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Sprint sold 1.4M iPhones in Q2 2013
Sprint must be happy with its decision to start selling the iPhone. The company reports that 1.4 million iPhones were sold in the second fiscal quarter of 2013. Even better, 41 percent of those phones went to new Sprint customers. The carrier didn't sell as many iPhones in the last quarter as it did in the first quarter of 2013, when it saw a whopping 1.5 million boxes go out the door. Overall subscriber numbers for the carrier were also down from 55.2 million to 53.6 million, so the news isn't all rosy for Sprint. While Sprint saw a slight decline in iPhone sales, competitor Verizon saw second quarter activation numbers soar over 41 percent from the previous year, with a total of 3.9 million of iPhones being activated on its network. AT&T refused to offer specific sales or activation numbers for the iPhone, but did note that they were up. Sprint is right in the middle of some amazing expansion, purchasing both WiMax provider Clearwire and a portion of US Cellular's network. The company was also recently purchased by Japan's SoftBank for $21.6 billion, with much of the cash being targeted for expansion of Sprint's LTE network. [via MacObserver]
Softbank's $21.6 billion acquisition of Sprint is complete
Finally, the saga is over. All but a formality once the FCC approved, Softbank has merged with Sprint, and will own about 78 percent of shares in the new Sprint Corporation, while current Sprint equity holders will own about 22 percent. Initially announced last fall, things were suddenly complicated when Dish made its own bid for Sprint and Clearwire in the spring. But, that challenge faded, regulatory hurdles were cleared, Clearwire shareholders approved Sprint's buyout and here we are, with Dan Hesse staying on as CEO of Sprint, and Softbank's Masayoshi Son taking over as the chairman of the board of directors. The plan is for this to result in a "stronger, more competitive Sprint," although we'll have to wait and see if that happens all of the details are in the press release after the break.
Sprint's acquisition of Clearwire now complete
Now that the shareholders -- as well as the FCC -- have officially given the go-ahead, Sprint has finally wrapped up the final odds and ends regarding its acquisition of Clearwire at a value of $5 per share in cash, and now holds 100 percent ownership of the company. The deal, which was expected to close today, will likely be quickly followed up by the carrier's merger with Softbank tomorrow. You'll be able to find the press release after the break, which dives a little deeper into investor-speak.
Clearwire shareholders approve buyout by Sprint
Well, the FCC has already offered its tacit approval of the merger between Sprint, Clearwire and Softbank. And Sprint shareholders are on board with its buyout by Softbank. Really, the last hurdle for this major wireless marriage, was Clearwire's shareholders. Now they've approved the plan to be purchased by Sprint, which in turn will be absorbed by Softbank, putting an end to a long drama over the tiny carrier's future. When Dish decided to exit the bidding war over the company in late June it seemed to be all but a done deal that Sprint, already a majority shareholder of Clearwire, would take over the rest of the company. The deal is expected to be officially closed on July 9th, followed only shortly after by the Sprint and Softbank merger on July 10th.
The Daily Roundup for 07.05.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
FCC clears the way for unification of Sprint, Softbank and Clearwire
As expected and predicted, today the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of American mobile company Sprint with Japanese mobile giant Softbank and broadband service company Clearwire. In its conclusion, the FCC writes, "approval of the proposed transactions, subject to the conditions set forth herein, is in the public interest." This comes just a week after Sprint shareholders gave the thumbs up for proceedings to go forward, and a few weeks after the US Department of Justice did the same. Further, the conclusion goes on to say that the deal has "public interest benefits that likely would result from the proposed transaction, and thus we conclude that the transaction is in the public interest." The tri-company transaction is through the wringer of governmental bureaucracy, but still has to receive approval from Clearwire's shareholders; that decision is expected on July 8th, and its board of directors have reportedly recommended approval.
FCC set to approve Softbank's Sprint and Clearwire deals, says Bloomberg
It looks as if nine months of hard politicking is coming to an end, now that the FCC has reportedly rubber-stamped the deal to tie up Softbank with Sprint and Clearwire. Bloomberg's cabal of insiders have said that two out of three commissioners have voted to support the transactions, meaning that Dan Hesse and Masayoshi Son should soon start cracking open the champagne and cigars. Now that the pair have charmed shareholders, convinced the Justice Department and bloodied Joseph Clayton's nose, all that's left to do is tell John J Legere that his services are no longer needed.
Dish withdraws its offer to buy Clearwire
And with that, Dish is (seemingly) out of the running: following a decision to back away from buying Sprint, the satellite TV giant has also withdrawn its bid for Clearwire. The company is bowing out due to a "change in recommendation" at Clearwire -- in other words, shareholders now prefer Sprint's recently sweetened offer. Between that and Sprint's lawsuit, we're not expecting Dish to make another acquisition attempt, especially when Softbank's acquisition of Sprint (and thus Clearwire) could close in a matter of weeks.
