Centennial Communications
Encyclopedia
Centennial Communications and its subsidiaries (Centennial Wireless and Centennial de Puerto Rico) provide wireless
and broadband telecommunications services
to wireless telephone subscribers in the United States
, Puerto Rico
, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On March 13, 2007 Centennial Communications completed the sale of Centennial Dominicana to Trilogy International Partners
for approximately $80 million in cash.
, call forwarding
, call waiting
, and conference calling, as well as messaging services, including text messaging
, picture messaging, and multimedia messaging services. Centennial Communications also offers its customers with Internet access
directly from their handsets as well as aircards for laptops and computers and the ability to download games, ring tone
s, and other applications. It provided various handsets employing TDMA
and GSM/GPRS technology in the United States; and CDMA technology in the Caribbean. In addition, the company offers a range of communications services, including asynchronous transfer mode
, frame relay
, Wi-Fi
, gigabit Ethernet
dedicated access, dedicated Internet ports, international long distance, switched access, High Speed Internet Access, dial-up Internet access, and private line services over its own fiber-optic and microwave network in Puerto Rico. Further, it offers various types of data center services, such as server and storage collocation, Web hosting, and managed services. As of March 14, 2007, Centennial Communications provides wireless and integrated communications services in the United States and Puerto Rico with approximately 7.1 million wireless subscribers, and 387,500 access lines and equivalents. The company was founded in 1988. It was formerly known as Centennial Cellular Corp. and changed its name to Centennial Communications Corp. in 2000. Centennial Communications is headquartered in Wall, New Jersey.
network in the Midwest states of Michigan
, Ohio
and Indiana
as well as the Southeastern states of Mississippi
, Louisiana
, and Texas
. Centennial also operates CDMA
networks in Puerto Rico
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Centennial Wireless has approximately 1.1 million subscribers as of October 2007. It is the ninth largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States.
Centennial Wireless launched its BlackBerry service on September 27, 2007.
.
, Centennial’s largest stockholder, has agreed to vote in support of this transaction. AT&T had hoped to obtain approvals by the end of the second quarter of 2009. In an attempt to quell regulators, on May 9, 2009 AT&T entered an agreement with Verizon Wireless
to sell off certain existing Centennial service areas in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi for $240 million pending the successful merger of AT&T and Centennial.
On July 8, 2009, AT&T announced a delay in the acquisition of Centennial, being postponed to by the end of the third quarter of 2009. The delay was announced shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation on AT&T and Verizon Communications
for anti-competitive behavior due to both carriers' massive growth.
On November 6, 2009, the FCC gave final approval to AT&T's buyout of Centennial Communications. AT&T will be divesting five markets in Louisiana and Mississippi to Verizon Wireless
. Three additional markets are to be divested to a unknown buyer. AT&T will continue to operate Centennial's CDMA networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, rather than immediately move all customers to GSM/UMTS. On July 18, 2010 AT&T absorbed Centennial in the Caribbean.
Wireless network
Wireless network refers to any type of computer network that is not connected by cables of any kind. It is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment...
and broadband telecommunications services
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
to wireless telephone subscribers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On March 13, 2007 Centennial Communications completed the sale of Centennial Dominicana to Trilogy International Partners
Trilogy International Partners
Trilogy International Partners, LLC is an american privately held wireless telecommunications company based out of Bellevue, Washington. Trilogy's international subsidiaries are NuevaTel Bolivia, Comcel Haiti, 2degrees and Viva República Dominicana...
for approximately $80 million in cash.
Overview
Centennial Communications Corp. and its subsidiaries were a wireless and broadband telecommunications services company. The company provided wireless network access and other services to wireless telephone subscribers in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. It provided various custom calling features, such as voice mail, caller IDCaller ID
Caller ID , also called calling line identification or calling number identification or Calling Line Identification Presentation , is a telephone service, available in analog and digital phone systems and most Voice over Internet Protocol applications, that transmits a caller's number to...
, call forwarding
Call forwarding
Call forwarding , in telephony, is a feature on some telephone networks allowing an incoming call to a called party to be redirected to a third party. For example, the third party may be a mobile telephone, voicemail box or other telephone number where the desired called party is situated. It was...
