AT&T

Sprint scores National CineMedia deal

Sue Marek — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:41:11 -0400

Sprint ousted AT&T as the sponsor of National CineMedia's cell phone courtesy campaign in movie theaters. Sprint signed a multi-year contract for the public service announcements and the campaign is being developed by Goodby-Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. The announcements will be seen in more than 1,100 U.S. movie theaters nationwide starting in October.

Cingular had been the exclusive sponsor of the campaign since 2001 and AT&T took it over in 2007 after the company acquired Cingular.

For more:
- see this article

Related article:
Sprint drops Nextel for "Sprint Ahead" branding

AT&T's Stephenson talks wireless, iPhone and more

Sue Marek — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:10:23 -0400

In a rare interview, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told USA Today about the company's decision to subsidize the iPhone 3G and how the carrier is handling the fallout from investors who didn't like the move because it means that AT&T is paying Apple about $300 per device to keep the retail cost at $199. The article also says that Apple has extended AT&T's exclusive deal on the iPhone until 2010. Article

Cingular's former CMO to head Vonage

Sue Marek — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:24:41 -0400

Can Cingular's former chief marketing officer work his magic at troubled VOIP provider Vonage? That's a question many are asking today as news circulates that the marketing whiz is taking over from Vonage interim CEO Jeffrey Citron. Marc Lefar, of course, was known for revamping Cingular's brand. He left the carrier in April. Article

iPhone 3G vs. Instinct - July News Round Up

Mike Dolan — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:54:45 -0400

Here's a review of some of last month's not-to-be-missed coverage regarding the iPhone 3G launch and its prime competitor, the Samsung Instinct.

iPhone vs. Instinct

Despite some new features and faster internet speeds, the iPhone 3G saw less fanfare than its predecessor. Sprint tried to capitalize on the iPhone 3G buzz with a marketing push for its Samsung Instinct 3G device with touch interface that proved popular. How do you think the Instinct and the iPhone 3G fared? Post your comments below.

AT&T asks FCC to deny Sprint-Clearwire merger

Lynnette Luna — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:31:13 -0400

AT&T has asked the FCC to deny the planned merger between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. The operator, which has the largest subscriber base in the U.S., argued that the venture would eventually use spectrum leased from schools, cities and nonprofits and that the spectrum hasn't been fully accounted for in the proposed merger. Earlier this year, Clearwire and Sprint announced their intention to combine their WiMAX businesses with the help of $3.2 billion from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House.

AT&T argues that when it purchased Dobson Communications last year, the FCC took into account spectrum AT&T has not yet accessed. In its filing, AT&T states that Clearwire and Sprint "openly state that they intend to compete with other national wireless providers--including AT&T--yet they fail to make the required showings necessary for the commission's review."

AT&T said Sprint and Clearwire, in listing their spectrum holdings, have discounted some spectrum they intend to use because it isn't operational yet. If the FCC would take into account all of the combined entity's spectrum holdings, the merger would be put under much higher scrutiny, AT&T argued.

For more:
- read Dow Jones

Related story:
A breakdown of the Sprint-Clearwire deal. Sprint-Clearwire deal story

Video: New iPhone 3G Ad - Work Friendly

Mike Dolan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:30:38 -0400

Check out Apple's new iPhone 3G ad - Work friendly.

Video: New iPhone 3G Ad - Unslow

Mike Dolan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:27:10 -0400

Check out one of Apple's newest iPhone ads - Unslow.

Video: New iPhone 3G Ad - Everyone

Mike Dolan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:23:51 -0400

Check out this video of Apple's newest iPhone ad "Everyone."

iPhone 3G inventory plummets over weekend

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:15:32 -0400

iPhone 3G inventories plummeted over the weekend. Computerworld said Apple's own inventory tool showed fewer than 9 percent of its stores had any phones to sell yesterday. As of 11 a.m. ET, only 16 of Apple's U.S. retail stores, or 8.5 percent of the 188 stores, listed the 3G iPhone device as being available. On Thursday last week, some 50 stores, or 27 percent, said they had the device in stock.

The hardest-to-find iPhone 3G was the $299 black 16GB model, which was available today in only three stores, or 1.6 percent, of the outlets. Meanwhile, AT&T's own retail stores were nearly sold out of iPhones as early as last Tuesday. Reportedly, many subscribers who ordered an iPhone 3G on July 11 and 12 through AT&T's direct fulfillment program were notified their phones had shipped either Friday or Saturday.

For more:
- see Computerworld

Related stories:
iPhone 3G aftermath: Apple sells 1 million devices in 3 days. iPhone sales story
iPhone 3G: Faster, cheaper but still not perfect. iPhone 3G story

Kris Rinne - Top Women in Wireless

Mike Dolan — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:50:27 -0400

Kris Rinne

Senior vice president, architecture and planning, AT&T

When Kris Rinne graduated from college with a degree in math, her life plan was to become a high school math teacher and volleyball coach. Instead, a college professor arranged an interview for her with BellSouth, and her destiny was changed forever.

Today Rinne, who has more than 30 years of experience in the telecom industry, is responsible for AT&T's IT and network architecture and planning. This includes setting the direction for the network and the BSS/OSS systems. Prior to this, she was the CTO of Cingular Wireless.

Rinne plays a critical role for vendors trying to sell their wares to AT&T because she is responsible for the company's wireless network infrastructure and device technology vendor selection.

As one of the most prominent women executives in the wireless industry, Rinne is known for being approachable. At the FierceWireless "Path to 4G" conference held in conjunction with the CTIA Wireless 2008 conference, Rinne was a keynote speaker and spent nearly 30 minutes answering questions from attendees about AT&T's technology roadmap.