Tag Archives: metropcs

Editor’s Letter: Welcome to May

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In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter Welcome to May

A bit of a lull this week ahead of what is shaping up to be an insane May -- and perhaps an even crazier June. We have events stacked three-deep at times, with industry ones like Google I/O, BlackBerry World, CTIA and SID Display Week looming along with private ones like Microsoft's next-generation Xbox unveiling. Next month? WWDC and the Electronic Entertainment Expo, just to name a few. Giddyup.

This week, we got what should be the final dredges of first-quarter earnings, with Facebook reporting $1.46 billion in revenue. That's a 38 percent increase over this quarter last year and a healthy $312 million in profit. Daily active users are also up, from 526 million to 665 million and, perhaps most importantly, Facebook managed to increase the performance of its mobile ads. That will be the key to its long-term success.

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It’s official: T-Mobile closes deal to acquire MetroPCS

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T-Mobile has been slowly inching closer to closing its acquisition deal with MetroPCS, and the day for inking that contract is finally here. Less than a week after MetroPCS shareholders approved the merger, which would give them a total cash payment of $1.5 billion, the deal is done, and T-Mo is a publicly traded company. In addition to giving Deutsche Telekom a 74 percent stake in the new company, the deal will bring nine million new prepaid customers to T-Mobile. According to the Uncarrier's President and CEO, the network would "continue our legacy of marketplace innovation by tearing up the old playbook and rewriting the rules of wireless to benefit consumers." T-Mobile plans to keep the MetroPCS brand, holding on to its retail outlets too, pitching to different demographics with the two carriers, according to AllThingsD. MetroPCS broke the news to its customers first through Facebook, although Big Magenta followed swiftly with the official press release -- you'll find that right after the break.

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Source: MetroPCS (Facebook), T-Mobile

MetroPCS reveals Q1 earnings, will make T-Mobile merger official April 30th

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MetroPCS reveals Q1 earnings, will make TMobile merger official April 30th

By now, you're probably aware that MetroPCS shareholders voted in favor of a merger with T-Mobile, and with regulatory red tape out of the way, both companies are now set to become one on April 30th. Now, MetroPCS has laid its Q1 2013 financials bare, which provides us with an excellent peek at T-Mobile's future partner. First off, the company is making money, and its operational income is actually rising, but it's also dealing with increased costs from loans, taxes and the like. Overall, MetroPCS reported a net income of $19.4 million for the first quarter, which is down from $21 million just one year ago.

Speaking of loans, MetroPCS has a ton of them. Its liabilities now sit at $10.3 billion, and its managed to take on $3.4 billion in financing during the last year alone. From a balance sheet perspective, 75 percent of the company's assets exist as debt, and this is a burden that T-Mobile must now take on. Naturally, much of this merger was in effort to score additional spectrum, but Ms. Magenta also stands to gain 9 million new customers once the deal completes, 39 percent of which are LTE subscribers. Better yet, with a churn rate of 2.9 percent, they're sticking around now more than any previous time in company history.

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Source: PR Newswire

MetroPCS shareholders vote to approve T-Mobile merger

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It hit a few snags along the way, but T-Mobile's merger with MetroPCS now appears to be all but a done deal. Bloomberg is reporting that MetroPCS shareholders voted to approve the deal this morning, following a recommendation from two previously opposed shareholder advisory firms that the merger be approved last week -- and approval from the board before that. According to Bloomberg, the final terms of the deal give T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom a 74 percent stake in the new company, with MetroPCS shareholders receiving a $1.5 billion cash payment. Most notably for T-Mobile, the deal brings nine million new prepaid customers into the fold, as well as the all-important wireless spectrum that MetroPCS currently owns.

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Source: Bloomberg

MetroPCS board approves Deutsche Telekom’s merger offer, urges shareholders to do the same

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After delaying a vote on T-Mobile's final merger bid a few days ago, MetroPCS' board of directors has voiced unanimous approval and is encouraging shareholders to vote yes as well. Deutsche Telekom's offer would reduce MetroPCS' debt by $3.8 billion as well as slash the interest rate on that debt by half a point. These measures should increase both the carrier's overall value and cash flow -- hopefully that will help in building out LTE more quickly. For folks fearing that T-Mo will suffer from buyer's remorse, don't. The offer also stipulates that Deutsche Telekom will refrain from selling its shares in the combined company for 18 months. It remains to be seen if stock owners will be convinced enough to vote yes on April 23rd; and so the saga continues.

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Via: TechnoBuffalo

T-Mobile improves its bid for MetroPCS, prompts MetroPCS to delay its vote

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MetroPCS street ad

While executives at T-Mobile and MetroPCS may be ready to close their merger, some shareholders aren't -- major advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has been recommending that MetroPCS investors vote against the deal unless T-Mobile can sweeten the pot. Consider it sweetened. T-Mobile's parent Deutsche Telekom has made a "final offer" that would slash the debt owed by the post-merger company by $3.8 billion (to $11.2 billion), reduce the interest rate on that debt by half a point and prevent Deutsche Telekom from selling its shares in the merged firm for 18 months, rather than the original six. The reshuffled finances may not sound very exciting on the surface, but they're enough to put MetroPCS in a tizzy: the carrier is delaying a shareholder vote on the deal from April 12th to the 24th to allow for some reevaluations. There's no guarantees that the new offer is enough to please the naysayers. Still, we'd venture that T-Mobile will get a warmer reaction than the last time it tried a corporate alliance.

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Via: Bloomberg

Source: Deutsche Telekom IR (Twitter)

Samsung Galaxy S 4 hits the FCC in MetroPCS and Sprint forms

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Samsung Galaxy S 4 hits the FCC in MetroPCS and Sprint forms

Get ready for a small deluge of Galaxy S 4 filings at the FCC in the near future. Just a couple of weeks after Samsung's flagship hit the US agency in its international guise, we're now seeing the first US editions of the smartphone receive approval, starting with both MetroPCS (SCH-R970) and Sprint (SPH-L720) examples. Either has CDMA, EV-DO and LTE, although there's variances you'll want to watch for if you're free to choose between carriers: the Sprint version has HSPA 3G for world roaming, while the MetroPCS model drops HSPA but has a broad four bands of LTE meant mostly to support other mid-size American networks, like US Cellular. We still have AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon to go among the bigger US providers supporting the GS4, although it's just a matter of time before their models make FCC appearances.

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Source: FCC (1), (2)

MetroPCS boosts budget LTE lineup with the Huawei Premia 4G, a 4-inch, ICS handset for $149

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MetroPCS boosts budget LTE lineup with the Huawei Premia 4G, a 4inch, ICS handset for $149

All signs point toward the T-Mobile / MetroPCS merger becoming a formal thing pretty soon, but the Wireless for All carrier isn't wasting any time and is now welcoming yet another budget smartphone with LTE to its hefty mobile arsenal. And while the newly announced Huawei Premia 4G might not be amongst MetroPCS' better-specced handsets, its 4-inch (800 x 480) display, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM and 5-megapixel rear shooter will certainly make this Ice Cream Sandwich slab a relatively solid option at $149. So, those looking for some LTE love without having to break the bank, someone's calling your name -- and, starting today, you can snag one of these Huawei Premia 4Gs in-store or via the MetroPCS site linked below.

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Source: MetroPCS

T-Mobile’s LTE ambitions get real: network expansion, the BlackBerry Z10 and an OTA update for the Galaxy Note II

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TMobile's LTE ambitions get real network expansion, the BlackBerry Z10 and an OTA update for the Galaxy Note II

AT&T's failed acquisition was the best thing to ever happen to T-Mobile. As a consequence of the failed merger, the fourth place wireless carrier received AWS spectrum in over 100 markets, a cash payout in the billions and an extensive roaming agreement with Ma Bell. All of which pushed the last place carrier into a stronger competitive standing. Now, as it nears the completion of a merger of its own devising with MetroPCS, the operator's gearing up to make good on its LTE promise. Starting today, an over-the-air update will begin rolling out to existing Galaxy Note II handsets that enables the previously dormant LTE radio. Which, if you've been keeping close tabs on Magenta's LTE plans, falls right on schedule with its previously announced 2013 deployment timeline.

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