05/10, 1:44pm
T-Mobile still opposed to Verizon spectrum buy, says Philipp Humm
T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm went on record on Thursday to say the carrier isn't interested in acquiring Verizon's 700MHz spectrum if it can buy its own. During a conference call, SlashGear reported, Humm told investors and reporters that the 700MHz block C spectrum isn't enough for T-Mobile to expand its offerings. He added that incorporating it into its business and hardware would take between three to six years.
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04/26, 8:30am
MetroPCS delivers mixed Q1 2012 results
MetroPCS has recorded a mixed first quarter result gaining 132,000 new users, but seeing profits slump 63 percent over the same period last year. Gross income was up at $1.3 billion against $1.2 billion against the same period last year, however the costly rollout of its new 4G network had an adverse impact on its bottom. This was compounded by what it called an increase in the ‘retention expense’ of attracting new users, which it calculated as being 16 percent higher than in the past.
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04/03, 11:10am
MetroPCS makes over data plan tiers, intros caps
MetroPCS has just revamped its LTE smartphone plans. The unlimited plan is up by $10 per month, now at $70, and is the only one whose speeds won't be throttled. It does include unlimited voice, texting, and data, however, along with the MetroSTUDIO Video on Demand service. The option has disappeared to pick between MetroSTUDIO and Rhapsody Unlimited.
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03/21, 1:05pm
FCC moves on possibly mandating 700MHz unity
The FCC in an Open Commission Meeting Wednesday morning unanimously voted to pursue possibilities for significantly improving 4G's use in the US. It would verify whether there would be any adverse effect to making the 700MHz A, B, and C blocks of spectrum interoperable, letting one roam on the other. Agency officials would want outside input on what the rules would be if there were little to no interference, as well as whether any interference might be cut back.
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03/20, 10:55pm
Revision brings many improvements
MetroPCS is said to be preparing to launch LG's Optimus M+ handset, which serves as a successor to the original Optimus M. The device is claimed to offer a number of improvements, including a larger 3.5-inch display with a wider color range, Bluetooth 3.0 and a 5.0-megapixel camera sensor with flash, unnamed sources have told Pocketnow.
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03/20, 10:40am
ZTE N910 with LTE gets FCC approval
Chinese maker ZTE has successfully run its upcoming N910 LTE smartphone through the FCC. Introduced before last month's Mobile World Congress, the phone should sport a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch, 480x800 touchscreen, and Android 4.0. In FCC form, it received AWS Band IV and PCS Band II LTE support, meaning it will likely show up at smaller carriers such as Cricket or MetroPCS.
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03/14, 4:15pm
T-Mobile sends letter to FCC for 4G LTE roaming
T-Mobile USA has sent a letter to the FCC (PDF), asking it that all 700MHz LTE bands are interoperable between carriers. Such a move would motivate roaming and help the public in terms of safety, T-Mobile wrote. A meeting is scheduled for next week, at which the FCC will decide whether the interference between 700MHz B and C block operations could be mitigated if the lower band were to be made interoperable.
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03/14, 10:55am
Cricket parent Leap wholesales Clearwire LTE
Cricket's parent company Leap on Wednesday struck a deal with Clearwire to use its upcoming LTE network. The five-year pact will let Cricket users run on Clearwire's 4G in addition to the network Cricket itself plans to build. The expansion would give extra capacity where it was needed to help cope with demand, Leap chief Doug Hutcheson said.
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03/08, 1:45pm
C Spire outlines more definitive LTE plans
C Spire gave out more definitive plans for its delayed LTE rollout on Thursday. The regional carrier will focus on Mississippi and cover both the core of Jackson, the Gulf Coast, and 23 individual towns. Among the examples include Hattiesburg, Tupelo, and West Point.
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03/02, 8:00pm
Decision could strip FCC of any regulatory clout
Verizon and MetroPCS will be able to move forward with their lawsuit against the FCC and its net neutrality rules. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear the case. The FCC had argued that the court didn't have jurisdiction in the matter.