Sprint boosts Clearwire buyout offer to $5 per share, $14 billion valuation
We're deep into a bona fide bidding war here -- Sprint and Dish are both battling for an approximately 50-percent stake in Clearwire, and as of today, that former contestant's bid makes it the new front runner. To catch you up, last month Dish offered $4.40 per share for Clearwire, following Sprint's offer of $3.40 per share made way back in December. Now, the carrier has increased its bid to a whopping 5 bucks per share, which values Clearwire at just about $14 billion. (As you can probably imagine, CLWR's trading price has jumped today to match that new target.) This comes just days after Sprint filed a lawsuit to prevent the other two parties from moving forward. Whether or not CLWR's spectrum and other assets make it worth that sum is a different story, but Sprint clearly sees some solid value there.
Dish doesn't submit another bid to buy Sprint, will 'consider its options'
The latest move in the standoff between Softbank, Sprint, Dish Network and Clearwire has been made, as Dish stated today it will not submit another bid for Sprint. This comes after Sprint sued to stop Dish from buying Clearwire, which the satellite company called an attempt to deflect attention from its own unfair dealings. If you'll recall, Dish Network jumped in with a $25.5 billion offer to buy Sprint, but after Japanese carrier Softbank improved its proposal slightly, Sprint put Dish on a deadline to respond. That time limit expired today, and Dish is choosing to consider its options on Sprint, while focusing on completing the Clearwire deal. Dish cited some specific changes in the Softbank deal that made it impossible to meet the deadline, including higher break-up fees if the deal didn't go through. so what's next? Softbank's still waiting for FCC approval before it can go through with the acquisition, and reports it expects to close the deal in early July.
Sprint sues Dish and Clearwire, claims buyout offer is illegal
Sprint warned Clearwire in early June that it viewed Dish's latest attempt to buy it as illegal, and now the carrier is following up with legal action. Big Yellow has just announced that its filed a lawsuit against Dish and its acquisition target in Delaware, as it believes the buyout would violate state law and the rights of shareholders and investors in both itself and Clearwire. The Now Network is asking the court to prevent the completion of the deal, rescind certain parts of the agreement and seek "declaratory, injunctive, compensatory and other relief." In the outfit's own words, the suit "details how DISH has repeatedly attempted to fool Clearwire's shareholders into believing its proposal was actionable in an effort to acquire Clearwire's spectrum and to obstruct Sprint's transaction with Clearwire." Stand back folks, the legal fireworks are just starting. Update: Head past the break to catch a statement from Dish on the matter.
WSJ: Clearwire to endorse Dish's offer, push back vote on Sprint deal (updated)
Well, it looks like Sprint's letter to Clearwire Corp. didn't adequately trash Dish Network. According to The Wall Street Journal, a special committee of Clearwire's board will push back a shareholder vote on Sprint's deal this Thursday and recommend that the full board endorse Dish's buyout proposal. Needless to say, that would put a sizable wrench in Sprint's plans to fully acquire the spectrum provider. The carrier already owns nearly half of Clearwire, and if Dish gets its way, it will become a major minority shareholder in the company. Whatever happens next, likely won't end the drawn-out bidding war, though; Sprint has already claimed that Dish's offer can't legally be accepted without its consent. As always, stay tuned. Update: Dish just formally announced the extension of its tender offer to Clearwire, pushing back the original June 28th date to July 2nd. Skip past the break for the full release.
Sprint tells Clearwire that Dish's buyout offer is illegal
In case it wasn't already obvious that Sprint sees Dish's attempt to buy Clearwire as rather rude, the carrier made its irritation perfectly clear today. Sprint just sent a letter to Clearwire's board of directors that claims the latest Dish buyout proposal violates Delaware laws relating to board control. Moreover, some of the proposal's terms would reportedly need Sprint's permission -- which, as you'd imagine, isn't exactly forthcoming. We've reached out to Dish for a response, although we're not expecting the satellite giant to simply accept Sprint's interpretation at face value. If Sprint is right, however, the objection could at least force Dish back to the drawing board.
Clearwire shareholder meeting rescheduled after Dish improves its offer
Dish's interesting attempt to acquire its way into the wireless data business has taken another turn this evening, thanks to a new development in its bid for Clearwire. Dish upped its offer to $4.40 per share for all of the company's outstanding shares earlier this week, and the Clearwire board seems interested. Originally scheduled to take place Friday morning, the meeting is now set for June 13th so the board can discuss Dish's offer, and how it compares to Sprint's $2.2 billion / $3.40 per share bid for the 50 percent of Clearwire it does not yet own. The new bid is apparently more "actionable" than Dish's previous proposal, and could also complicate Softbank's attempt to acquire Sprint which Dish is also trying to intercept. Hit the links below for all the business details while we wait for the various bords and committees to figure out what happens to these companies next.
