mocoNews.net

Virgin Mobile USA In Merger Talks With Helio; Other Options Still Being Considered

Rafat Ali — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:15:14 -0500

Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM), the MVNO which just reported its Q1 earnings earlier this week, is in talks with the much smaller and troubled MVNO Helio, we have learned, even as other PE and strategic players are still circling both the companies. Helio is now controlled by SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), after Earthlink (NSDQ: ELNK) stopped making further investments, and has been looking at options to either exit or grow. For VMUSA, as we have mentioned, some PE players have been looking at investing in the company or buying it outright, and even if the VMUSA-Helio deal comes through, the two could use some extra cash.

Under one scenario that has been discussed, SK Telecom would buy out VMUSA and do a cash infusion; then Virgin Mobile would buy Helio in an all-stock transaction. Both of the MVNOs run on the Sprint (NYSE: S) network, so at least both run on the same network. But the merger of two won't solve any problems of scale or distribution for either of them, but at least would give the bigger partner VMUSA a high powered post-paid plan, and better handsets and phone UI.

SKT, South Korea's largest mobile operator, has been looking to expand its operations in U.S. Cyworld USA, SKT's social networking subsidiary here, hasn't done as well as it expected, and we know Helio's troubles. Previous reports have also said that SKT was looking at buying the troubled operator SprintNextel, along with PE firm Providence Equity. Sprint rejected the $5 billion bid.

As for VMUSA, when we asked CEO Dan Schulman to comment on rumors, he told us this earlier in the week: "We don't comment on any rumors out there, but we have said that we believe that there are opportunities for us in terms of non-organic growth, such as another MVNO, or capability set that we might be able to avail ourselves of...Certainly there are a lot of opportunities that we see, and we think some of them are intriguing for us, but it's a matter of what makes the most sense."

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Registration Open For EconAds Seminar: June 3rd NYC; Confirmed Speakers

Rafat Ali — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:19:29 -0500

Ticket sales are now open for our upcoming EconAds seminar on June 3rd in NYC. As we have done with our previous seminars, this will be a smaller, more intimate experience. The in-progress program is here.
The seminar will focus on key sectors in the online advertising market. We will look broadly at the marketplace to see what disruptions lie ahead and where the investors are focused and where VC and M&A activity is heating up. The program is specifically targeted towards leading media, advertising and investment executives and is designed to promote knowledge sharing and encourage networking.

Confirmed Speakers

Doug Anmuth Analyst, Lehman Brothers
Samir Arora, Co-founder, Chairman & CEO, Glam Media
Lynda Clarizio, President, Platform-A, AOL
Peter C. Horan: CEO, IAC (NSDQ: IACI) Media and Advertising
Lance Maerov, SVP, Corporate Development, WPP
Dave Morgan, Founder, Tacoda
Nancy Peretsman, EVP, Managing Director, Allen & Co
Mike Walrath, SVP, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Advertiser Marketplace Group; Former CEO, Right Media

Sponsors: Platinum: IAC. Gold: Wall Street Journal Digital Network. For underwriting the event, e-mail our business side at advertising AT contentnext.com.

Thanks to Digital Hollywood for helping us co-locate our event there along with the bigger Advertising 2.0 conference on June 4th and 5th. This is part of the Internet Week.

Mobile Content Bits: Navteq Verizon Navigator; Chaka-Uta Full R Hits 200 Million;

Dianne See Morrison — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:53:27 -0500

— NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT) Powers Revamped VZ Navigator: Digital map provider NAVTEQ has signed a deal with Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), to use its NAVTEQ Traffic Mobile to power the network operator's new traffic application on its upgraded VZ Navigator service. Subscribers will be able to access NAVTEQ's live traffic data on their mobiles and get real time traffic information in more than 75 cities across the country. VZ Navigator costs $9.99 a month, or $2.99 for 24-hour access (release).

— 200 Million Full Track Downloads for Chaku-Uta Full R: Japanese full track mobile download service Chaku-Uta Full R has hit its 200 millionth download as of April 30, reports Billboard. The service, created by Label Mobile, a Tokyo-based mobile content provider, owned by Japan's top record labels, launched in 2004 and hit its 100 millionth download in May 2007. Label Mobile said that the 11 months that it took to add another 100 million downloads "shows that the Chaku-Uta Full R service is steadily increasing in popularity." The site boasts over 120,000 songs from over 50 record labels. Yesterday, WMG CEO Edgar Bronfman said in a conference, that the record label believed that the popularity of full track mobile downloads in Japan would be mimicked elsewhere around the world.

dotMobi Acquires Assets Of Shuttered Mowser Service

Joseph Weisenthal — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:54:58 -0500

dotMobi, the company behind the .mobi suffix, has acquired the assets of Mowser, the mobile rendering service that got more attention for closing down than for being open in the first place. In April, its founder Russell Beattie announced he was shuttering the service after about one year, noting that it had failed to get traction or raise VC money—he also used it to argue that the mobile web was dead, prompting a lot of debate for about a day. Deal terms were not disclosed, though it's safe to assume it wasn't for very much. dotMobi says it will integrate Mowser's technology into its mobile development tools. Release.

