MetroPCS

T-Mobile-compatible phones coming to MetroPCS stores

T-Mobile will begin selling phones compatible with its network at MetroPCS stores later this quarter, according to T-Mobile Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert.

The goal is to sell only T-Mobile-compatible phones at MetroPCS stores by the end of the year. The move will help accelerate the migration of customers from the MetroPCS network to that of T-Mobile, Sievert told CNET on Wednesday.

T-Mobile was reborn today, appearing for the first time under the ticker TMUS as an independent and U.S.-based publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. This follows the company's merger with MetroPCS. The … Read more

T-Mobile, MetroPCS are now one

T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS have made it official and joined forces as one company.

Known as T-Mobile US as of Wednesday, the new combined company will bring together the networks, subscribers, and other assets. The newly united carriers together hold around 43 million subscribers as of March 31.

T-Mobile US's total coverage reaches around 301 million people. A full 228 million have access to 4G, while 200 million are expected to be covered by 4G LTE by the end of the year.

Had they united last year, the combined company's revenues would have reached $24.8 billion. Management … Read more

MetroPCS shareholders approve T-Mobile merger

T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS can become one now that the merger deal has received the thumbs-up from MetroPCs shareholders.

MetroPCS shareholder approval, announced Wednesday, was the final step needed after the deal received approval from the boards of MetroPCS and T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom, as well as legal nods from the Federal Communications Commission and U.S. Justice Department.

The deal is now expected to close by May 1 at which time the new combined company will officially launch, according to Deutsche Telekom.

"This is a major step for Deutsche Telekom," Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann said … Read more

Huawei Premia 4G review: Great price, lousy battery life

An inexpensive off-contract Android phone is hard to find, and for $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate, MetroPCS' Huawei Premia 4G has a particularly attractive price tag for a 4G Android 4.0 phone.

There are some very decent features for the price point, including a 5-megapixel camera with flash, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor.

Yet, something has to give, and in this case it's the phone's battery life, and to a lesser extent, its voice quality. MetroPCS' 4G LTE network, while steady in my tests, also produces speeds you'd … Read more

MetroPCS urges investors to vote for latest T-Mobile deal

MetroPCS is asking its stockholders to give the thumbs-up to the latest buyout bid from T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom.

Following months of talks with MetroPCS, Deutsche Telekom finally sweetened its buyout offer Thursday, prompting the board of MetroPCS to amend its terms for the proposed merger.

Amid some concerns over the deal, Deutsche Telekom reduced the amount of debt the combined company would take on from $15 billion to $11.2 billion. The interest on the debt will also be lowered by 50 basis points, allowing the combined company to more easily pay it back.

To address fears that … Read more

Deutsche Telekom offers 'best and final offer' to MetroPCS

Major MetroPCS shareholders that have urged their fellow owners to scuttle the merger deal in the works with T-Mobile might have been heard by Deutsche Telekom after all.

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, announced today that it has slightly modified the merger agreement between T-Mobile and MetroPCS to make it more amenable to the latter's shareholders. The new terms will see Deutsche Telekom reduce the amount of debt the combined company would take on from $15 billion to $11.2 billion. The carrier will also reduce the interest on those loans by 50 basis points, to make it … Read more

T-Mobile to improve bid for MetroPCS, report says

Deutsche Telekom, the owner of U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile, is working on improved terms for the carrier's bid for MetroPCS, according to a report today in The Wall Street Journal.

Unnamed sources told the Journal that the German telecommunications company is probably going to announce the sweetened deal as early as Wednesday. The new terms, which could help save the merger despite shareholder protest, will likely reduce the amount of debt transferred to the new company, according to the report.

When CNET contacted T-Mobile, the company declined to comment. Deutsche Telekom said earlier this month that its existing … Read more

No new terms for T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger, Deutsche Telekom says

Looks like there won't be any sweetened deal terms for the T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger, as much as MetroPCS shareholders may wish.

Deutsche Telekom, speaking with FierceWireless, refuted a Reuters report from earlier today that it was considering changing the terms of the merger agreement reached in October.

"We are not considering changing the terms of the proposed merger," DT spokesman Philipp Kornstaedt told FierceWireless.

The company later gave CNET this statement:

In response to a variety of published rumors and reports, Deutsche Telekom clarifies that it has no comment as to possible changes to the terms of … Read more

FCC refuses to state the obvious: Mobile market is competitive

Late last month, the FCC issued its 16th Mobile Competition Report, a 400-page document that analyzes in detail the competitive landscape for mobile carriers and the ecosystem that surrounds them.

Congress charged the FCC with answering one simple question in the annual report: Is there "effective competition" in the mobile ecosystem?

But since the 2009 confirmation of Genachowski as the chairman, the FCC has refused to answer the question one way or the other. Here, as in its previous two reports, the commission comes tantalizingly close to the right conclusion, but then backs away from it in the … Read more