Maine will receive a statewide next generation-911 system from FairPoint, the telco said Tuesday (http://prn.to/1a1JjpY). FairPoint is beginning to install the system now, it said. The Internet Protocol-based system will cover 26 911 centers in Maine and is part of a five-year, $32 million contract, it said. “The network will improve call setup time and increase the speed at which voice and data arrive at the PSAP [public safety answering point], thereby improving service,” FairPoint said. “It will also improve emergency response by giving public safety personnel better information about situations prior to arriving on the scene.” The telco said its suppliers are Solacom Technologies and Geo-Comm. “The new infrastructure and services will be phased in over time to ensure a smooth transition,” said FairPoint Maine President Mike Reed in a statement.
Mobile Wallet, a Wipit-powered mobile wallet app, is now available to Boost Mobile customers in select markets in California and New Jersey, the Sprint-owned mobile virtual network operator said Tuesday. The app can be downloaded for free through the Google Play Store, and at authorized indirect retailers in Los Angeles, San Diego and parts of New Jersey. Boost Mobile said it’s planning to begin a nationwide rollout of the service this summer, an introduction which will continue through the end of the year. The app allows customers to make payments in more than 135 countries and coordinate bill payments to more than 3,500 U.S. companies, as well as manage their Boost Mobile accounts. The app also allows users to transfer funds between their wireless accounts and “load cash” to the wallet account at Boost Mobile-authorized locations. Customers will also soon be able to load checks directly from their phone and get instant access to approved funds, Boost Mobile said. Every Mobile Wallet user will also receive a reloadable Visa prepaid card that is linked to his Mobile Wallet account, which can be used at ATM locations and is usable at any venue that accepts Visa debit cards, Boost Mobile said (http://bit.ly/Zb0s1b). While the app itself is free, there are charges for using at least some of the service’s functions. Each bill payment will cost $2-$5 per order; checking an account balance costs 50 cents, while adding funds to a Mobile Wallet account costs $3 per transaction (http://bit.ly/Zb03eV).
Sprint Nextel plans to begin offering three 4G LTE-capable mobile broadband devices this summer that will be able to use the three bands of LTE spectrum it controls -- the Novatel Wireless MiFi 500 LTE, Netgear Zing Mobile Hotspot and Netgear 341U USB Modem, it said Tuesday. The carrier said it will announce pricing and rollout dates for the new devices later. The devices will use the two bands of 4G LTE spectrum in Sprint’s network at 800 MHz and 1.9 GHz, as well as Sprint-controlled Clearwire’s LTE network at 2.5 GHz. Sprint said it will begin using the 800 MHz band for LTE when it ceases operation of its Nextel network June 30. Sprint already offers LTE service on the 1.9 GHz band in 88 markets, and plans to make it available in more than 170 additional markets in the coming months. Clearwire’s spectrum at 2.5 GHz will provide “Sprint customers with increased speeds and capacity in densely populated cities,” Sprint said (http://bit.ly/13EMyjS).
More than two-thirds of U.S. Internet users will tune into Internet radio this year, the digital audio advertising network TargetSpot said in a Tuesday release (http://bit.ly/1192LvR). Eighty-six percent of those consumers don’t pay an access fee, giving advertisers the opportunity to reach millions of U.S. consumers, it said, saying 58 percent of listeners recalled having seen or heard an Internet radio ad within the last 30 days. Of those listeners, 44 percent responded to an ad, the company said. One retail company’s Internet radio campaign inspired 68 percent ad recall among a target demographic, and purchase consideration increased by more than 20 percent in its target category, it said. A local bank campaign, already with a pre-campaign awareness of 67 percent, increased awareness by 24 percent, boosting consideration of the bank, TargetSpot said.
Sprint Nextel submitted its “best and final offer” to buy Clearwire Tuesday, revising its bid to $3.40 per share -- a total of about $2.5 billion -- hours before Clearwire shareholders were set to vote on Sprint’s original offer (http://bit.ly/18ffDqu). Sprint originally offered about $2.1 billion in December for the remaining 49 percent of Clearwire it didn’t already own, raising its bid to $2.2 billion soon after (CD Dec 18 p7). Sprint said it had sent its revised bid to Clearwire’s board; Clearwire said it now plans to hold a vote on Sprint’s offer May 30 (http://bit.ly/14tE4in). Although Sprint owns a majority of Clearwire, the deal must get the approval of a majority of the remaining non-Sprint shareholders. Crest Financial, Clearwire’s largest minority shareholder, protested the Clearwire board’s decision to delay a vote on Sprint’s bid to review the increased offer. Sprint’s actions show that the carrier “was unable to secure a majority of the non-Sprint, ‘minority’ stockholder votes -- even though Sprint attempted to pack that ‘minority’ with stockholders that are commercially tied to Sprint and Clearwire,” said David Schumacher, Crest general counsel, in a news release. These shareholders “have already agreed to vote in favor of the merger and sell their shares to Sprint even if the merger is rejected,” he said. Crest said it has sent a letter to Clearwire asking the board to resist Sprint’s improved offer so it can pursue offers through a “competitive process” once the “bidding war” over Sprint is over. “Sprint is trying to buy Clearwire on the cheap and lock-up Clearwire’s value before Sprint itself is purchased by SoftBank or DISH,” Crest said in the letter. “That lock-up is patently unfair to minority stockholders. You can and must refuse to abet Sprint in its ongoing scheme.” Although shareholders who believe Clearwire should remain an independent entity are likely to still oppose the deal, Sprint’s revised offer should be enough to “get this deal approved,” said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche in an email to investors. Sprint’s higher bid for Clearwire “now could set a precedent as to SoftBank’s next move with Sprint,” she said. SoftBank is attempting to buy 70 percent ownership of Sprint for $20.1 billion. Dish Network made a $25.5 billion counterbid for majority control of the carrier. Sprint has notified Dish that it has received a waiver from SoftBank to provide non-public information to Dish and engage in due diligence discussions with Dish on its counteroffer (http://bit.ly/17W4tsX). Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said in a statement Tuesday he remains confident “this process will confirm the superiority of our proposal, the reasoning behind our synergy projections and our vision for a competitively superior DISH-Sprint” (http://bit.ly/13Hty7G).
