By
Alana Grelyak
“Wi-” is the word (or half of a word, anyway) this month with news of Sprint’s renewed WiMAX venture alongside news of Philadelphia’s failing WiFi contract with EarthLink. And then there’s Carl Icahn’s methods of trying to force Yahoo into a Microsoft takeover, which leaves some asking “Why?” In addition to those pieces of information, you’ll find the usual golden eggs that keep you coming to Pipeline month after month.
With trade show season in full swing, we’ve decided to offer you complete write-ups for Management World, Nice; The Cable Show 2008; NXTcomm; and B/OSS World rather than putting the information here. So, for info on those events, check out the full articles about each. And now, without further ado, here’s your NewsWatch for June.
Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse had to explain to shareholders at a recent conference why Sprint is still losing customers and what they’re going to do to fix the problem. It seems that Sprint’s recently announced partnership with Clearwire Corp. and the WiMAX baby that will ensue is one of the possibilities that will dig them out of their hole. “Sprint will be the only wireless carrier providing landline-level capability to mobile customers,” said Hesse at the conference. Google, along with Intel, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House, is financially backing part of the WiMAX project and all parties involved have committed to a $12 billion combined investment. "Google is a firm believer in supporting new ways for people to access the Internet," said Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer and chairman of Google. "We are proud to invest in the new Clearwire alongside several leading technology and communications companies, and we believe
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It seems that Sprint’s recently announced partnership with Clearwire Corp. and the WiMAX baby that will ensue is one of the possibilities that will dig them out of their hole. |
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reported losses of $200,000 per month in operating costs caused by a failure to attract enough customers to the service, which is reported to be unreliable and difficult to deploy. EarthLink is trying to back out of their 10-year contract and is taking the city of Philadelphia to court in order to do so. EarthLink cannot seem to find a buyer for the network that it spent $17 million to put together and is having trouble even giving it away with a bonus of $1 million in cash. Perhaps they should offer it to me…
Financier Carl Icahn has reopened the issue of Microsoft taking over Yahoo by criticizing Yahoo for not accepting Microsoft’s bid of $33 per share and by beginning a proxy battle in order to force Yahoo to reopen negotiations. In a letter he wrote to Yahoo’s board, Icahn stated that “It is unconscionable that you have not allowed your shareholders to choose to accept an offer that represented a 72% premium over Yahoo's closing price of $19.18 on the day before the |
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that its planned WiMAX network will increase the ability for users to get high-speed broadband anytime, anywhere." As of publishing, Sprint has just announced that WiMAX is ready for a commercial launch in the test market of Baltimore-Washington, D.C. An official date for the launch has not been announced.
Philadelphia’s city-wide WiFi contract with EarthLink is in turmoil due to EarthLink’s
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initial Microsoft offer." He also wrote, "I sincerely hope you heed the wishes of your shareholders and move expeditiously to negotiate a merger with Microsoft, thereby making a proxy fight unnecessary.” At this point, any leverage that Yahoo may have had is unlikely to be available to them any longer, particularly with this undermining of their decision by someone on their own team.
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