Centennial Communications
Wall, New Jersey , | |
Key people | Michael Small (CEO) |
---|---|
Revenue | US$1,001 million (2008)[1] |
Number of employees | 3,400 (2008) |
Website | www |
Centennial Communications and its subsidiaries (Centennial Wireless and Centennial de Puerto Rico) provided
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
In February 1997, former Centinental chief Emanuel Pinez was arrested on charges of unlawful insider trading and for running a fraudulent scheme to overstate results.[3][4] By the time of Perez's trial in 1999, Centinental has lost the Wall Street prestige which the company had previously had in 1996.[5] In March 2000, he was given a five year prison sentence and ordered to pay $150 million in restitution.[4] Two other business executives, including former Centennial chief financial officer James Murphy, would be convicted with Perez as well.[4] The fallout from the Pinez scandal resulted in Centinental seeing its stock delisted and profit being wiped out.[4] By March 14, 2007, Centennial Communications provided wireless and integrated communications services in the United States and Puerto Rico to only 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. At the time of the closure, Centennial Communications was headquartered in Wall, New Jersey.
Centennial Wireless
Centennial Wireless, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centennial Communications, was a regional wireless telecommunications provider that operated a
Centennial Wireless launched its BlackBerry service on September 27, 2007.
AT&T buyout
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
On November 6, 2009, the FCC gave final approval to AT&T's buyout of Centennial Communications. AT&T divested five markets in Louisiana and Mississippi to
As of 2020, AT&T sold its wireless networks in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to Liberty Puerto Rico with the sale completed in 2020.[9]
References
- ^ "Company Profile for Centennial Communications Corp (CYCL)". Retrieved 24 September 2008.
- ^ "Centennial Communications Corp". www.ir.centennialwireless.com. 13 March 2007. Archived from the original (Webpage) on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
- ^ Auerbach, Jon G.; Johannes, Laura (18 February 1997). "Former Centennial Chief, Pinez, Faces Fraud Charges". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Jail and $150 Million Restitution for Fraud". New York Times. Associated Press. 18 May 2000.
- ^ "Ex-Centennial CEO on Trial". Wired. 14 June 1999. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
- ^ "AT&T Agrees to Sell Certain Centennial Communications Corp. Assets to Verizon Wireless". www.newsticker.welt.de. 9 April 2009. Archived from the original (Webpage) on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
- ^ "AT&T, Centennial Hope To Close Takeover This Quarter" (Webpage). www.money.cnn.com. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "AT&T's purchase of Centennial gets final approval from FCC" (Webpage). TeleGeography. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "AT&T completes sale of some Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands assets for $1.95B". 2 November 2020.
External links
- Centennial Wireless Coverage
- [1] Archived 2 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine