We’ve been hearing a lot of buzz from those in the wireless world that T-Mobile employees are dreading the day their company is finally acquired by AT&T and they start reporting for work at the Death Star. But while most of T-Mobile’s 38,000 staffers have been reluctant to say anything bad publicly about their future overlords, one employee pulled no punches in detailing their feelings about the merger. [More]
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T-Mobile Considers Ditching "Unlimited" In Favor Of Charging Overage Fees
By 8.10.11
We recently asked readers if they thought that T-Mobile’s unlimited data plans are actually unlimited if they still begin throttling your download speed after a certain threshold. An overwhelming number of you said “no.” Now a newly leaked document shows that T-Mobile is looking to possibly ditch at least one unlimited-but-throttled plan to go with the limited-then-pay-overage-fees model. [More]
FCC Throws Hitch Into AT&T's Plans For 4G Roll-Out
By 8.9.11
Last December, AT&T spent nearly $2 billion to purchase a big chunk of wireless spectrum from Qualcomm, with the plan of using it to expand 4G access across the country. But that deal has since been stuck in regulatory review, and it looks like it’s going to be there for some time as the FCC has decided to make that decision part of its review process for the pending AT&T purchase of T-Mobile. [More]
AT&T Tries To Stick Customer With $20,000 Phone Bill
By 8.9.11
If someone steals your credit card info and buys $20,000 worth of junk you would never purchase, there are laws in place to protect you. But if someone does that to your small business’s AT&T account, the company tells you that you now owe them $20,000. [More]
FCC Broadband Study Shows Which Companies Actually Come Close To Meeting Advertised Download Speeds
By 8.2.11
Today, at — of all places — a Best Buy in Washington, DC, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the results of the agency’s Measuring Broadband America study, which looked to put a more accurate number on what consumers should be expecting from their broadband providers. [More]
AT&T Confirms Plan To Throttle Top 5% Of Smartphone Data Hogs
By 7.29.11
Earlier today, rumors were circulating that AT&T would begin throttling the data speeds of users who went over a certain usage threshold. Now, the company has confirmed these reports, though it does not give specifics on what line a user has to cross before their data starts going at a snail’s pace. [More]
Antitrust Committee Chairman: AT&T, T-Mobile Merger "Contrary To Antitrust Law" "Should Be Blocked"
By 7.20.11
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, called on the FCC and the Department of Justice to block the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, saying the deal would “likely cause substantial harm to competition and consumers, would be contrary to antitrust law and not in the public interest, and therefore should be blocked by your agencies.” [More]
AT&T Will Only Fix Your Vanishing DSL If You Buy Their Modem
By 7.18.11
Tonly lives in a deluxe condo building in the sky. Unfortunately for him, high-density urban living and AT&T DSL don’t mix. He waited three months for sweet, sweet Internet access because, as AT&T explained, all of the ports for the building were full. Just a few months later, his access cut out for no clear reason. The most logical explanation is that the line to his condo was switched off by mistake during another customer’s install. Easy enough to fix, isn’t it? But Tony owns his modem, and AT&T is using that as an excuse not to fix the problem. [More]
Amazon, AT&T Team Up For Even Cheaper Ad-Supported Kindle 3G
By 7.13.11
A few months ago, Amazon unleashed its first version of a lower-priced, ad-supported Kindle, but if you wanted the 3G version it was still going to cost significantly more. Last month, they introduced a 3G Kindle with ads for $25 off the retail price, and today they announced a deal with AT&T that lops off another $25, taking the price down to $139. [More]
Comcast, Verizon, Others Hop On Board Anti-Piracy "Copyright Alert System"
By 7.7.11
We know, because you’ve told us, that a number of you prefer to get your movies and premium TV via less-than-legal internet sources. We’re not going to judge you for that, but you may soon begin seeing notices from the new Copyright Alert System to let you know that they are aware of your dirty downloads and would you kindly stop. [More]
Netflix Lets You Downgrade Video Quality So You Don't Hit Bandwidth Caps
By 6.23.11
With providers like AT&T and Comcast adding on limits to how much bandwidth you can use per month, Netflix has rolled out a feature that lets you downgrade the streaming video quality so you don’t use as much data and incur overages. [More]
AT&T Keeps Giving Out My Number To Angry Customers
By 6.22.11
After Consumerist reader T switched mobile phone service to AT&T in 2009, aggressive folks have been calling, trying to reach someone named Jerry. For months, the annoying calls were chalked up to this Jerry person likely owing a lot of debt collectors. But then in February, one Jerry-caller, complaining that his local cell phone tower was down, told T. that AT&T had given him this number as a tech support contact only 20 minutes earlier. [More]
Today Is The Last Day To Tell The FCC How You Feel About The AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
By 6.20.11
While AT&T’s pending purchase of T-Mobile may still be many, many months away from a final ruling by the Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department, today is the deadline for members of the public to add their comments to the FCC record. [More]
AT&T Tells Me I Can't Cancel Without Penalty, Until I Call Back And They Tell Me The Opposite
By 6.16.11
Jack thought he was getting a good deal when he signed up for $15/month DSL service from AT&T seven months ago. But in the short time since, he’s experienced a full month’s worth of outages and has quickly tired of constantly dealing with AT&T’s tech support (or lack thereof). Luckily, Jack reads Consumerist and was able to employ some tactics he’s learned over the years… and end up saving $140 in the process. [More]
AT&T Annoys With Fake "Your Receipt Enclosed" Mailer
By 6.15.11
Reader Sean got an odd notice from AT&T. It had “Receipt Enclosed” written on the outside of the envelope. He thought that was strange as he hadn’t used AT&T for a few years. Recently someone had tried to charge some unauthorized items on his credit card so he was worried that someone had bought AT&T service using his info. See, that’s how they getcha! By preying on that nagging doubt that maybe, just maybe, the letter is for real. [More]
Walmart Cuts iPhone 4 To $147
By 6.7.11
Walmart announced this week that they were chopping the price on 16 GB iPhone 4’s to $147, down from $197. The deal is only for a limited time and runs through June 30th. [More]
AT&T Thinks You Should Just Take That Tree Off High-Tension Line Yourself
By 6.3.11
There are some things that you really, really don’t want to handle doing yourself. After a tree took out electric and phone lines on his property, A. in Texas is left with the heavy trunk resting on high-tension steel cables that normally go between the poles. An AT&T told A. during a visit to just remove the tree trunk and let the cables go up. A city inspector and a professional lineman separately told A. that doing so might lead to the cables flying up and taking the utility lines out again, and could also injure or kill the person doing the work. [More]
