Wireless

DEALS: Sprint buys affiliates; Cingular inks some deals

Dec 7, 2005 7:01pm

Cingular's wheelin' and dealin', while Sprint buys up affiliates.

DEALS
WHO	WITH	WHAT	SCOOP
Sprint Nextel	Alamosa Holdings	Sprint Nextel to buy wireless affiliate for $3.4B	The acquisition of Alamosa Holdings is worth a total of $4.3B, including $900M in net debt. Alamosa shareholders will receive $18.75 per share in cash as a result of the acquisition.
Intel	Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs	$1.1B contract for WiMax trial	The Taiwanese government will decide spectrum allocation for WiMax and the ministry will help Intel with field trials until 2009. It will also give incentives to enterprises that choose to participate in future commercial rollouts of WiMax.
Alltel	Midwest Wireless	Alltel to acquire Midwest for $1B	The agreement will add approximately 400K customers in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin to Alltel's subscriber base. The deal is still contingent upon regulatory approval, but the companies expect it to close in the first half of 2006.
Nokia	Intellisync	Nokia to acquire Intellisync for $430M	Nokia aims to use Intellisync's solutions to enable its enterprise customers to connect any device to any data source, application or network.
DoCoMo	Access, Aplix	DoCoMo to invest $234M in the companies	DoCoMo is raising its 7.12% stake in Access to 11.66% for $125M, making it the second-largest investor in the company. DoCoMo said it wants more of Access in its pocket to shape upper-layer applications for the next generation of handset browsers.
MTN	Masacom	MTN will pay $128M for 44% of Masacom Wireless Botswana	DECI Investments, which claims its subsidiaries own 60% of Mascom, said the sale resulted from a shareholder dispute within the firm and an arbitration process will proceed before the potential sale to MTN. The deal would make MTN the primary shareholder in Mascom.
Juniper Networks	Funk Software	Juniper to acquire Funk for $122M	Juniper's recently announced unified access control solution would be greatly improved by Funk's security solutions, which ensure users meet an enterprise's security policies before gaining access to its network.
AOL	InfoGin	Launch AOL Mobile Search Service	AOL claims the service will "shrink the Internet" and encode it for the mobile phone. The offering adapts search results and Web pages using content-analysis and transcoding technology from InfoGin.
Cingular	InfoSpace	Team up to revamp Cingular's data service	The companies will enable MEdia Net's interface for user customization. The solution enables users' handsets to display weather info based on the user's ZIP code, national news and a customizable section that can provide stock quotes, celebrity gossip, sports or one of many other options.
Cingular	Kodiak	Launched P2T service	The companies launched the carrier's much anticipated P2T service that uses GSM voice channels to make the calls, marking a difference from P2T-over-cellular offerings that use GPRS.
Cingular	MobiTV	Launch digital radio service for Cingular customers	The companies will launch MobiRadio,a 40-channel digital radio service that costs $6.99 per month plus a fee based on data rates.
Cisco	ZTE	Jointly develop NGN, 3G in Asia/Pacific	The JV's aim is to accelerate the adoption rate of the companies' technologies in the region.
Ericsson	3	Ericsson to manage 3's UK network	Insiders say the 7-year deal is nearly equivalent to the one 3 signed for its Italian network for about $1.87B.
NeoReach	Pronto Networks	Provide broadband wireless managed services	The companies will provide broadband wireless managed services for citywide wireless networks, starting with Tempe, AZ.
O2	Redknee	O2 will employ Redknee's IP Charging Gateway	The solution is aimed at simplifying billing for the use of data services on mobile phones. O2 will employ it in the UK and Ireland.
O2 Germany	Siemens	Siemens to provide UTMS radio links	O2 Germany will pay Siemens €250M to provide the radio link systems necessary to build out its GSM/UMTS data network.
PointShot Wireless	VIA Rail Canada	Launched trains with WiFi access	The company claims the launch is the first major deployment of wireless Internet on trains in North America.
QUALCOMM	Samsung	Chip production deal	QUALCOMM forged a deal with Samsung to provide additional mobile phone chips to ensure it can meet anticipated stronger demand.
Rural Cellular Communications	RADCOM	RADCOM to provide service monitoring solutions	RCC selected RADCOM to provide service monitoring solutions for both its GSM/GPRS and CDMA platforms.
Strix	On.net	Cover Macedonia in mesh WiFi	Service provider On.net will deploy Strix's Access/One Outdoor Wireless System to cover the more than 1,000-sq.-mi. country with a population of more than 2M.
Syniverse	Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless, TELUS Mobility	Mobile data roaming services for Canadian WiFi initiative	Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and TELUS Mobility plan to provide more than 15M subscribers with nationwide WiFi roaming by launching a national WiFi hotspot network.
Telecom Italia	Samsung	Launch WiBro offerings in 2007	The companies announced plans to trial WiBro at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.
Texas Instruments	DoCoMo	Launched a 3G chip	The 3G chip is a combination of a baseband chip and an application processor that drives multimedia functions in handsets.
Tropos Networks	Ruckus Wireless	Team up for mesh networking	The companies announced plans to jointly develop and market their solutions for outdoor mesh networking.
Verizon Wireless	QUALCOMM	Verizon signs on to QUALCOMM's MediaFLO	Following the FLO Forum's approval of QUALCOMM's MediaFLO, Verizon Wireless has signed on as the technology's first major carrier. QUALCOMM said the service would offer a choice of channels like those offered on cable television.
Vodafone UK	Visto	Launch push email service	Vodafone UK launched its own-branded push email offering based on Visto's mobile email service becoming the first mobile operator to launch its own-branded push email service in the UK.
ZTE	China Mobile	Complete carrier's optical transmission network	Once complete, the network will have over 25,000 km of cable and 521 network nodes throughout Western and Southern China.