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MCI?s top shareholder scores big

Carlos Slim Helu is slick.

The Mexican telecommunications magnate, who is the largest shareholder in MCI, has managed to sell his minority stake in the company to Verizon for a price that??s 11 percent above what Verizon plans to pay the rest of the company??s shareholders.

And while everyone else will take their money mostly in stock, Slim will walk away with cash. Verizon also threw in another little perk. In one year, it will give Slim an adjustment based on appreciation of its stock price. In the end the price tag could exceed $27 per share, well … Read more

"Wireless Philadelphia" moves forward

Philadelphia officially released its business plan for "Wireless Philadelphia" on Thursday. The city-wide Wi-Fi network will use utility poles to mount wireless gear to provide service to city residents at about $16 to $20 a month.

The city plans to use a cooperative wholesale model, similar to one that has been proposed by UTOPIA, a consortium of 11 cities building a broadband fiber network in Utah. Under this model, the city will create a non-profit organization that will contract out to private organizations that will build the network. The non-profit organization will get its funding through foundation grants … Read more

Qwest's offer rejected again

Can you hear me now, Qwest? Thanks, but no thanks.

The board of directors at MCI has once again rejected Qwest Communications' takeover bid, but the drama may not be over as Qwest plans to take its fight to shareholders.

Late Tuesday night, MCI announced it was rejecting Qwest's offer of $8.9 billion for Verizon's $7.5 billion bid. But Qwest isn't giving up just yet. The company looks to be preparing for a proxy fight with Verizon.

"We are confident that our offer is superior, and statements of support from many MCI shareowners indicate … Read more

MCI drama close to an end

By midnight tonight, the "who will buy MCI saga" should be over. Qwest, which raised its offer again last week, said that it would give MCI until midnight on April 5th to make its final decision.

MCI, which is the second largest long distance carrier in the U.S., has already accepted Verizon's offer twice. On Monday, Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg sent a letter to MCI's board of directors stating that his company would not get into a bidding war with Qwest. If the board decides to accept Qwest's new offer, Verizon will step … Read more

Broadband Surf Report: The death of free Wi-Fi?

Our daily look at telecom news around the Web:

Free or fee Wi-Fi? How quickly industry positions change--Broadband Reports Free Wi-Fi becomes ad weapon in coffee war--Mobile Pipeline 'Net convergence: Cable wants to be more--San Francisco Chronicle U.S. broadband failings a myth? Another slam on global penetration rankings--Broadband Reports Startup delivers streaming radio to cell phones--Mobile Pipeline NCTA: Cable execs eagerly exploiting broadband--Telephony Online West Virginia senate passes watered down pro-muni broadband bill--Muni Wireless

Comment on one of these stories? A link we missed that you want to post? We'll see … Read more

Broadband Surf Report: Verizon goes VoIP?

Our daily look at telecom news around the Web, no joke:

Verizon looking at VoIP over 3G--Mobile Pipeline Mobile carriers seek cheaper anti-piracy software--eWeek U.S. slams China, Japan, India over telecom market access--Infoworld 802.11 to add mesh--Unstrung

Comment on one of these stories? A link we missed that you want to post? We'll see you on the comments page ...

MCI's saga continues

The saga continues. In response to Qwest's latest offer to buy MCI, MCI's board of directors has agreed to re-open talks with Qwest. Verizon, which has already had its offer accepted twice by MCI, has given the green light. Verizon's waiver will allow MCI to engage in discussions with Qwest at any time until the date of the MCI shareholder vote on the proposed Verizon transaction. That date has not yet been set.

Qwest has stated previously that it will give MCI until Tuesday April 5th to make its decision. If Qwest doesn't hear anything back … Read more

Qwest adds $500M to MCI offer

Just when you thought the Qwest-Verizon-MCI drama was over, it's not.

On Thursday Qwest upped its bid once again for MCI, adding another $500 million to its offer. Qwest's new offer of almost $9 billion trumps its previous bid of $8.45 billion and Verizon's sweetened offer of $7.6 billion. MCI announced on Tuesday that it had accepted Verizon's revised offer.

Qwest has already set a deadline of April 5th for MCI's board to consider its offer. After the deadline, Qwest has said it will withdraw its offer.

But there are indications that Qwest … Read more

Qwest continues its fight

Qwest Communications just can't seem to take a hint.

Even after MCI rejected its offer to buy the company this week for the third time, Qwest won't give up the fight. Now that it's crystal clear that MCI's board of directors isn't interested in Qwest, the smallest of the Baby Bells looks like it's taking its case directly to shareholders. On Wednesday the company hired a proxy advisor called the Altman Group to help it organize shareholders to vote on the takeover bid.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal are reporting that … Read more