Western Wireless Corporation
Encyclopedia
Western Wireless Corporation was a cellular network
operator that provided mobile
telecommunication
s service to subscribers in 19 western states and seven countries. Western Wireless marketed analog cellular service under the CELLULAR ONE
brand in 88 FCC
-defined rural service areas and digital PCS
service under the VoiceStream brand in 19 FCC-defined metropolitan service areas. At its peak in 2004, Western Wireless provided service to 1.4 million domestic subscribers. Western Wireless obtained additional revenue from the international operations of its Western Wireless International Corporation subsidiary, which was licensed to provide wireless communications services in seven countries to a total of 1.8 million subscribers.
Western Wireless traces its roots to Stanton Communications, founded in 1988 by John W. Stanton
and Theresa Gillespie. Western Wireless was formed in 1994 by the merger of two other Stanton controlled entities, Pacific Northwest Cellular and General Cellular Corporation. Western Wireless became a publicly traded company in 1996. Western Wireless spun off its VoiceStream Wireless subsidiary in 1999, which was later purchased by Deutsche Telekom AG
in 2001. Deutsche Telekom renamed VoiceStream Wireless to T-Mobile USA, Inc. in 2002.
Western Wireless merged with Alltel Corporation
in August 2005. After the merger, Alltel sold Western Wireless' international assets.
areas under the Cellular One brand, but expanded into urban areas by acquiring PCS spectrum licenses, building out digital networks and providing services under the VoiceStream brand.
Western Wireless traces its roots to Stanton Communications, founded by John W. Stanton
and Theresa Gillespie in 1988. Stanton Communications invested in communications related businesses, including cellular, paging, telephone answering, alarm system monitoring, voice mail, radio broadcasting and private cable television. Stanton Communications invested in private cable television in the Soviet Union and cellular communications service in Hong Kong.
Stanton was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Northwest Cellular, established in 1992. The company grew to become the United States' eighth-largest independent cellular company.
Stanton was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for General Cellular Corporation in 1992, when Stanton Communications and investment firm Hellman and Friedman acquired a controlling interest in the company.
Stanton and Hellman and Friedman created Western Wireless Corporation in August, 1994 by merging Pacific Northwest Cellular and General Cellular Corporation. The merged entity took the name Western Wireless Corporation and through the merger created what the company called the "largest rural cellular-service provider in the United States." At the time of the merger, the company offered service in 16 western and mid-western states with service areas covering 5.2 million potential customers.
Western Wireless became a publicly traded company in May 1996, offering 12.65 million shares traded on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker symbol WWCA. Combined with a separate public bond offering, the company raised US$430 million in net proceeds.
On May 3, 1999, Western Wireless spun off
its VoiceStream Wireless division to Western Wireless shareholders, creating an independent, publicly-traded Delaware corporation called VoiceStream Wireless Corporation. Shares of VoiceStream Wireless traded on the NASDAQ
under the stock ticker symbol VSTR. The spin off was intended to remove any conglomerate discount, get better value recognition for each of Western Wireless' core analog cellular and digital PCS networks and help each business pursue independent strategies. VoiceStream was purchased by Deusche Telekom in 2001 for US$30 billion and re-named T-Mobile USA
in 2002.
On January 9, 2005 Western Wireless entered into a merger agreement with Little Rock, Arkansas
-based telecommunications provider Alltel
in which Alltel agreed to pay $6 billion in stock
-and-cash
to Western Wireless shareholders. Western Wireless shareholders voted on July 29, 2005, eleven years to the day after Western Wirless was incorporated, to accept a US$4.4 billion stock-and-cash offer from Alltel. The merger closed on August 1, 2005. At the time, the merger created the fifth largest wireless communications provider in the United States with 10 million customers in 33 states.
(Tele.Ring), Ireland
(Meteor Mobile Communications
), Slovenia
(Vega), Haiti
(ComCel), Bolivia
(NuevaTel PCS), Iceland
(TAL), Croatia
(vipnet), Georgia
, Ghana
and Cote d'Ivoire
covering about 1.8 million subscribers in 2005.
After Alltel
acquired Western Wireless, non-core international assets were sold. Alltel sold Meteor to Irish telecoms incumbent, eircom
and sold Tele.Ring to T-Mobile Austria
. In Slovenia, the assets of Vega were split between the two main network operators.
Cellular network
A cellular network is a radio network distributed over land areas called cells, each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver known as a cell site or base station. When joined together these cells provide radio coverage over a wide geographic area...
operator that provided mobile
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s service to subscribers in 19 western states and seven countries. Western Wireless marketed analog cellular service under the CELLULAR ONE
Cellular One
Cellular One is the trademarked brand name used by several cellular service providers in the United States and Bermuda. The brand was sold to Trilogy Partners by AT&T in 2008 shortly after AT&T had completed its acquisition of Dobson Communications...
brand in 88 FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
-defined rural service areas and digital PCS
Personal Communications Service
At the most basic level Personal Communications Service or PCS describes a set of wireless communications capabilities that allows some combination of terminal mobility, personal mobility, and service profile management...
service under the VoiceStream brand in 19 FCC-defined metropolitan service areas. At its peak in 2004, Western Wireless provided service to 1.4 million domestic subscribers. Western Wireless obtained additional revenue from the international operations of its Western Wireless International Corporation subsidiary, which was licensed to provide wireless communications services in seven countries to a total of 1.8 million subscribers.
