Leap Wireless filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection over the weekend in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, San Diego. The wireless carrier said Mon. that it and its principal operating subsidiary, Cricket Communications, were close to reaching an agreement on a plan to restructure outstanding debt. Leap said it had been involved in “active negotiations” with its creditor groups for a month. It said that during its voluntary reorganization in bankruptcy, it would continue daily operations and network service wouldn’t be interrupted. The operator said it didn’t plan to trim its work force, and suppliers would continue to be paid. Leap plans to have an agreement with creditors on a plan of reorganization in several that could differ from a preliminary draft plan filed with the court Mon. The company said it had been working with creditors to restructure its debt since Aug. “We currently have more than $100 million in cash and short-term investments at Cricket and, based on our current performance and our projections for the future, we believe that our restructured company will have adequate cash to operate the business while continuing to offer our service to customers without interruption and providing good opportunities for our employees,” Leap Chmn. Harvey White said. Leap said there would be “little or no value available for distribution” to its common shareholders.
Top U.S. govt. and private sector officials involved in planning for the World Radio Conference 2003 agree no one theme is driving this WRC, whose agenda is far-flung. WRC Ambassador Janice Obuchowski said at an FCBA seminar late Wed. that WRC-97 had 11 agenda items, compared with 20 in 2000 and 44 this year, when the conference runs June 9-July 4. She spoke in a panel discussion sponsored by FCBA’s wireless and international practice committees.
Telefonica Moviles, T-Mobile and Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) said they created an alliance that covered 162 million customers in Europe, the Americas and the Mediterranean Basin, strengthening their ability to compete in cross-border markets. The companies said they would cooperate in several areas, including the development of joint services in roaming, voice, data and mobile Internet, the rollout of joint multinational marketing offers and development of handsets. They said the benefits to customers would include simplified tariff schemes and the capacity to access the same service offering on a global scale as well as lower prices. The alliance will be open to other operators, the carriers said. They were in process of contacting authorities about the preliminary steps of the alliance.
Zenith will introduce limited-distribution line of CE gear under LG brand in 2nd half, marking first appearance of LG- labeled products in CE market since Goldstar goods were pulled 7 years ago.
The U.S. Dist. Court, Manhattan, denied a request for a preliminary injunction filed by EchoStar against TV Azteca, a producer of Spanish-language TV programming in Mexico, Azteca said. EchoStar sued Azteca in June, claiming the latter was breaching the exclusivity clause of its contract with the DBS provider by distributing portions of its local programming to U.S. affiliates whose programming was carried over cable and satellite TV services. The injunction, if granted, would have prevented Azteca from distributing its programming before or during trial. The trial now will proceed normally and could result in either a damage award payable to EchoStar or a permanent injunction against it, Azteca said, or a decision in EchoStar’s favor.
The MPAA and its allies agreed to important changes in what they called updates of state cable and telecom piracy laws (CD April 1 p8) but that critics label as harsher versions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The changes came in response to criticisms from a variety of quarters. They're incorporated in a new version of a model state law circulating for comments, on a Fri. deadline, among several consumer electronics and high-tech companies, ISPs, telcos and library associations.
MPAA and its allies agreed to important changes in what they called updates of state cable and telecom piracy laws (CED April 3 p1) but that critics label as harsher versions of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Less than 2 months after his company blamed disappointing 4th-quarter and fiscal-year results largely on its overreliance on titles for Nintendo’s game systems (CED Feb 21 p6), THQ CFO Fred Gysi told Banc of America investor conference in N.Y.C. Tues. that publisher was maintaining cautious take on GameCube console.
Consumer intentions on buying TV sets rose in March from Feb., despite 2nd decline in Consumer Confidence Index in as many months, according to preliminary data in Conference Board monthly survey. Of 5,000 households polled, 6.6% said they planned to buy TV set in next 6 months, vs. 6.1% in Feb., 6.3% in Jan., 6.3% in March 2002. Consumer Confidence Index fell to 62.5 from 64.8 in Feb., following sharp decline from Jan. Conference Board said “a quick and successful outcome” in Iraq war “would certainly ease some of the uncertainties facing consumers” and therefore could boost confidence. However, “it is the economic fundamentals that will determine whether a rebound in sustainable,” it said. End of 1991 Persian Gulf war sparked “surge” in confidence, “but labor market conditions quickly diminished the spark,” it said.
State regulators are eyeing wireless best practices as a potential way to avert the need for service quality regulation, at the same time as industry is drafting voluntary guidelines, officials said. Neb. PSC Comr. Anne Boyle told us she had circulated proposed best practices at last month’s National Assn. of Regulatory Utility Comrs. (NARUC) winter meeting for review. Boyle said the issue was teed up for an upcoming NARUC meeting in Denver, with hopes that industry, FCC and the National Assn. of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) would participate, she said. Meanwhile, the Mo. attorney general is in negotiations with Sprint PCS and Nextel on a lawsuit filed in Dec. over billing practices.