A post on a dotMobi blog by VP of Technology James Pearce (no relation to our James Quintana Pearce) notes that Beattie and his partner Mike Rowehl will be joining the company, making it an acq-hire: "At long last we can announce some great news! dotMobi is acquiring the well-known Mowser service that provides content adaptation services for mobile. We're very excited about this. Russell Beattie and Mike Rowehl are both very talented mobile gurus and they'll be joining the dotMobi team to help us do cool things with their technology. We did this deal because Mowser fits really well into lots of our current projects. Firstly, the Mowser directory, search and listings will be integrated straight into our newly launched find.mobi service. Secondly, the mobile formatting technology will help us provide more ways in which you can use DeviceAtlas for creating device-adapted content."

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FTC Warns It Will "Police" Mobile Content And Marketing

Dianne See Morrison — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:03:52 -0500

The FTC has warned mobile content providers and marketers that it intends to "police the wireless state," if they do not do a better job of making it clear to consumers how much they are paying for cellphone downloads and services, AdAge reports. Speaking at a two-day FTC "town hall" forum, commissioner Jonathan Leibowitz said that the FTC would take action against "deceptive or unfair content offers." The regulator was particularly concerned with messaging, games and video services aimed at children and teens as kids were "quick to click first and ask questions later." He added, "A mobile phone that gives them easy access to content and purchasing power makes them easy prey for aggressive marketers."

The FTC's warning comes just days after consumer advocacy groups The Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Group filed complaints with the Commission asking regulators to actively curb the use of behavioral targeting by requiring users' specific consent before their personal information and mobile web activity is recorded for ad profiling. The groups were also uneasy with how mobile devices could track a person's physical movements, and their appeal with children and teens.

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Cablevision To Build Wireless Broadband Network

Dianne See Morrison — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:02:30 -0500

Just days after Sprint (NYSE: S) and Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) announced their WiMax deal, cable TV provider Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) said on Thursday in a conference call to discuss its Q1 earnings that it will spend $350 million to build a wireless broadband network, that would ultimately provide mobile voice services, reports Reuters. The new network will be rolled out in the next two years, and will be accessible by WiFi-enabled devices including laptops and iPhones.

The service will be free to the company's existing internet customers and available for a fee for non-customers. It will use Cablevision's existing network, which will be upgraded at the cost of about $100 per subscriber. The company currently has 3.1 million customers in the New York area. COO Tom Rutledge said the service would help enhance Cablevision's service, and "cement" its relationship with customers for the "long haul." Cable companies are eager to offer wireless internet access, as mobile operators increasingly encroach on their traditional patch with high speed internet products.

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Social Mobile Bits: ShoZu Adds Services; Nimbuzz Launch; More Mobile Users Accessing Social Nets

Robert Andrews — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:03:20 -0500

-- ShoZu: Mobile media and info sharing service ShoZu says it has added eight new destinations, taking its roster up to 36. Users can now upload to Photobucket, Twitter, Dailymotion, Friendster, Twitpic, Cellfish, Seesmic and web storage site Ipernity. ShoZu is currently my default mobile sharing gateway because Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) Share Online seems to have an unfixed bug with Flickr.

-- Nimbuzz: Another mobile app claiming to to connect to all manner of web services, and then some, Nimbuzz gets its full launch on May 13 after operating a "light version" of the app since its debut in '07. Nimbuzz's angle is IM and VoIP - working with Skype, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Talk, AIM, Windows Live, Jabber, MySpace and Facebook - but it goes as far as offering a kind of nascent online media gallery. Europe-based Nimbuzz has $10 million from investors including Mangrove.

