Western Wireless buys HickoryTech’s wireless business

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15162

Yet another step in the right direction to cleanup some of the mess in
this state. Now if we could get Great West and CMS to realize the same
thing, that they can't make money, we would be in pretty good shape for
the future.

D

[posted via phonescoop.com]

"D - Z" <spammail@aol.com> wrote in message
news:vmmhd9iltpse91@corp.supernews.com...
> http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15162
>
> Yet another step in the right direction to cleanup some of the mess in
> this state. Now if we could get Great West and CMS to realize the same
> thing, that they can't make money, we would be in pretty good shape for
> the future.
>
> D
>
> [posted via phonescoop.com]

I sometimes wonder if Western Wireless, given the way they buy and buy and
buy and sell and sell and sell all these smaller cellular operations, is
really just doing business the way people play Monopoly.

"Hopper" <crapfromusenet@meetmyattorney.com> wrote in article
<2LHab.521366$o%2.227907@sccrnsc02>:

>

> I sometimes wonder if Western Wireless, given the way they buy and buy and

> buy and sell and sell and sell all these smaller cellular operations, is

> really just doing business the way people play Monopoly.

>

>



It is interesting that WWC held a million shares in HickoryTech stock.
Makes you wonder if maybe they helped HickoryTech somewhere along the
line and in return received the stock, or maybe even had a deal to
takeover the licenses after a certain date?



...but, I'm pretty sure it was just that this little company kept
hemming and hawing about what to do, and they were loosing money every
day they didn't make a decision.



They even mention in the webcast that they would've had to switch to
CDMA or GSM at a cost of $10-$15 million. At this point in the wireless
industry, there's no way they could keep up.



Hopefully we'll see a couple more of these stories in the near future,
particularly St. Cloud, MN and NE WI.



D

[posted via phonescoop.com]

C-1/WW hasn't made that many transactions since they sold Voicestream to
the Germans. Anything after that has been small potatoes. It might be
that Hickory may have come to WW with hat in hand and said, "we're not
having any fun with this anymore, ya wanna buy it?"

I hate to see any consolidation, but it would be nice to see one of the
mid-size companies, like WW, stay alive, and this should help them.

-Bill Radio

Western U.S. Wireless Reviews & Ratings:
http://www.MountainWireless.com


"Hopper" <crapfromusenet@meetmyattorney.com> wrote in article
<2LHab.521366$o%2.227907@sccrnsc02>:
>
>
> I sometimes wonder if Western Wireless, given the way they buy and buy and
> buy and sell and sell and sell all these smaller cellular operations, is
> really just doing business the way people play Monopoly.
>
>

[posted via phonescoop.com]

"Bill Radio" <Bill@MountainWirelessNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:vmmjveaescmp24@corp.supernews.com...
> C-1/WW hasn't made that many transactions since they sold Voicestream to
> the Germans. Anything after that has been small potatoes. It might be
> that Hickory may have come to WW with hat in hand and said, "we're not
> having any fun with this anymore, ya wanna buy it?"
>
> I hate to see any consolidation, but it would be nice to see one of the
> mid-size companies, like WW, stay alive, and this should help them.
>

Here's some interesting tidbits:
Hickory Tech works with AT&T to provide roaming services.
Western Wireless provides AT&T roaming services.
Midwest Wireless, with a larger service area, overlaps Hickory Tech's
service area. Midwest Wireless has added CDMA 1xRTT service to their TDMA
service. BREW is part of their service offerings as well.
Midwest Wireless and Verizon Wireless have a roaming agreement.
The MWW service area overlaps the WW service area in SW Minnesota.

I'm not sure what that means, however.

"Bill Radio" <Bill@MountainWirelessNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:vmmjveaescmp24@corp.supernews.com...
> C-1/WW hasn't made that many transactions since they sold Voicestream to
> the Germans. Anything after that has been small potatoes. It might be
> that Hickory may have come to WW with hat in hand and said, "we're not
> having any fun with this anymore, ya wanna buy it?"
>
> I hate to see any consolidation, but it would be nice to see one of the
> mid-size companies, like WW, stay alive, and this should help them.

One thing I forgot to add: you're absolutely spot on with the consolidation
comments. In its core market, I think Cellular One has done a fantastic job
when it comes to providing the appropriate service paradigm. They know the
rural market better than Verizon, the other major competitor in the Dakotas.
They've been quicker to respond to technological changes than Verizon. I
don't know that the people in Gettysburg, SD, population 1,300, really
needed 1xRTT digital as much as they needed seamless coverage on the highway
to the state capitol some 90 miles away.

It seems like the larger a corporation gets, the more it thinks "Well, if
everything operates in the exact same fashion, it *must* be better."

For the sake of WW, I hope they have enough sense to include their new
acquisition as part of the SD home area. Here's what one person wrote to me
after reading some comments I'd written about Western Wireless in Minnesota:

"Cellular One offers great coverage in ND with most areas in your calling
region. But living in Minnesota on the edge of Cell One's region makes it a
terrible plan for us. I can drive nearly to Montana and still be in my
calling area but to drive 30 miles west of my home I am roaming."

Hopper

"D - Z" <spammail@aol.com> wrote in message
news:vmmhd9iltpse91@corp.supernews.com...
> http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15162
>
> Yet another step in the right direction to cleanup some of the mess in
> this state. Now if we could get Great West and CMS to realize the same
> thing, that they can't make money, we would be in pretty good shape for
> the future.
>
> D
>
> [posted via phonescoop.com]

Here's something I found in the MPLS CityBusiness from Aug. 25, 2000:

---
Western Wireless recently revealed in regulatory filings that it had
acquired 6.78 percent of HickoryTech's outstanding common stock at a cost of
$13.8 million and said that, while it has no present plans to tender an
offer, that may change in the future.

Robert Alton, president and CEO of HickoryTech, said he has spoken to
Western Wireless leaders several times and "they would like very much to
acquire us."

But, Alton said, "We just believe, given the path we're on, that we can do
better for our shareholders if we stay the course."
---

Hopper

"Hopper" <crapfromusenet@meetmyattorney.com> wrote in article
<SXIab.524555$uu5.86948@sccrnsc04>:
> Here's something I found in the MPLS CityBusiness from Aug. 25, 2000:
>
> ---
> Western Wireless recently revealed in regulatory filings that it had
> acquired 6.78 percent of HickoryTech's outstanding common stock at a cost of
> $13.8 million and said that, while it has no present plans to tender an
> offer, that may change in the future.
>
> Robert Alton, president and CEO of HickoryTech, said he has spoken to
> Western Wireless leaders several times and "they would like very much to
> acquire us."
>
> But, Alton said, "We just believe, given the path we're on, that we can do
> better for our shareholders if we stay the course."
> ---
>
> Hopper
>
>

I guess this means the "course" changed. I would've thought they
could've gotten more money by selling out much sooner.

It looks like WWC alone, lost at least $1 million of value on the stock
they held.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....lar&id=450217&

D

[posted via phonescoop.com]

On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 01:27:38 -0500, News Reader
<newsreader@spam.me.plz.cuz.i.hate.that.com> wrote:

>I would have also thought that Cingular would be more interested in MSP
>area. They have much more capital to work with than does WW.

I agree that Cingular buying WW doesn't make sense, as it still leaves
Cingular with nothing in most major cities in the "Qwest states",
where Cingular is woefully short on native coverage.

-SC
--
Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/
....
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might
be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune