T-Mobile, on the verge of releasing the BlackBerry 8320, has acquired SunCom for a cool $1.6 billion, thus increasing their customer base by 1.1 million. This should increase T-Mobile’s coverage in the southeastern U.S. after the whole deal is finalized, but will also give T-Mobile some service in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. SunCom shareholders will make off with $27 per share as a result of the deal, which ain’t too shabby at all.
Tag: acquisitions
T-Mobile acquires SunCom
1 Comment
Word’s floating around about Microsoft acquiring RIM, but c’mon, we’ve heard all this talk before. Does it ever happen? No. BBCool’s set their stance on Microsoft in particular buying RIM, and especially rumors of RIM acquisitions in general. RIM’s stock showed a little blip as a result of the prospect, but it’ll pass. No doubt Microsoft is interested, but until talks are actually underway, let’s all just calm down a bit.
After listening in on ABI Research’s recent talk on fixed-mobile convergence, analyst Stuart Carlaw has speculated that RIM will be providing SIP support in addition to its already-established UMA for the BlackBerry 8820. There was some concern earlier that the voice hand-off technology that the BlackBerry 8820 was touting (UMA) wouldn’t be compatible with the enterprise standard (SIP). ABI said that ever since acquiring Cingular, AT&T has been drifting towards SIP and similarly, RIM’s acquisition of Ascendent should facilitate PBX integration through SIP.
If AT&T’s release of the BlackBerry 8820 really is just around the corner, we’ll be finding out what it’s packing soon enough. Stuart also set UMA and SIP in a consumer versus enterprise light. If future Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerrys don’t work with both UMA and SIP, at very least we can hope that consumer-oriented products like the BlackBerry 8320 are packing UMA, and business-end products like the 8820 will be kicking SIP (even if it should have been there in the first place).
Indian carrier Reliance is whetting its lips as talks progress on getting their mitts on competitor Aircel.They might not be names you’re too familiar with, but Reliance is one of the biggest carriers in India, and Aircel is the 6th. largest carrier in India. The acquisition would significantly expand Reliance’s GSM network through Aircel’s licences, as well as adding Aircel’s 6.2 million base subscribers to their fold. Last we heard from Reliance, they were working on a massive network expansion, and now topped off with this acquisition, Reliance is making huge strides.
After so much trouble and brouhaha, Vodafone has decided to keep its 45% stake in Verizon, despite the objections of investor group ECS. The group felt that they could get more in straight-up returns than continue holding onto the American carrier, but most other investors felt otherwise. Regardless, the vocal minority has been shushed into submission, and now Vodafone can carry on with business.