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02/24, 6:10pm
Sprint broke off last minute MetroPCS deal
Sprint had been on the edge of buying MetroPCS, according to claims late Friday. The deal, said by CNBC to have been worth $8 billion, was broken off hours before it would have been made public. CEO Dan Hesse is believed to have greenlit the deal, only to have the board reject it.
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02/23, 6:30pm
Commitment to VoLTE still there, but timing slips
MetroPCS will be adding Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services during the second half of this year. The flat-rate wireless provider's CEO, Roger Linquist, revealed this during his quarterly analyst conference call to discuss the company's most recent financial results. He indicated that the company plans on offering at least one phone capable of supporting VoLTE.
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02/02, 12:25pm
$40 LTE plan back at MetroPCS on more phones
MetroPCS this week brought back its Unlimited $40 per month plan for 4G handsets. It's available on the Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G, LG Esteem, and Samsung Galaxy Indulge smartphones, which were only previously available with the $50 or $60 LTE plans. The same unlimited web browsing and YouTube access in addition to the same unlimited talk and text as before is included.
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01/30, 3:15pm
LTE plans now start at $50 for Android Lineup
MetroPCS has dropped its lowest-cost "unlimited" LTE wireless phone plan. The no-contract carrier first offered the $40 LTE plan last January. Its lowest price for voice, text, and enhanced LTE data services is now $50 per month.
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01/04, 12:00pm
MetroPCS will launch Samsung Mobile TV phone
Cellphone carrier MetroPCS on Wednesday announced it will bring out phones with built-in mobile TV tuners later in 2012. These signals are sent out from certain TV stations and are Mobile DTV signals. The first device to use the ATSC Mobile technology at MetroPCS will be from Samsung, in the form of an as-yet unnamed premium Android device.
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01/02, 5:55pm
Handset also slated for Verizon
LG appears to be readying yet another LTE-equipped handset, the Connect 4G MS840, which is reportedly on its way to metroPCS. The smartphone is said to integrate a four-inch display with 800x480 resolution, paired with a dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM.
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12/18, 7:55pm
ATT makes no progress on T-Mo asset sale offers
AT&T isn't making any progress in its attempts to sell T-Mobile assets to rescue its attempted buyout of T-Mobile, insiders uncovered Sunday. Discussions with smaller carriers have reportedly "gone cold," the Wall Street Journal heard. Among other problems, attempts to sell assets to Leap for its Cricket service fell as doubts existed that even this could salvage AT&T's proposed T-Mobile merger.
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11/04, 6:00pm
US Cellular next to jump to LTE
US Cellular has become the next major US carrier to plan out an upgrade to LTE-based 4G. The regional carrier plans to deploy the faster network starting from early 2012 and plans to cover a handful of cities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma. Among the highlight will be Des Moines, Greenville, Milauwkee, and Portland, although most will have more than one city covered.
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11/01, 2:30pm
C Spire bars streaming on some iPhone plans
(Updated with policy notes) C Spire on Tuesday said it would join the third iPhone 4S launch wave by releasing its version on November 11. The device, as well as the 8GB iPhone 4, will go on sale at the same contract prices as on other carriers. No mention has been made of an off-contract option.
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10/20, 9:30pm
AT&T woos buyer for potential divestment markets
AT&T has reportedly established a deal with MetroPCS that will give the latter company top priority to purchase divested assets that may be required to finalize the former's T-Mobile buyout proposal. AT&T is said to have approached a number of potential suitors as government agencies scrutinize the acquisition.
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10/19, 8:30pm
Galaxy Nexus US page hints every US carrier onside
A now active signup page for the Galaxy Nexus has given a chance the Android 4.0 phone might arrive on most US carriers. The carrier preference drop-down gives the option not just for the Verizon LTE model but also AT&T, C Spire (Cellular South), MetroPCS, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular. Only niche or 'virtual' carriers like TracFone and Virgin Mobile are out of the list.