-- More Users Accessing Social Nets Via Mobile: Nielsen Mobile, a division of the Nielsen Company, reports that online social network are proving popular with mobile phone users. In a newly released study, the research firm found that UK and US mobile users were turning to their mobile to reach social nets such as MySpace and Facebook more than any other users in the world. In the UK, 812,000 mobile users were accessing social nets on their phones each month, which equated to 1.7 percent of all mobile users. In the US, the number of mobile users using their phones to access these these sites was 4,079,000 million, or 1.6 percent of the total cellphone user population (release).

ITV Fined $11.14 Million For Phone-In Scandal

James Quintana Pearce — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:39:27 -0500

A week ago there was the rumor that British broadcaster ITV (LSE: ITV) could be fined a record $7.8 million (4 million pounds) for its part in the premium phone line scandal which rocked Britain last year. It turns out that was conservative—regulator Ofcom has fined it 5.7 million pounds (US$11.4 million), almost triple the previous highest fine, 2 million pounds given to producer GMTV last year reports C21 Media. The high fine is due to the seriousness and the repeated nature of the faults, and takes into account the 7.8 million pounds ITV has already pledged to return to viewers and charity—so what was the original amount?

Philip Graf, chairman of Ofcom's content sanctions committee, said: "ITV programme makers totally disregarded their own published terms and conditions and Ofcom codes. Further, there was a completely inadequate compliance system in place. The result was that millions of paying entrants were misled into believing they could fairly interact with some of ITV's most popular programmes." The fine was split amongst a range of ITVs subsidiaries. ITV executive chairman Michael Grade accepted Ofcom's fine today, saying it was "an appropriate moment to restate ITV's unreserved apology to the public for breaches that took place between 2003 and January 2007." Ofcom is still investigating issues…

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RealNetworks To Spin Off Its Game Business; Considering IPO

Tricia Duryee — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:39:35 -0500

Rafat is reporting over on our sister site PaidContent.org that RealNetworks (NSDQ: RNWK) says it will spin-off its global casual games business into an independent company by the end of the year. The company is looking at two scenarios: distributing shares of the new company to shareholders, or complete an IPO and sell up to 20 percent of the new company's shares. Rafat's writes: "RealNetworks is finally doing the rationalization of its business lines."

Real's rationale for the spin-off: It results in two "more flexible and focused companies. In addition, the separation will provide the games business with an industry-specific currency for future acquisitions and enhance its ability to attract and retain the best talent in the industry." Also, it will result in lower complexity in understanding and tracking RealNetworks' performance, the company said.

Game revenues: In Q108, RealNetworks' games business revenue rose 33 percent to $31.8 million compared to last year. For 2007, game revenue was $108.5 million, up 26 percent over 2006.

What's left: If it gets rid of games and since it has already signed an JV with MTV for its music business, you might ask what's left? The other two divisions are Media Software and Services and technology products and services. Technology products and services is the company's largest group in terms of revenues by far, and comprises of its mobile infrastructure business, which it acquired through WiderThan. Revenues for this business increased 15 percent in Q1 to $51.3 million, compared to a year ago.

Mobile games: It would be interesting to know how much of Real's game business is from mobile. Many insiders recently have called the mobile game business model broken because too few revenues are being split between too many companies. Because of this, several companies are trying to create scale through mergers and acquisitions. Looks like this could also be a plan for Real—the difference being it may have the resources and currency to conduct a roll-up.

More on here. and on earnings here. Release.

WMG Mobile Music Revenues Down 17.6 Percent

Dianne See Morrison — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:40:09 -0500

Mobile music remains a challenging business for Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG), which reported today in its second quarter earnings ending March 31 that mobile remains "soft" as ringtone sales fell year over year in the US, and was flat sequentially internationally. The news was a repeat from Q1 earnings where WMG reported then that US ringtones had slipped, while international ringtone sales had plateaued. Ringback tones and full track mobile downloads failed to make up for the loss, or as WMG reported they "remain too small as yet to meaningfully impact mobile results." The company reported digital revenues for recorded music of $155 million; 30 percent came from mobile, or $46.5 million. This is a fall of $9.9 million from Q1 where mobile revenues were $56.4 million, or a massive 17.6 percent drop.

Other Mobile Highlights From WMG's Conference Call:

—Looking to Japan's Mobile Music Success: WMG CEO Edgar Bronfman said, however, that while ringtones sales remained under pressure in the US and Europe, WMG believes mobile music will be a success, especially when they looked to Japan's mobile music business. Japan's digital music business is almost entirely driven by mobile, thanks to speedier networks, advanced handsets, superior user interfaces, flat rate data plans, and more complete catalog offerings. In Japan, full track downloads rose 91 percent over the previous year and accounted for one-half of overall mobile music revenues. Though full track mobile downloads were currently extremely small at WMG, Bronfman said it was "growing rapidly," including in the US.

