through a limited AT&T Plus trial over the past year. Unfortunately, time’s up: as you can see in the letter above, the carrier is shutting down the Plus experiment on March 31st, with discounts and fee waivers ending for existing members on May 31st. We wouldn’t expect a follow-up in the near future when AT&T isn’t moving past the trial level “at this time,” according to a spokesperson we reached. Most of us won’t be affected when the Plus test has been limited to a handful of areas, but perks are perks — it’s sad to see them go away.

[Thanks, Drew]

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DOJ lets waiting period expire on T-Mobile / MetroPCS merger, hints it’s good to go

MetroPCS street ad

We’re sure that MetroPCS and T-Mobile USA executives were on pins and needles wondering whether or not their proposed merger would clear all the regulatory hurdles. While they’re not officially free and clear, the Department of Justice has given a strong hint that the carrier union will go through. The government branch just let the mandatory waiting period expire without raising any objections; if it had thought there were serious antitrust issues, it would have piped up by now. Before anyone pops the champagne corks, though, there’s still a number of formalities — the Committee on Foreign Investment, the FCC and the companies’ shareholders still need to sign off on the deal, which could take weeks or longer. Considering the troubles T-Mobile had the last time it tried a merger, though, waiting will seem like a walk in the park.

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Source: CNET

T-Mobile may up the “uncarrier” approach by ditching contracts

T-Mobile may have chosen to brand themselves as the uncarrier, however it is looking they they may soon take that a step further. These latest details are still in what we would consider the rumor category, however it is looking like T-Mobile may soon ditch the contracts. But before you start thinking about high priced phones and large up front payments, there is more to the story here.

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The details suggest that T-Mobile will soon go contract free, which also means that early termination fees will be a thing of the past. That alone is starting to make things seem better already, isn’t it. As to how this is expected to work without requiring someone to shell out $500, $600 or more upfront — a mix of down payments and monthly payments. Think of it like financing the price of the device. Details suggest that would mean paying $99 or less at the time or purchase and then paying the remainder monthly until the device is paid in full.

Again, details have yet to be confirmed by T-Mobile which means things could still change. The nice part here, this is all expected to go into effect later this month. TmoNews is reporting that T-Mobile may be looking to put this in effect as early as March 24 with an announcement coming as soon as this Monday. Assuming that plays out as expected, Monday could be a big day for T-Mobile.

As for those existing customers still under contract with T-Mobile — you are not going to let off entirely. In fact, it was said that any existing contracts will remain in place until they expire. Otherwise, if you were considering upgrading this weekend, you may want to hold off until Monday, just in case. In addition to the contract-free shift, T-Mobile is also expected to do some further rebranding. This is expected to include what is being called “Dual 4G” in which they promote their HSPA+ and LTE networks.

[via TmoNews]


T-Mobile may up the “uncarrier” approach by ditching contracts is written by Robert Nelson & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Cricket’s iPhone 5 play stumbles amid half the predicted demand

Leap Wireless’ sales of the iPhone have significantly under-performed, despite expectations that a prepaid iPhone 5 would be in hot demand, with $100m-worth of unsold stock expected by June. Leap’s deal with Apple saw the iPhone 5 offered through Cricket Wireless at $500 with no ongoing commitment, but according to an 10-K SEC filing, the carrier predicts it will have only sold half of the expected units by the time the smartphone reaches its first birthday.

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Leap signed a three year long purchase commitment with Apple back in May 2012, which came into effect when Cricket began selling phones the following month. That agreement basically means Leap must buy a certain, minimum amount of devices from Apple, even if it doesn’t necessarily sell that many.

“At our current purchase rate, we project that we will purchase approximately one-half of our first-year minimum purchase commitment through June 2013 … If Apple were to require us to meet the annual minimum commitment in each of the three years of the contract term, we estimate that we would be required to purchase approximately $100 million of additional iPhones in mid-2013 above our current purchase rate, approximately $150 million of additional iPhones in mid-2014 above our current purchase rate and approximately $200 million of additional iPhones in mid-2015 above our current purchase rate” Leap Wireless

Part of the problem, Leap suggests, is the limitations of its network coverage. Cricket service isn’t available to the same extent as that of AT&T and Verizon, which can mean potential customers either can’t buy the iPhone where they live, or choose another carrier because they may need to travel outside of Cricket’s network.

As the carrier points out, “if Apple introduces an AWS-compatible version of the iPhone in the future, we will be able to sell the device in additional markets covering approximately 40% of our covered POPs.” Nonetheless, Leap isn’t counting on that necessarily happening – or, indeed, Apple agreeing to renegotiate the purchase commitment – and so is considering other strategies.

They include more comprehensive device leasing or financing programs, which would spread the upfront cost of the iPhone 5 out over a more extended period, or even just changing the sticker price of the iPhone itself. The carrier also hopes to work with Apple to boost its promotional drive, to tackle the possibility that many people might not even consider Cricket in the first place.

Interestingly, while Leap’s COO says he is “not concerned about … meeting the Apple commitment,” attempting to reassure the market during a recent financial results call, he is also putting a big chunk of his faith in another device. “I would say there was a stronger device [than iPhone 5] in our lineup” Jerry Elliot told analysts last week, referring to Samsung’s Galaxy S III.

[via WSJ]


Cricket’s iPhone 5 play stumbles amid half the predicted demand is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

UK 4G spectrum auction closes: All carriers winners but bid totals disappoint

The results of the UK 4G spectrum auction are in, with Vodafone the biggest individual bidder but spectrum acquired by most participants, despite the process falling short of predictions around how many billions would be made. In total, Ofcom raked in £2.34bn ($3.6bn) in bids from Vodafone, Telefonica (O2), Hutchison (Three), Everything Everywhere, and the BT Group subsidiary Niche Spectrum Ventures, less than the original estimates of £3.5bn ($5.4bn).