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09/28, 6:10pm
LTE, Android phone targets multimedia fans
MetroPCS has
officially launched its latest 4G LTE-enabled phone, the LG Esteem. The carrier is targeting the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) based smartphone towards "entertainment-minded" customers. Information on the Esteem was originally leaked last Thursday.
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09/28, 3:45pm
Free Press petitions FCC for tougher neutrality
Public advocacy group Free Press put forward a formal petition for review (below) of the FCC's net neutrality rules before they take effect November 20. The group said the rules were too light on the mobile Internet as they only included a basic no-block rule and transparency on monitoring, not a guarantee that all legal traffic should be treated fairly. With cellular gaining ground, the argument that wireless was too new didn't work.
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09/22, 11:55pm
Smartphone to fetch $249 after rebate
MetroPCS appears to be readying LG's rumored Esteem handset to operate on the carrier's LTE network. Image leaks, taken from the LG Partner Portal and posted by Androidcentral, suggest the device will offer a midrange set of smartphone features, including a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and a 4.3-inch LCD with 800x480 resolution.
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09/19, 11:10am
LVL tries carpet bomb lawsuit to make profit
Largely unknown patent holder LVL Patent Group late last week quietly sued much of the US cellphone business and beyond for alleged patent violations (below). It claims that the iPhone, many Android devices, Symbian, and basic feature phones as well as their carriers violate one or more of a group of four generic patents, including data transaction servers and devices for entering transactions. Most of the patents were issued in or before 2000, but one of the device patents was only live on September 13, two days before the lawsuit was filed.
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09/19, 10:10am
ATT may sell assets to MetroPCS and Leap
AT&T is now talking directly with MetroPCS and Cricket's parent company Leap in an attempt to save its now seriously threatened buyout of T-Mobile, a pair of sources divulged Monday. The carrier is hoping to sell customer bases and wireless spectrum licenses to its smaller sometime-competitors in hopes of reaching a settlement, Bloomberg said. Bank of America is being tapped specifically to help negotiate the deal.
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09/13, 9:50am
New FCC rules limit throttling, content blocking
The White House Office of Management and Budget approved the Federal Communication Commission's proposed net neutrality rules on Friday, setting the stage for a certain court challenge by wireless broadband providers. Verizon and MetroPCS have already tried to block the new rules in Federal court once, as soon as they were announced. Those cases were dismissed on appeal in April, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling that any challenges would be premature until the regulations had been published in the Federal Register. Publication generally happens within three weeks of approval by OMB.
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09/08, 10:50pm
Handset to feature Cricket's Muve Music service
Cricket Wireless has announced that it is set to launch Samsung's Vitality handset, which will be the company's first Android device to offer Muve Music service. The introduction confirms earlier rumors pointing to a new handset that is nearly identical to the Admire handset offered through competing carrier MetroPCS.
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08/30, 4:50pm
Samsung Vitality with Muve Music due at Cricket
A new Samsung phone, the Vitality, has shown up in a computer-based Cricket training manual and has been shared online by Engadget. It's a near-twin to MetroPCS' Admire, sharing the same 800MHz CPU, 3.5-inch 320x480 touchscreen and a 3.2-megapixel camera. It will run on Android 2.3.
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08/23, 2:15pm
Dish asks FCC to grant hybrid network permission
Dish Network is asking the FCC to allow it to combine the S-Band spectrum licenses it acquired with its $1.38 billion purchase of TerreStar Networks and DBSD North America to offer terrestrial-only devices. This is part of a larger goal of offering a satellite-terrestrial 4G network that uses LTE-Advanced. Dish claims this hybrid network that will use the 40MHz spectrum under a subsidiary called Gamma will help meet the FCC's goal of expanding broadband access. Dish cited the conditional waiver the FCC gave to LightSquared as a reason it should get its request granted.