— WMG's Mobile Experiment With Madonna: Bronfman reported on WMG's recent mobile deals with Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Samsung, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) on the launch of Madonna's recently release Hard Candy album. Vodafone released a song a day before the launch of the album, resulting in her single Four Minutes becoming the operator's best selling track ever.

— Tethered Content Deal with Danish Telco TVC: Bronfman cited TVC's unlimited tethered music service as "groundbreaking," saying that this type of service was not just attractive to subscribers, but represented a "significant opportunity for us to monetize consumer behavior across cast networks." He added they planned to pursue more of these types of mobile content models around the world.

— Mobile Represents Largest Opportunity: Bronfman said that mobile remained the industry's "largest opportunity"—especially considering the "vast number of consumers" who have access to mobiles.

Read more on WMG's Second Quarter Earnings at paidContent.org | Webcast Transcript Via Seeking Alpha

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iPhone Gets More Video, But Not From Apple

James Quintana Pearce — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:40:21 -0500

A couple of new services are sending video to the iPhone, which has been hampered by a narrow choice of supported video formats (Flash being the most noticed). NBC is streaming episodes of 30 Rock and The Office to the iPhone over the WiFi network reports NYT quoting Silicon Alley Insider. Orb has also launched a native client for the iPhone and iPod Touch, letting users stream video from their PC reports The Register. Orbs client works over the 2.75G Edge network.

The important thing is that these methods bypass Apple's (NSDQ: AAPL) store, which was pointed out by J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal: "One other benefit of streaming is that it can reach users of a device like the iPhone without having to cut deals with the phone's maker. Web video, he said, "is only using the hardware as an access point to the content." The same goes for the data channel.

Clearwire's Stock Falls Today After Downgrade; Joint-Venture Faces Huge Hurdles

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:57:05 -0500

Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) shares are tumbling today, following yesterday's announcement that it has formed a joint venture with Sprint (NYSE: S) and has received a cash infusion of $3.2 billion. The slide is being blamed on a Citi Investment Research report that downgraded Clearwire to "sell" from "hold," explaining that the shares are trading above fair value, AP reports. In afternoon trading, Clearwire was down $1.72 a share to trade at $14.50. Analyst Michael Rollins wrote in a note to investors that challenges remain for the combined business, ranging from a coverage plan that reaches less than half of the U.S. population by 2010 to an underfunded business plan and competition. Rollins said a fair value is $13. The combined WiMax operations of both companies are expected to trade under "CLWR" and shares are expected to be valued at $20 based on a $14.55 billion valuation. Sprint is also trading down, falling 18 cents to trade at $8.98. Both companies will report Q1 earnings on Monday.

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Best Buy Pays $2.1 Billion For Half Of Britain's Carphone Warehouse

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:10:55 -0500

U.S. electronics store Best Buy said today that it is paying $2.1 billion for half of Carphone Warehouse in order to enter the European consumer electronics market, Reuters reports. Carphone's 2,400 existing stores will continue to operate under the Carphone Warehouse and Phone House brands in nine European markets, and starting in 2009 the new company will roll out larger stores under the Best Buy name. Previously, Best Buy teamed up with Carphone Warehouse to create Best Buy Mobile in the U.S. The concept will be added to all Best Buy stores this year. The two companies also have been collaborating to bring Geek Squad technical support to European markets. Best Buy said the consumer electronics category is the fastest-growing in European retail over the past five years and represents about a £89 billion ($175 billion) market. The two companies expect growth to be led by the convergence in entertainment, computing and communications. Release.

Microsoft Enters Low-End Handset Business To Target Undeveloped Countries

Tricia Duryee — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:15:32 -0500

For some time, handset manufacturers, such as Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) have been targeting developing countries to increase their global marketshare. Now Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is entering the fray, but it seems for different reasons—to spread information-technology, similarly to how ultra-low-cost laptops are a goal, IDG reports. The phone is based on a prototype called Fone+, and is part of Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie's job, as head of the Unlimited Potential Group. The group had been focused on cheap laptops, but IDG reports that it now appears to be shifting focus towards Windows Mobile handsets. It's been said that for many people around the world, their first experience of the Internet will be on a mobile phone, rather than a computer. After testing prototypes, Mundie says such devices do seem to lower the cost of computing for the poor. No word on when these prototypes would hit the market.