Verizon in talks to lease Clearwire spectrum for $1.5 billion
Verizon could be looking to bolster its wireless network with Clearwire spectrum, according to the Wall Street Journal. The potential deal, of which little is known at the moment, would see the nation's number one wireless operator forking over $1.5 billion to lease Clearwire's spectrum. It's an odd move for Verizon given its past aggressive stance on spectrum acquisition, but due to legal entanglements involving Clearwire and 50-percent owner Sprint, it's likely the only available option. At present, Sprint is seeking to buy out the remaining stake in Clearwire, bringing that company and its valuable spectrum -- formerly used for WiMAX -- completely in-house. But complicating matters is a rival bid from Dish, which is offering $25.5 billion to buy Sprint (a move prompted by its failed Clearwire bid) and build out a wireless network of its own with holdings it acquired from previous FCC spectrum auctions. With spectrum so finite a resource, the only recourse carriers have is to lease, acquire or win auctioned spectrum (should the FCC seek to free more up). Rest assured, these operator wars will only get messier and more frequent with time as the US rolls over into an all LTE future.
Dish Network bids $25.5 billion for Sprint, goes head-to-head with Softbank
In the battle for Sprint's heart, Dish Network always seemed to be stuck in the "friend zone". That's not the case anymore, however, now that Dish has quietly lobbed an informal $25.5 billion offer to purchase the carrier. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that after Dish was knocked-back in its attempts to buy Clearwire, the satellite TV company scrounged together the cash to beat Softbank's multi billion dollar deal. If the bid is made formal, then Sprint's board will have to decide if Softbank's massive size and buckets of cash can be trumped by Dish's spectrum reserves, pay-TV business and ability to skip commercials in a breeze. Update: Dish clarified on a conference call that its bid for Clearwire is still on the table for the company to consider even if it was turned down, and that the Sprint offer is not contingent on the carrier closing out its Clearwire purchase. Should the deal go through, the plan is to target underserved and rural customers, rather than competing with inner-city fiber-based services. Softbank may find itself beaten by the higher offer, but if Dish succeeds, the Japanese company would still hold around 5% of Sprint's shares.
Netflix intros a dedicated ISP speed index page to highlight streaming champions
Netflix has long been judging your ISP's streaming quality, but you've had to dig around blog posts and other less accessible pages to get the low-down on just which networks reign supreme. Its new, dedicated ISP Speed Index page is much more straightforward: stop by and you'll always have a quick glimpse of which internet providers are the most Netflix-friendly across key countries, with more detailed breakdowns for individual nations. Not that there's been an upheaval in the pecking order, at least if you're an American. Google Fiber was once again the clear US speed leader in February, while DSL and Clearwire's WiMAX trailed the pack. The site mostly provides a handy point of reference for ISP shopping, even if it suggests that a cross-country (or cross-planet) move might be in order.
FreedomPop's pseudo-free home WiMAX goes live
FreedomPop tempted users with the prospect of free home internet access -- free after buying the hardware, that is -- back in December. If you've been champing at the bit ever since, you'll be glad to know that the more stationary service is at last live. As promised, you'll get 1GB of free data per month after picking up the $89 Hub Burst modem and router combo. That allotment won't be useful for much more than emergency access on the desktop, but customers will have multiple avenues for raising the ceiling, whether it's agreeing to join in promotions or simply paying for more. A starting $10 per month subscription nets a more reasonable 10GB cap, and additional plans boost the peak speed from a pokey 1.5Mbps to 8Mbps at $19 per month. We'd think carefully about leaping in when FreedomPop hopes to switch to LTE this year, but the price is low enough that the early adopter tax will be low.
Clearwire borrows $80 million from Sprint but still flirts with Dish
Who knew that the greatest love triangle of the decade would involve the mobile industry's own Bella Swan, Clearwire? The network provider has accepted an $80 million loan from nailed-on suitor and sparkly vampire, Sprint, but Clear is still pondering a buyout offer from Jacob, sorry, Dish Network. The scuttlebutt around Forks the industry is that Dish will withdraw its bid after spurned by Clearwire one too many times -- but you never can tell with true love, or multi-billion business deals.
Sprint CEO eyes more spectrum deals after buying Clearwire
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse isn't so narrowly focused as to think that the proposed Clearwire acqusition represents the end of the road for spectrum. Far from it: he tells Bloomberg Businessweek that the company is investigating future airwave deals involving companies and government auctions. The Clearwire deal mostly bought time, according to Hesse. Naturally, these ambitions are partly contingent on both SoftBank's purchase of Sprint and the absence of any Dish-sized hurdles to the Clearwire pact. As long as the path stays clear, though, we wouldn't assume that Hesse's shopping spree is over.