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08/09, 9:20am
Samsung Admire official for MetroPCS
MetroPCS and Cellular South have confirmed their first Android 2.3 phones. Samsung's Admire tackles the entry level with a 3.5-inch, 320x480 touchscreen and a 3.2-megapixel rear camera. Although budget, it's one of Samsungs most straightforward phones and uses the stock Google interface instead of its own TouchWiz.
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08/02, 7:10pm
Carrier details transition to VoIP
MetroPCS has confirmed plans to transition to voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) communications early next year. During a conference call that focused on recent earnings, chief executive Roger Linquist suggested the company is already deploying technology that will be necessary to jump from a circuit-switched voice system to the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) technology.
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07/14, 6:25pm
Samsung Admire enroute with stock Gingerbread OS
MetroPCS is set to get a phone running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) in the shape of the Samsung SCH-R720. When it launches sometime between August and September it will be branded as the Samsung Admire. When it joins the MetroPCS line-up, it will replace the discontinued LG Optimus M.
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07/08, 5:55pm
4th deal this year for Dish founder Charlie Ergen
A US Bankruptcy Court in NY has approved Dish Network's proposed purchase of TerreStar. The deal has been valued at $1.38 billion. The main asset that Dish will be getting is the bankrupt satellite communications provider's 20MHz of wireless spectrum.
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06/28, 1:25pm
Dish now near certain buyer for TerreStar
Dish Network's hopes to buy out TerreStar may have come true as reports have surfaced Tuesday that it's now the only bidder for the satellite smartphone creator. A deadline Monday night has passed with only a nearly $1.38 billion bid from Dish still around, giving it a near-certain win. Cellular carrier MetroPCS had considered a bid to get much-needed wireless spectrum, Reuters says, but has since backed out for unknown reasons.
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06/22, 2:50pm
Follows US into protecting Internet access
The Netherlands has become the first European country to embrace network neutrality. Dutch lawmakers have passed legislation that prevents the nation's Internet service providers from charging customers extra for, or blocking access to, online-based services such as Skype. To date, the US is the only other country to have enacted net neutrality provisions.
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06/14, 7:10pm
Outbids MetroPCS and others
Dish Networks is close to reaching an agreement to purchase bankrupt satellite smartphone provider Terrestar Networks for $1.2 to $1.4 billion, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday. Terrestar declared bankruptcy in October of last year and its assets include wireless spectrum.
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06/06, 5:45pm
FCC asks Verizon and other carriers on ATT T-Mo
The FCC on Monday sent out a request (PDF) to carriers asking them for information to help its investigation into the AT&T and T-Mobile deal. Verizon, Sprint, and regional carriers like Cellular South and US Cellular were all asked to provide responses to the deal and supporting evidence. Each got the same nine questions relating to coverage, cell site ownership, expansion, relationships with AT&T, their future spectrum plans, billing, and competitive reports.
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05/27, 3:15pm
Follow New York into state-level review
California has become the second major state to formally move towards investigating AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission began preparing a proposal for assessing the $39 billion deal. Its move might raise challenges to the deal beyond what the Department of Justice and FCC will offer as part of their formal investigations.
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05/24, 2:30pm
Leap says ATT T-Mobile would concentrate power
Cricket's parent company Leap Wireless provided its own objection on Tuesday to AT&T's proposed buyout of T-Mobile. The carrier suggested that letting the deal go through would lead to "alarming concentration" by putting too much power in the hands of two carriers, AT&T and Verizon. A merger would only hurt customers, it said.
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04/04, 5:15pm
Verizon and MetroPCS lawsuits temporarily set back
The FCC claimed a minor victory Monday after a US federal appeals court tossed attempts by Verizon and MetroPCS to challenge its net neutrality order. The US agency took advantage of technicalities as both of the carriers had complained before the neutrality rules were entered in the Federal Register. Court judges said the early filings were "incurable" and had to be dismissed outright.
