Dialing for Dollars

摘要

When it comes to phone service, Verizon Wireless's "Test Man" says it all: "Can you hear me now?" More to the point, customers ― and companies ― heard the FCC. Once it mandated that users could keep their mobile phone numbers after switching carriers, the ad wars escalated. That's why major media buyers, as well as network sales execs, expect the category to account for at least $800 million of the total $15 billion in commitments made in the upfronts. (This conservative estimate excludes scatter and syndication.) The heavy hitters are the six major wireless providers: Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, Cingular, Nextel, and AT&T, which has signed a five-year deal with Sprint to sell wireless service over Sprint's network.