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Here comes China: Huawei inks deal with MetroPCS, too
In case the FCC filing with the big honkin' MetroPCS logo across the front of the phone back in June wasn't enough of a clue, Huawei has now made their handset deal with the carrier official. Huawei claims that the M318 was designed specifically with MetroPCS customers in mind, a fairly pedestrian, faux-metal piece with a 1.5 inch display, speakerphone, BREW support, and 5MB of onboard memory. Huawei's announcement to provide MetroPCS with equipment comes a few days after crosstown competitor ZTE's, but these guys are going to end up beating ZTE to the punch anyway -- the M318 is available immediately, whereas ZTE's yet-to-be-named phone won't rock shelves until next month.[Via RCR]
Samsung's simple r410 QWERTY phone now available from MetroPCS
We've been monitoring MetroPCS' pages for a while now waiting for this thing to become available to purchase, and finally, here it is. The r410 candybar from Samsung features a VGA camera (MetroPCS calls it "high-resolution," pshaw), Bluetooth, and a slide-out QWERTY keypad for ridiculously easy messaging with a no-nonsense design. In fact, the fanciest thing about this phone seems to be the fact that it's available in both black and red. Grab it now for $199 before rebates.
MetroPCS' bid for Leap Wireless officially bites the dust
It really doesn't come as a surprise following Leap's less-than-enthusiastic response, but yeah, it's official: MetroPCS' offer is no more. The statement MetroPCS issued regarding the whole ordeal is actually kinda sad, revealing that the company "has not been able to engage Leap in meaningful negotiations" -- in other words, it got the cold shoulder. "Talk to the hand," if you will. For its part, though, Metro insists it's still in great shape, touting its recent Los Angeles launch with several more markets in store for '08 and '09. Still has to smart a little, though.
Leap says "no thanks" to MetroPCS buyout offer
Ooh, in your face, MetroPCS! Leap Wireless has rejected a multi-billion dollar stock swap proposed by its fellow regional carrier a couple weeks ago, citing... well, to be brief, a bum deal. MetroPCS was looking to trade each share of Leap for 2.75 shares of its own stock, a formula that actually values Leap at about $4.7 billion -- significantly below the $5.3 billion pegged the day merger discussions kicked off. Leap CEO Doug Hutcheson officially responded to the offer today, bluntly stating that it "dramatically undervalues" his company while citing Leap's strong growth, its prospects for future buildouts, and MetroPCS' infrastructure troubles in New York and Los Angeles as reasons why his shareholders deserve more bang for their buck. That being said, Hutcheson left room for further discussions; an eventual deal makes sense, considering that the two carriers' combined footprint would approximate that of a national carrier. Can MetroPCS pony up the requisite cash to be taken seriously here?
MetroPCS makes $5.3B bid for Leap
Are we about to have another national carrier on our hands? MetroPCS has put together a $5.3 billion stock swap offer for Leap Wireless -- perhaps better known for its Cricket brand -- potentially pairing two regionals to create the nation's fifth-largest carrier, displacing Alltel in the process and combining regional licenses to create a rather generous coverage footprint. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that Leap's cool with the plan; at this point, all we know is that MetroPCS sent a nice little letter to Leap's board of directors. If everything goes according to plan, though, and the appropriate regulatory bodies approve, expect the two to close on the deal in spring of next year.
