Leap Wireless International Inc

Shares of Leap Wireless International Inc. and MetroPCS Communications Inc. tumbled after Sprint Nextel Corp. said it would introduce an unlimited-calling plan to compete with the pay-as-you-go wireless carriers. The Boost Mobile program will include unlimited calls and text messages for $50 a month starting Thursday, Sprint said. Leap and MetroPCS also offer unlimited plans at $50 a month. Leap shares fell $2.47 to $25.23. MetroPCS dropped $2.10 to $13.87. Sprint Nextel rose 2 cents to $2.29.

Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. phone companies, are losing some cellular customers to carriers that don't require contracts, as the recession forces consumers to seek cheaper calling options. More than half of MetroPCS Communications Inc.'s new users, for instance, came from bigger nationwide phone companies in the fourth quarter, Chief Financial Officer Braxton Carter said.

Leap Wireless International Inc., a pay-as-you-go mobile phone provider, said it would expand its Cricket service across the U.S. in a $300-million deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. Leap, based in San Diego, will expand over Sprint's network during the next five years, the company said Tuesday in a regulatory filing. Sprint will receive at least $25 million next year, $75 million in each of the following three years and $50 million in 2015, according to the filing. The carrier will get an undisclosed amount for each new Leap customer.

AT&T Inc. said that its proposed $39-billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. is good for mobile-phone customers and that the U.S. lawsuit seeking to block the deal "fails to come to grips" with its benefits. AT&T filed its response Friday to the Justice Department's complaint in federal court in Washington. The company said the merger would lead to better service, fewer dropped calls and lower prices for consumers. AT&T cited fierce competition from Verizon Communications Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., MetroPCS Communications Inc., Leap Wireless International Inc., U.S. Cellular Corp.

U.S. mobile-phone carriers will consider restoring an agreement that gives them control of $15.9 billion worth of airwaves held by bankrupt NextWave Telecom Inc. Verizon Wireless Inc., Leap Wireless International Inc. and other carriers reached an agreement late last year giving NextWave more than $5 billion to drop legal claims to the airwaves so the bigger companies could buy them from the government for $10 billion.

WASHINGTON — Verizon Wireless won final federal approval for its $3.6-billion purchase of airwave licenses primarily from large cable companies, but regulators slapped additional conditions onto the deal. The approval by the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday followed the go-ahead last week from the Justice Department, which also placed conditions on the deal to ease concerns that it would decrease competition in the telecommunications market. The FCC voted unanimously to allow Verizon to obtain airwave licenses from a consortium of cable companies — Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks — that once had hoped to launch its own mobile services.

Spanish giant Telefonica has bought control of Mexican wireless telephone company Pegaso, ending the money-losing foray by San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. and its offshoot Leap Wireless International Inc. into Mexico's highly competitive market.

Rite Aid Corp., the third-largest U.S. drugstore chain, on Monday reported a loss for its fiscal second quarter and said it might shed more West Coast stores. Higher interest payments and slowing West Coast sales contributed to the loss of $67.9 million, or 26 cents a share, including a pretax charge of about $34 million for closing or moving 106 stores, the company said. Sales rose 17% to $3.51 billion, with sales at stores open a year or more up 8%.

Guaranteeing consumers such basic rights as accurate phone bills could hardly offend wireless carriers and other telecommunications companies, California Public Utilities Commission member Geoffrey F. Brown figured when he introduced his version of the Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights. He's finding out how wrong he was. As the PUC prepares to vote Thursday on three competing proposals, Brown and his fellow commissioners are enduring a fierce round of arm-twisting.