Nokia Says 'Less A Manufacturer, More An Internet Company'; Plans Share Buy-Back

Robert Andrews — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:54:15 -0500

Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) transformation in to an internet service operator continues apace, with CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo telling its annual shareholders meeting in Helsinki today (via release): "Our goal is to act less like a traditional manufacturer, and more like an internet company. Companies such as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) are not our traditional competitors, but they are major forces that must be reckoned with. Make no mistake: We are taking on these challenges seriously and aggressively.

Kallasvuo said Nokia's restructure in to two segments (Devices & Services and Nokia Siemens Networks) helped it "focus more attention on developing new businesses around internet services" and will accelerate product and service releases. The potential inside the Navteq acquisition (still pending EC approval) is "huge", leading also to pedestrian navigation and targeted advertising - location-based services being "the next big thing".

Handsets are clearly plateauing - Kallasvuo added he expects 70 percent of 2008 sales to be replacements. Nokia Siemens Networks is on track to save two billion euros through cost savings but still has "tough work" ahead. In response to collapsing US market share: "I ask for some more patience from the shareholders. There is quite a lot better to be seen ahead" (via Reuters).

Those shareholders resolved to up board member and Pearson (NYSE: PSO) CEO Marjorie Scardino to vice chair of the board. They'll get a dividend of 0.53 euros per share. But Nokia resolved to buy back 370 million shares using up to four billion euros by March 31, 2009. Announcement.

EC Launches Consultation, Mulls Data Roaming And SMS Price Caps

Dianne See Morrison — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:36:34 -0500

The European Commission launched a public consultation on Wednesday asking for feedback on its roaming regulations, adopted in June of last year. Reuters reports, that among other issues, the EC is trying to determine whether or not to cap the cost of mobile broadband while abroad, and on SMS prices. EU telecoms boss Viviane Reding angered networks when she set a June deadline for them to reduce the cost of texting abroad, as well as data roaming. It's alsto trying to determine if price caps put in place last year on mobile roaming while abroad should be extended beyond June 2010, when they are set to expire. As the consultation paper noted, "The fact that most operators appear to have set Eurotariffs at the maximum levels allowed under the regulation shows that there is not much competition below the levels of the cap." (Release)

America Movil Secures iPhone Deal; Unlocked iPhones Continue To Dog Apple And Partners

Dianne See Morrison — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:42:00 -0500

The Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone deals are coming in thick and fast. Days after Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) announced a 10-country deal to carry the iPhone, and Telecom Italia said it too would sell the device in Italy, comes news that Mexico telecoms firm America Movil will bring the device to its Latin American operations later this year, which includes over a dozen countries. Again, like the Vodafone deal, no mention if this is exclusive or not. Bloomberg reports, however, that Apple's latest agreement won't have a significant impact on iPhone sales. According to Yankee Group analyst Willy Swain most people in the region who can afford the device already have one—that is an unlocked one.

Meanwhile, more evidence that the grey market for unlocked iPhones is hurting not just Apple's revenues, but its partners. Reuters reports that communications software maker Synchronoss Technologies has blamed lower-than-expected results and a weak current quarter forecast on the increasing number of unlocked iPhones. The San Francisco based company gets paid to activate the cell phone on AT&T's network, meaning it does not get a penny if the cell phone is unlocked and set up on another carrier. On a conference call to discuss the company's results, Synchronoss CEO Stephen Waldis warned, "The gap between the number of iPhones expected to be sold and the actual number that we are activating continues to be significant, and we expect this trend to continue." He also added that the firm expected that their related transaction revenue from the iPhone would decline by "approximately $30 million in 2008 compared to 2007." Apple itself called the number of unlocked iPhones "significant," when it reported last quarter results in mid April. Like Synchronoss, Apple loses out when the device is unlocked—forgoing the revenue share that exclusive partner carriers fork out to it.

America Movil Release

Earnings: Deutsche Telekom First Quarter Stable; T-Mobile Hit By Currency Declines

Dianne See Morrison — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:43:00 -0500

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) reported stable first-quarter results with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 4.7 billion euros ($7.28 billion), virtually unchanged from the same period a year ago. Net revenue was down slightly by 3.1 percent to 15 billion euros, hit by the customers leaving their broadband and fixed line businesses, and the appreciation of the euro against the US dollar and pound sterling. Still, the results were in line with analyst expectations, and the company said it expects to hit its forecast for 2008 of an adjusted EBITDA of approximately EUR 19.3 billion and free cash flow of some EUR 6.6 billion.

