AT&T customers who were anticipating the launch of a WiFi calling feature on iPhones will have to wait a bit longer: though the carrier had expected to roll out the option to iPhone users with the recently released iOS 9, it now says it’s going to take a little more time to deploy it, while it waits on approval from the Federal Communications Commission. [More]
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AT&T Unlimited Data Plan Now Tops Out At 22GB/Month Before Throttling
By 9.16.15
AT&T, which is currently fighting the Federal Communications Commission over a possible $100 million penalty for its practice of throttling data speeds for customers with so-called “unlimited” data plans if they used up more than 5 gigabytes of LTE data in a month, has decided to increase that monthly usage threshold all the way up to 22GB. [More]
AT&T Employee Says Company Turns “Blind Eye” To Lying Customer Service Reps
By 9.15.15
AT&T is the second-largest wireless carriers, one the country’s biggest landline providers, and now owns the most popular satellite TV service with more than 20 million subscribers. That’s a lot of opportunities for customer service staffers at the company to mislead callers, and one AT&T employee says it happens — a lot — and that AT&T knows it. [More]
Verizon, AT&T To Open 250 “Experience Stores” Inside Best Buy Locations
By 9.15.15
Could Best Buy be the new one-stop shop for all your mobile service needs? That seems to be goal of the electronics retailer as it continues the expansion of its store-within-a-store concept by adding dedicated Verizon and AT&T showcases in its U.S. stores.
[More]
AT&T, Verizon Must Pay To Investigate Landline Service Quality Problems In California
By 9.10.15
The California Public Utilities Commission plans to get to the bottom of why Verizon and AT&T phone service isn’t consistent in the state by making it clear that the state hasn’t forgotten a years-old order requiring that both providers conduct and finance investigations into their infrastructures. [More]
Sprint Offering A Free Year Of Cell Service To DirecTV Subscribers
By 8.28.15
We’ve got a possible love triangle on our hands, friends: Sprint is taking aim at new couple AT&T and its $49 billion beloved, DirecTV, dangling a free year of cell service for satellite subscribers who switch their service. [More]
Leaked NSA Documents: AT&T “Highly Collaborative” With NSA Spying, Has “Extreme Willingness” To Help
By 8.17.15
The NSA’s spying operations on regular Americans are the unwanted, terrible gift that just keeps on giving. Although most telecom and internet companies have cooperated with the surveillance efforts to one degree or another, at least some of them have the decency to act mildly chagrined about it. But not AT&T. [More]
AT&T Revises Data Plans: Lower Prices But Fewer Options
By 8.14.15
Why is the wireless industry so antsy? Not so long ago, it was all about giving customers a vast array of options so they could very precisely buy just the amount of data they want. Now, following Verizon’s recent simplification of its plans, AT&T is culling a number of its data tiers, which could result in savings — if you make sure to do some math before switching. [More]
Verizon Stops Throttling Data For Unlimited Wireless Data Plans, Doesn’t Tell Anyone
By 8.14.15
For four years, Verizon has been throttling 3G data speeds for its few remaining “unlimited” data plan holders who dared try to take advantage of having access to supposedly unlimited data on their wireless devices. But earlier this summer, the nation’s largest wireless carrier quietly put an end to this supposed “network management,” but only because it has done such a good job of driving customers away from their unlimited plans. [More]
Here’s How Much Your Local Sports Bar Is Paying For NFL Sunday Ticket
By 8.14.15
If you think $252-$354/year is a lot to pay for DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket, well… you’re right. But it’s also just a fraction of what even the smallest sports bar will pay to carry the exclusive add-on package. [More]
What Can You Do If Your Mobile Carrier Sends You An Update That Breaks Your Phone?
By 8.5.15
When you buy a new phone or tablet, you’re not just buying it as-is in its current state. Software is dynamic, and constantly updated. In a sense, then, you’re also making a bet that your device will keep working into the future, after countless rounds of mandatory system updates. And usually, it does! But every once in a while, something goes wrong. And for that small handful of consumers, that’s where the real trouble begins. [More]
AT&T Rollover Data A Good Idea In Theory, Useless For Some Real Users
By 8.3.15
Tom is an AT&T customer, and currently has a data plan that includes rollover data. Normally, he and the other person on his plan are very precise: he says that they normally use 2.8 GB of their shared 3 GB plan. Recently, their normal practices didn’t work, and they had to dip into the rollover data. That’s when they learned that rollover data is only useful if your data use fluctuates wildly from month to month. [More]
Newly Married AT&T/DirecTV Unveil Underwhelming Combined Wireless/TV Plans
By 8.3.15
Now that the merger of AT&T and DirecTV has cleared regulatory hurdles, the newlyweds are going public with their first combo platter offering that pairs of AT&T wireless phone service with DirecTV satellite TV. Unfortunately, the more than 20 million current DirecTV customers are going to be left out in the cold on this announcement. [More]
Cable Companies Refuse To Reveal How Much They Make Off Of Set-Top Boxes
By 7.31.15
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachussetts and Sen. Dick Blumenthal of Connecticut recently posed a handful of questions to the nation’s cable and satellite providers about their set-top boxes — Are they required? How many customers have them? Is there an option for customers to purchase their own? etc. While some providers were more transparent in their responses than others, there was one thing they all agreed on: We’re not telling you how much we make from leasing these devices. [More]
AT&T: $100M Fine For Throttling Unlimited Data Users Is “Unlawful,” “Coercive,” “Indefensible”
By 7.28.15
In June, the FCC proposed a potentially $100 million fine against AT&T for allegedly failing to disclose to its “unlimited” data plan subscribers the extent to which their data access could be throttled if they used too much of it in any given month. The company recently responded to the allegations, and let’s just say that AT&T isn’t exactly thrilled. [More]
It’s Official: FCC Gives Blessing To Marriage Of AT&T, DirecTV
By 7.24.15
After the announcement earlier this week that the FCC commissioners were reviewing and set to vote on deal that would grant regulatory approval to the merger of AT&T and DirecTV, the agency made it official this afternoon by giving its conditional blessing to this $49 billion marriage. [More]
AT&T Raising Activation Fees, Adding Activation Fee For New AT&T Next Users
By 7.22.15
Starting Aug. 1, activating a device on AT&T is going to get more expensive. The Death Star, perhaps power mad from its triumphant acquisition of DirecTV, has decided to not only raise activation fees for contract customers, but also to make its AT&T Next and Bring-Your-Own-Device plans less affordable by adding an activation fee for new customers. [More]
45 Attorneys General Agree: Phone Companies Should Give Consumers Ability To Block Robocalls
By 7.22.15
While the FCC tries to allow consumers to take a more active role in which calls they do or don’t receive, a group of 45 state attorneys general (well, 44 states and the AG for the District of Columbia) are calling on the phone companies to just stop dilly dallying and start offering call-blocking services already. [More]