, call waiting
Call waiting
Call waiting , in telephony, is a feature on some telephone networks. If a calling party places a call to a called party which is otherwise engaged, and the called party has the call waiting feature enabled, the called party is able to suspend the current telephone call and switch to the new...
, and conference calling, as well as messaging services, including text messaging
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
, picture messaging, and multimedia messaging services. Centennial Communications also offers its customers with Internet access
Internet access
Many technologies and service plans for Internet access allow customers to connect to the Internet.Consumer use first became popular through dial-up connections in the 20th century....
directly from their handsets as well as aircards for laptops and computers and the ability to download games, ring tone
Ring tone
A ringtone or ring tone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call or text message. Not literally a tone, the term is most often used today to refer to customizable sounds used on mobile phones.-Background:...
s, and other applications. It provided various handsets employing TDMA
Digital AMPS
IS-54 and IS-136 are second-generation mobile phone systems, known as Digital AMPS . It was once prevalent throughout the Americas, particularly in the United States and Canada. D-AMPS is considered end-of-life, and existing networks have mostly been replaced by GSM/GPRS or CDMA2000...
and GSM/GPRS technology in the United States; and CDMA technology in the Caribbean. In addition, the company offers a range of communications services, including asynchronous transfer mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
, frame relay
Frame relay
Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology...
, Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
, gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed...
dedicated access, dedicated Internet ports, international long distance, switched access, High Speed Internet Access, dial-up Internet access, and private line services over its own fiber-optic and microwave network in Puerto Rico. Further, it offers various types of data center services, such as server and storage collocation, Web hosting, and managed services. As of March 14, 2007, Centennial Communications provides wireless and integrated communications services in the United States and Puerto Rico with approximately 7.1 million wireless subscribers, and 387,500 access lines and equivalents. The company was founded in 1988. It was formerly known as Centennial Cellular Corp. and changed its name to Centennial Communications Corp. in 2000. Centennial Communications is headquartered in Wall, New Jersey.
Centennial Wireless
Centennial Wireless, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centennial Communications, is a regional wireless telecommunications provider that operates a GSMGlobal System for Mobile Communications
GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...
network in the Midwest states of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
as well as the Southeastern states of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Centennial also operates CDMA
Code division multiple access
Code division multiple access is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. It should not be confused with the mobile phone standards called cdmaOne, CDMA2000 and WCDMA , which are often referred to as simply CDMA, and use CDMA as an underlying channel access...
networks in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Centennial Wireless has approximately 1.1 million subscribers as of October 2007. It is the ninth largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States.
Centennial Wireless launched its BlackBerry service on September 27, 2007.
.
AT&T buyout
AT&T has announced a $944 million dollar buyout of Centennial Communications Corp. as of Nov, 11 2008. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval, the approval of Centennial’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & StoweWelsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe is a private equity investment firm in the United States. Founded in 1979, it has organized 14 limited partnerships with total capital over $16 billion and is currently in the process of raising a new $4 billion private equity fund Welsh, Carson Anderson & Stowe XI...
, Centennial’s largest stockholder, has agreed to vote in support of this transaction. AT&T had hoped to obtain approvals by the end of the second quarter of 2009. In an attempt to quell regulators, on May 9, 2009 AT&T entered an agreement with Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
to sell off certain existing Centennial service areas in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi for $240 million pending the successful merger of AT&T and Centennial.
On July 8, 2009, AT&T announced a delay in the acquisition of Centennial, being postponed to by the end of the third quarter of 2009. The delay was announced shortly after the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation on AT&T and Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications
Verizon Communications Inc. is a global broadband and telecommunications company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
for anti-competitive behavior due to both carriers' massive growth.
On November 6, 2009, the FCC gave final approval to AT&T's buyout of Centennial Communications. AT&T will be divesting five markets in Louisiana and Mississippi to Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
. Three additional markets are to be divested to a unknown buyer. AT&T will continue to operate Centennial's CDMA networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, rather than immediately move all customers to GSM/UMTS. On July 18, 2010 AT&T absorbed Centennial in the Caribbean.