Dish Network upped its public opposition to SoftBank’s $20.1 billion bid to buy 70 percent of Sprint Nextel, launching a website Monday that argues SoftBank’s takeover bid “needs to be stopped” (http://bit.ly/12Q9qht). Dish argued that SoftBank’s use of equipment from Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE in the buildout of its 4G network in Japan “raises significant national security concerns” because China is a leading source of cyberbreaches (http://bit.ly/10IxyQe). Such ties are concerning because of Sprint’s U.S. government and military contracts, Dish said (http://bit.ly/19WJMd8). SoftBank and Sprint have previously pledged not to integrate Huawei-manufactured technology into Sprint’s network if the deal clears government regulatory hurdles (CD April 1 p5). Dish also questioned SoftBank’s ties to UTStarcom and Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. The website’s launch comes days after Dish asked the FCC to suspend its review of SoftBank’s bid because it claimed SoftBank was using its one-third equity in Alibaba to hurt Dish’s chances of financing its $25.5 billion counterbid for Sprint (http://bit.ly/107MRme). A Sprint spokesman said the carrier had no comment.
The SI Organization joined the Satellite Industry Association. The SI “brings unique experience in providing state-of-the-art technology and engineering solutions to support the communications needs of the government,” SIA said in a press release (http://bit.ly/13GgeR6). Virginia-based SI Organization provides mission-focused systems engineering and integration capabilities to the Department of Defense and other agencies, it said on its website, www.thesiorg.com.
AM radio station owners think the FCC isn’t protecting their band from extinction, the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council told commission staff and Commissioner Ajit Pai in a series of meetings last week, according to ex parte letter filed Friday (http://bit.ly/17RWMEe). “Many AM radio [station] owners wonder why they should continue to invest in this FCC regulated business if the Commission will not take measures to protect its viability,” said MMTC President David Honig in the letter. He said suggestions at the meeting to save AM included a proposal to migrate AM radio to TV Channels 5 and 6, which Honig said is similar to actions taken in Japan and Mexico. Almost all of the current analog AM coverage could be replicated by digital operation on Channels 5 and 6, with many AM stations obtaining improved nighttime service, Honig said. He said other proposals at the meetings included relaxing rules governing applications for FM translators and easing community of license coverage requirements for AM stations. Honig said two-thirds of all minority radio station owners own AM stations.
Vonage submitted its proposal for a trial of direct access to numbers Friday (http://bit.ly/14pl4Sd). Vonage’s filing, which was redacted for public display, listed the specific rate centers and LATAs where it proposed to receive numbers, as well as the amount of new numbers requested, and the amount of numbers it intended to port from existing or new customers. Vonage said it would request a 10,000 block in each of the local routing number rate centers, as required by “relevant industry guidelines and practices.” The maximum number of numbers it would port in from new or existing customers is 50,000, 37,000 and 33,000 respectively in the three trial LATAs, it said. Vonage also proposed to use nine 1,000 blocks to support assignment of directly accessed numbers to new customers. Vonage said it would file the requisite state notices for number allocations, and “work closely with the relevant numbering administrators throughout the trial.” Interconnected VoIP provider SmartEdgeNet also filed its numbering plan proposal for direct access Friday (http://bit.ly/14pn1Ox). It wants to have a total of 3,000 numbers directly assigned in Celebration, Fla., Keys, Fla., and Dallas.
New FCC Acting Chair Mignon Clyburn will model her administration after that of former Acting Chairman Michael Copps, she said in a statement to agency staff Monday (http://fcc.us/12p5rYx), two days after she assumed the chair. Copps was acting chairman in 2009, before Julius Genachowski was confirmed by the Senate. Clyburn said Copps “approached this job with seriousness and humility, and led this agency through the completion of the DTV transition -- a major accomplishment.” Clyburn said she saw herself “as a member of a relay team, running one of the middle legs,” with the goal of giving chairman nominee Tom Wheeler “a running start.” Commissioner Ajit Pai released a statement (http://fcc.us/18ZpvG4) lauding Clyburn for being the first woman to lead the FCC, and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (http://fcc.us/16KonXI )said Clyburn will keep the FCC “on a steady path forward during this critical period.” Clyburn said the hallmarks of her administration will be continuity and progress. She sees the FCC as a “regulatory family,” Clyburn said in the memo that was released by the FCC. “Like every other family, we may disagree at times, and yes, frustrate each other,” said Clyburn. “But at the end of the day, we've got each other’s back."