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Vodafone splashed more than $790m on spectrum, including two paired 800MHz chunks, and three 2.6GHz chunks. Everything Everywhere (EE) came in second, spending almost $589m on four chunks (two in 800MHz, two in 2.6GHz), closely followed by O2, which spent $550m for two 800MHz chunks.

That left Three with a £225m spend on two 800MHz chunks, and finally Niche Spectrum Ventures, with £186m on three chunks in the 2.6GHz spectrum. MLL Telecom and HKT (UK) Company failed to acquire any spectrum.

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Next up comes the “assignment stage,” where the companies bid on where exactly within the bands they’ve bought their new spectrum will be. In all, 250MHz of spectrum was awarded, which Ofcom points out is roughly equivalent to two-thirds of what radio frequencies are currently in use by operators. That process will begin imminently, Ofcom says.

It shouldn’t take long, either, since estimates for the first rival LTE services to take on EE’s network in the UK are by spring or early summer 2013. There won’t be full roll-outs until 2017, however, so expect patchy 4G concentrating on the larger cities, at least for the foreseeable future.


UK 4G spectrum auction closes: All carriers winners but bid totals disappoint is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HTC One: All the carriers (but where’s Verizon?)

HTC’s new One flagship will launch on AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, EE, Vodafone, and O2 from mid-March, as part of a huge 185+ carrier roll-out, though Verizon is conspicuous by its absence from the list. The carrier launch partner roster – which covers more than 80 regions and countries – is already being described by HTC as its best-ever network engagement for a new phone, but Big Red being a hold-out in the US remains a mystery.

HTC One_Silver_Multiple

Of course, even if Verizon isn’t taking the One, that doesn’t rule out a variant of the phone for its network. The carrier has stuck to its DROID branding, for instance – including the well-esteemed DROID DNA by HTC – and it’s possible that is holding out for a specially named version that would fit with that.

However, the news is good if you’re on other carriers around the world. In North America, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Cincinnati Bell, and Best Buy will all be offering the One in the US, while Rogers, Bell, TELUS and Virgin Mobile Canada will offer it in Canada.

In Latin America, there’ll be support for the various América Movil regional networks, Movistar Venezuela, and Entel Chile, among others. China will also be getting the HTC One, with China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom all in line for the phone.

As for Europe, in the UK there’ll be availability across O2, EE, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Three, Carphone Warehouse, and Phones4U. EE has already confirmed that it will be offering the One for £69.99 ($108) on a £41 per month, 24 month package (1GB mobile data; unlimited UK calls and texts). Onto mainland Europe, and there’ll be support from Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange in various countries, and then further afield into Russia, the Middle East, and Africa.

We’ll update as we get more pricing information from other operators.

UPDATE: Straight from the carrier itself: “Vodafone will be offering the HTC One for sale from 15th March 2013, with pre-order opening two weeks before.”

UPDATE: Clove.co.uk lets us know: “The price is £425+VAT and the device is available in Silver or Black colours with 32GB of internal memory.” Shipping is “expected” to begin on the 15th of March – looks like a lock!


HTC One: All the carriers (but where’s Verizon?) is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

US Cellular to cover 87% of its customers with LTE in 2013

US Cellular may not have the biggest 4G LTE network, but it’s working on expanding the service to more of its customers. The carrier announced today that they’ll be expanding their 4G LTE network in several states in the US, as well as introducing LTE to brand new states, including California, Nebraska, and Kansas.

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States that currently have US Cellular’s 4G LTE service that will see an expansion include Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Currently, the carrier’s LTE coverage covers 61% of its customers in the US.

Some of the cities that will receive US Cellular’s 4G LTE coverage include Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska; Manhattan, Kansas; Eureka and Ukiah California. As far as what other cities are on the list to get the upgrade, US Cellular didn’t say, so cross your fingers and just hope that it’s your city that gets the faster service.

US Cellular currently offers 10 devices with LTE capabilities, including the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II, as well as several Motorola devices. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when US Cellular will start knocking out its list of cities to get LTE, but we’re guessing we should be seeing steady roll-outs all year long.


US Cellular to cover 87% of its customers with LTE in 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

iOS 6.1.1 gets Vodafone all-clear for iPhone 4S problem

The iOS 6.1.1 update Apple released yesterday has fixed the iPhone 4S connection problem users of some European carriers were reporting, with Vodafone giving subscribers the green-light to upgrade if they hadn’t already. “Please download the latest version from Apple as soon as you can” Vodafone said in an advice statement to customers today, ZDNet reports, “as this will deal with these issues.” Vodafone UK users, among others, had complained that since updating to iOS 6.1 late last month, they’d experienced problems with calls, texts, and internet access.

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3 Austria users with the iPhone 4S also encountered similar problems, and the carrier said that it and Apple were working on a fix for imminent release. That update came sooner rather than later, in fact, with Apple pushing it out OTA to iPhones yesterday.

“Apple has released a new version of its iPhone software that fixes the 3G performance issues that have been affecting users of the iPhone 4S who had installed iOS 6.1″ Vodafone said today. There are no other known features to the new version.

Where Apple is with addressing some of the companion concerns of enterprise system managers, who have complained that iOS 6.1 devices have been creating vast database logs, is unclear. That problem, believed to be connected with how Exchange calendar invitations are handled, has seen some devices spawning 50GB+ log files and forcing admins to block them from the system.


iOS 6.1.1 gets Vodafone all-clear for iPhone 4S problem is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.