Yep, the Wireless Industry Actually Lost Contract Customers Last Quarter

Subscriber gains at AT&T and Verizon weren’t enough to make up for defections at Sprint and T-Mobile. The prepaid industry, meanwhile, gained two million customers in the first quarter.
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MetroPCS and T-Mobile: Oh My, What an Ugly Baby

Combing two wireless weaklings just leaves you with a bigger weakling.
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MOG Heads to Australia, With Help From a Telco

Meanwhile: What happened to that Beats deal?
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AT&T Targets $50 Unlimited Plan at Ultra-Competitive Prepaid Cell Market

While unlimited plans are going away on many traditional carriers, price competition in the prepaid market means such plans are enjoying a renaissance. AT&T is looking to get back in the game with a new $50 a month plan, though it is limited to feature phones, unlike some rivals which extend their cut-rate plans to smartphones.
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News Byte

MetroPCS Jumps on Growth Surge

Shares of prepaid wireless provider MetroPCS are up about 9 percent in late trading today after the company reported quarterly customer growth far better than analysts had expected. The company’s Q1 numbers may indirectly help the prospects of the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile deal by providing evidence of a healthy competitive market.

FCC’s New Data Roaming Rule Leaves Some Happy, but Verizon and ATT–Not So Much

Verizon Wireless and AT&T lashed out against new Federal Communications Commission rules that require carriers to allow data roaming on their networks at prices set by the commission. Meanwhile, Sprint applauded the move.

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MetroPCS: Buy the Stock Before Earnings, Credit Suisse Says

Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin advised investors to go long MetroPCS heading into the company’s Q1 earnings announcement on Thursday. He thinks PCS will report stronger than expected results.

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Sprint Slides; Bernstein Cuts to Underperform, Sees Increasing Pricing Pressure

Sprint shares are coming under pressure this morning from Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett, who this morning cut his rating on the shares to Underperform from Market Perform, with a price target of $3, which is actually up from $2.50.

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Leap Into the Abyss: Stock Off 17 Percent on Q2 Rev Miss; Ratchets Down Subscriber Forecast as Churn Rises

San Diego-based prepaid cellular operator Leap Wireless wrapped up a horrendous day for budget calling that kicked off with Metro PCS’s big miss for Q2 profit. Leap missed revenue estimates and reported a wider-than-expected loss per share for the quarter and ratcheted down its expectations for subscriber growth and profitability this year.

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PCS: Buckling Under the Weight of Sprint, Verizon

The cut-rate prepaid cellular market, though representing fully a third of the growth in wireless in the U.S., is not always a comfortable place to be, as evidenced by the results today from Metro PCS, the discount prepaid cellular operator whose stock was cut by a third after disappointing Q2 earnings.