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03/30, 2:30pm
MetroPCS shows Tapout-themed Ascend phone
MetroPCS will soon begin offering a special-edition version of the Huawei Ascend Android smartphone. Sanctioned by the mixed martial arts league Tapout, the phone will ship with two back covers, one wearing the Tapout logo. It will contain ten virtual training center videos, 12 static wallpapers and six live wallpapers, along with an unspecified number of apps, all Tapout-themed.
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03/03, 3:35pm
Currently investigating all options for bandwidth
MetroPCS is reportedly considering all options for being able to deliver 4G services, including the LightSquared satellite back-end service for the delivery of high-speed mobile communications. The company is busy searching for all possible avenues that can help it expand its spectrum as it continues is US expansion plans, particularly with regard to the delivery of 4G network access. “We’re looking at everything out there” on spectrum, CFO J. Braxton Carter said during a conference call at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco.
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02/15, 12:50pm
SanDisk card from MetroPCS to track content
The bundled SanDisk microSD memory card with the Samsung Galaxy Indulge at MetroPCS will be capable of tracking what users put on it, SlashGear reported on Tuesday. Each time the user places something on the card, the information will be sent to MetroPCS servers. This will allow the carrier to personalize the content they offer users in the future, though the statistics will remain anonymous.
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02/10, 9:20pm
Device follows LG Revolution's functionality
MetroPCS is reportedly set to introduce an HTC handset that supports Voice Over LTE functionality, according to GSM Association technology director Dan Warren. Additional details surrounding the mystery device have yet to surface, though the single known feature indicates the handset will support simultaneous use of the data network while a user is involved in a voice call.
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02/09, 9:25am
Samsung Galaxy Indulge hits MetroPCS with 4G
MetroPCS on Wednesday managed to preempt Verizon with the first LTE-capable Android phone in the US. The Samsung Galaxy Indulge (also known as the Forte) is a close cousin of Sprint's Epic 4G but makes use of a smaller 3.5-inch, 480x320 LCD and a three-megapixel camera to keep the price and size down, even as the LTE gives it much faster 4G. It shares the same 1GHz Hummingbird chip and ships with Android 2.2 from the start.
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02/07, 2:50pm
Samsung Forte for MetroPCS now at FCC
The Samsung Forte smartphone due at MetroPCS and with 4G LTE support may soon be out on the market, a recent FCC filing reveals. The device is expected to sport a 1GHz CPU, a five-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and an 800x480 touchscreen. While no real evidence of the handset was offered beyond what's known, the handset may ship on February 11.
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02/02, 2:10pm
Verizon pick of net neutrality judges denied
Verizon's latest attempt in its fight against the FCC's net neutrality laws has just been rejected by a US appeals court. The carrier was reported on Wednesday as having tried to hand-pick a specific panel of judges to hear out its arguments. The judges were to be the same ones that ruled the FCC lacked the authority to stop Comcast from blocking bandwidth-heavy apps in 2010.
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01/28, 4:50pm
FCC hopes to dismiss net neutrality charges
The FCC on Friday filed motions to dismiss attempts by MetroPCS and Verizon to overturn net neutrality rules. An agency official told Reuters the two had been caught on a technicality as both had appealed the net neutrality order too early. The rules for when to challenge were "clear" and had to take place in the first 60 days after the order appeared in the Federal Register, the government agent said.
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01/26, 6:05pm
Netflix says Apple TV trumps iPad, OKs FCC moves
Netflix while discussing breakthrough results on Wednesday surprised the industry with word that the new Apple TV was already more popular than the iPad for Netflix movie viewing. Apple's media hub had already accumulated more viewing hours in its first four months than the iPad managed in nine. The movie rental service didn't try to explain the gap, but it suggested many still preferred to use Netflix's movie streaming on a TV despite the surge in tablet video.
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