Western Wireless traces its roots to Stanton Communications, founded in 1988 by John W. Stanton
John W. Stanton
John W. Stanton is the founder and former CEO of Western Wireless Corporation, former chairman and CEO of VoiceStream Wireless, and former chairman of the CTIA. John is listed as #82 in the Forbes 2001 "Richest People" study. It is estimated his net worth US$1.1 billion...
and Theresa Gillespie. Western Wireless was formed in 1994 by the merger of two other Stanton controlled entities, Pacific Northwest Cellular and General Cellular Corporation. Western Wireless became a publicly traded company in 1996. Western Wireless spun off its VoiceStream Wireless subsidiary in 1999, which was later purchased by Deutsche Telekom AG
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
in 2001. Deutsche Telekom renamed VoiceStream Wireless to T-Mobile USA, Inc. in 2002.
Western Wireless merged with Alltel Corporation
Alltel
Alltel Corporation is a wireless service provider, primarily based in the United States. Before an acquisition by Verizon Wireless, it served 34 states. After the merger, Alltel continues to serve six states, mostly in rural areas...
in August 2005. After the merger, Alltel sold Western Wireless' international assets.
History
From its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, United States, Western Wireless Corporation provided wireless communications service in 19 western states. The company initially specialized in providing cellular service to ruralRural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas under the Cellular One brand, but expanded into urban areas by acquiring PCS spectrum licenses, building out digital networks and providing services under the VoiceStream brand.
Western Wireless traces its roots to Stanton Communications, founded by John W. Stanton
John W. Stanton
John W. Stanton is the founder and former CEO of Western Wireless Corporation, former chairman and CEO of VoiceStream Wireless, and former chairman of the CTIA. John is listed as #82 in the Forbes 2001 "Richest People" study. It is estimated his net worth US$1.1 billion...
and Theresa Gillespie in 1988. Stanton Communications invested in communications related businesses, including cellular, paging, telephone answering, alarm system monitoring, voice mail, radio broadcasting and private cable television. Stanton Communications invested in private cable television in the Soviet Union and cellular communications service in Hong Kong.
Stanton was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Northwest Cellular, established in 1992. The company grew to become the United States' eighth-largest independent cellular company.
Stanton was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for General Cellular Corporation in 1992, when Stanton Communications and investment firm Hellman and Friedman acquired a controlling interest in the company.
Stanton and Hellman and Friedman created Western Wireless Corporation in August, 1994 by merging Pacific Northwest Cellular and General Cellular Corporation. The merged entity took the name Western Wireless Corporation and through the merger created what the company called the "largest rural cellular-service provider in the United States." At the time of the merger, the company offered service in 16 western and mid-western states with service areas covering 5.2 million potential customers.
Western Wireless became a publicly traded company in May 1996, offering 12.65 million shares traded on the NASDAQ under the stock ticker symbol WWCA. Combined with a separate public bond offering, the company raised US$430 million in net proceeds.
On May 3, 1999, Western Wireless spun off
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
its VoiceStream Wireless division to Western Wireless shareholders, creating an independent, publicly-traded Delaware corporation called VoiceStream Wireless Corporation. Shares of VoiceStream Wireless traded on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
under the stock ticker symbol VSTR. The spin off was intended to remove any conglomerate discount, get better value recognition for each of Western Wireless' core analog cellular and digital PCS networks and help each business pursue independent strategies. VoiceStream was purchased by Deusche Telekom in 2001 for US$30 billion and re-named T-Mobile USA
T-Mobile USA
T-Mobile USA, Inc. is an American mobile-network operator, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, that provides wireless voice, messaging and data services in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 33.73...
in 2002.
On January 9, 2005 Western Wireless entered into a merger agreement with Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
-based telecommunications provider Alltel
Alltel
Alltel Corporation is a wireless service provider, primarily based in the United States. Before an acquisition by Verizon Wireless, it served 34 states. After the merger, Alltel continues to serve six states, mostly in rural areas...
in which Alltel agreed to pay $6 billion in stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
-and-cash
Cash
In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...
to Western Wireless shareholders. Western Wireless shareholders voted on July 29, 2005, eleven years to the day after Western Wirless was incorporated, to accept a US$4.4 billion stock-and-cash offer from Alltel. The merger closed on August 1, 2005. At the time, the merger created the fifth largest wireless communications provider in the United States with 10 million customers in 33 states.
Western Wireless International
Western Wireless subsidiary Western Wireless International Corporation held mobile licenses in several countries outside the United States including: AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(Tele.Ring), Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
(Meteor Mobile Communications
Meteor Mobile Communications
Meteor Mobile Communications Limited, a part of eircom, is a GSM and UMTS mobile telecommunications company in Ireland. They operate a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS cellular communications network under licence from the Commission for Communications Regulation , and were the third entrant in the market, after...
), Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
(Vega), Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
(ComCel), Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
(NuevaTel PCS), Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
(TAL), Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
(vipnet), Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
and Cote d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
covering about 1.8 million subscribers in 2005.
After Alltel
Alltel
Alltel Corporation is a wireless service provider, primarily based in the United States. Before an acquisition by Verizon Wireless, it served 34 states. After the merger, Alltel continues to serve six states, mostly in rural areas...
acquired Western Wireless, non-core international assets were sold. Alltel sold Meteor to Irish telecoms incumbent, eircom
Eircom
Eircom Group LTD is a telecommunications company in the Republic of Ireland, and a former state-owned incumbent. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily on the island of Ireland, with a point of presence in Great Britain.As Bord...
and sold Tele.Ring to T-Mobile Austria
T-Mobile
T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
. In Slovenia, the assets of Vega were split between the two main network operators.