Highlights From the Earnings:

-- DT's mobile unit, T-Mobile scooped up 13.9 million customers in the quarter, with 3.4 million of them coming from its acquisition of Orange Nederland and the US network SunCom. Its total worldwide subscriber base stands at 123 million.

-- In Germany, T-Mobile Deutschland reported a 3.4 percent decline in revenue to 1.9 billion euros, and adjusted EBITDA fell 1.1 percent to 692 million euros. DT, which reported its subscriber base in Germany was up 12.3 percent to 37.1 million blamed the falling revenue on "fierce price wars." But new calling plans—including MyFaves and Max have begun generating "strong demand," while DT said new flat rate data plans for both cell phones and mobile broadband and its cooperation with Yahoo! (NSDQ: YHOO), which powers the search on its wen'n'walk portal has improved its "competitiveness" in the mobile web.

-- T-Mobile USA saw revenues hurt by the declining dollar. Revenue dipped slightly year-on-year by 0.2 percent to 3.5 billion euros, while adjusted EBITDA rose 3.3 percent to EUR 966 million. When measured in US dollars, however, revenue increased by 14.1 percent, and adjusted EBITDA was up 18 percent. DT attributed the growth to stable ARPU rates and "strong" customer growth.

-- T-Mobile USA amassed 981,000 net additions in the first three months, three quarters of which were post-pay customers. Another 1.1 million subscribers were added when its purchase of SunCom was consolidated on February 22. T-Mobile USA currently has a total of 30.8 million subscribers. The calling plan MyFaves was doing especially well in the US, with 5.5 million customers at the end of the quarter. SMS and MMS usage was also up from the same quarter last year, with 33 billion messages sent in Q1 2008

-- In the UK, T-Mobile revenues were similarly affected by the falling pound. EBITDA for the first quarter of 2008 increased year-on-year by 2.7 percent to EUR 230 million; the gain was 16.0 percent when measured in sterling.

Release | Earnings Report in PDF| DT CEO Rene Obermann Speech

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EconAds: Registration Opening Tomorrow Night; NYC Mixer At IAC Building

Rafat Ali — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:47:42 -0500

We are about ready to open registration for our EconAds seminar to be held on June 3 in NYC...the ticket sales for the half-day seminar will start this Friday. As we have done with our previous seminars, this will be a smaller, more intimate experience. The in-progress program is here.
The seminar will focus on key sectors in the online advertising market. The topics include:
-- Ad Networks & Beyond
-- Agency 2.0
-- Social Media Advertising
-- Search Advertising

Thanks to Digital Hollywood for helping us co-locate our event there along with the bigger Advertising 2.0 conference on June 4th and 5th. This is part of the Internet Week, produced by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the City of New York. For underwriting these events, e-mail our business side at advertising AT contentnext.com.

Also, the next day on June 4th evening, we'll do our trademark ContentNext NYC mixer at the IAC (NSDQ: IACI) building. We've done three of these before in NYC over the last two years, and another one has been due for a while now. As you well know, these mixers fill up very quickly, so keep an eye out for separate registration for it.

Sprint-Clearwire: Our Coverage In Links

Amanda Natividad — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:59:20 -0500

A lot going on today since Sprint (NYSE: S) Nextel and Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) confirmed their agreement to combine their WiMax wireless broadband business to form a new company as well as its $3.2 billion funding from Intel (NSDQ: INTC), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) Cable, Bright House Networks and trilogy Equity Partners. Some choice passages in links, including interviews with Sprint's Atish Gude, Clearwire's Ben Wolff and Comcast's Tom Nagel and coverage of Dan Hesse's conference call.

-- Sprint-Clearwire: Sprint's SVP Atish Gude: "We Know We Are The Pioneers" Of The Mobile Internet
-- Sprint-Clearwire: Interview: Ben Wolff, CEO, Clearwire: Deal Is "Locked And Loaded"
-- Sprint-Clearwire: Comcast's Tom Nagel: 'Full Control' Is 'Significantly Different From Pivot'
-- Sprint-Clearwire: Google's Role Too Big? Pay-For-Access Deal Raises Net Neutrality-Like Concerns
-- Sprint-Clearwire: Hesse: Spectrum Combo Puts New WiMax JV Two Years Ahead Of Competition
-- Sprint-Clearwire: Analysts React: Sorting Out The Winner And Losers
-- Sprint-Clearwire: Competitive Advantage—If All the Cooks Can Work Together
-- BREAKING: Massive WiMax Deal Closes, Merging Clearwire And Sprint With Outside Funding

The rest can be found at our Sprint Nextel channel.