Drew FitzGerald

Verizon Communications closed its $6.25 billion purchase of prepaid cellular-service provider TracFone Wireless, cementing its lead in a market split among three major mobile-phone networks. Verizon previously agreed to buy the company from América Móvil SAB of Mexico for a combination of cash and stock.

AT&T and Verizon agreed to delay their planned December 5 rollout of a new 5G frequency band so they can work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address concerns about potential interference with key cockpit safety systems. AT&T said it agreed to delay its planned 5G deployment until January 5 at the request of the US Transportation Department, which oversees the FAA. Verizon also agreed to postpone its launch of the new 5G wireless spectrum by about a month, people familiar with the matter said.

T-Mobile's third-quarter profits slipped as higher costs and a lull in new customer additions following a headline-grabbing hack sapped its bottom line. The company said it added 673,000 phone subscribers in the closely watched market for postpaid wireless service during Q3 2021. The tally lagged behind AT&T, which reported a net gain of 928,000 such subscribers over the same span.

Congress is poised to shield a $42 billion broadband grant program from federal transparency and privacy laws, hampering oversight of money expected to flow mostly to telecommunications companies. In a bid to cut through red tape and speed delivery of the broadband funds, the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and JOBS Act includes a provision that suspends certain rules the federal government ordinarily has to follow in administering programs.

T-Mobile said the attack that breached its computer network pulled Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 40 million current and prospective customers. The cellphone carrier said the stolen data included first and last names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and driver’s license information from a subset of current and potential customers.

Cellphone carriers have reported adding millions of new US wireless plans over the past year, making for the industry’s biggest gains in nearly a decade.

Lumen Technologies plans to sell a swath of its US telecommunications network to Apollo Global Management for $7.5 billion, including $1.4 billion of assumed debt. The investment giant will carve out some of Lumen’s so-called incumbent local exchange carrier assets, a collection of telephone and broadband infrastructure that covers 6 million residential and business customers across 20 states, mostly in the Midwest and Southeast. Lumen’s remaining operations will focus on large business clients, who generate most of its revenue, as well as home-broadband subscribers in 16 states including C

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill moving through the Senate this week stands to be a windfall for cable and fiber-optic internet companies, with $65 billion allocated to improve internet access for poor and isolated communities. The plan would help home internet providers by providing $40 billion in grants that states can dole out to operators that expand their networks to households that lack high-speed service. AT&T plans to self-fund its fiber-optic network expansion to cover millions of new locations in the coming years.

AT&T struck a deal to carry Dish Network’s existing cellphone customers over its wireless network, bringing two erstwhile rivals closer as they each pursue more advanced 5G technology. The nonexclusive deal would pay AT&T at least $5 billion over 10 years to support Dish’s consumer cellphone brands, which include Boost Mobile, Ting, and Republic Wireless. The agreement also provides an avenue for AT&T to use some Dish wireless spectrum licenses to support both companies’ customers.

The wave of spontaneous protests that rocked Cuba on July 11 was propelled by social media and the proliferation of mobile internet, which Cubans have only had for the past three years. The government responded by leaving the island virtually incommunicado for two days. To contain the spread of mass demonstrations, authorities cut internet service, along with the fixed phone lines of some activists in the island.