Incumbent cable and telecom companies push back hard when Google wants to come to town with Fiber service. But while corporations file legal challenges and yell at each other by proxy, residents are stuck in the middle without competitive service. [More]
at&t
Citi Can’t Stop AT&T From Saying “Thanks”… For Now
By 8.15.16
Two months ago, Citi sued AT&T — not over some huge multimillion-dollar account or bad business deal, but over AT&T’s daring use of the word “Thanks” in a new loyalty program. The bank asked a federal court to bar the phone giant from using the disputed term pending the outcome of the case, but the judge has shot that request down. [More]
T-Mobile Spent The Most On TV Ads Out Of All Major Carriers Last Month
By 8.10.16
If it seems like commercials for T-Mobile are everywhere, you aren’t wrong. Out of the four biggest mobile phone carriers, Big Magenta was the top spender on TV commercials in July, showing a spot for what the company called its “most epic deal ever” a total of 2,288 times on broadcast and cable TV. [More]
Samsung And AT&T Won’t Tell You If Your Galaxy S7 Active Isn’t Waterproof, Or Extend Warranty
By 8.8.16
You might be familiar with the Samsung S7 Active smartphone, which both the manufacturer and its exclusive retailer, AT&T, advertise as being waterproof. Our phone-dunking colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports tested that claim and found the S7 Active lacking, with two test phones failing after a simulated 5-foot dunk in a water tank. Yet it turns out AT&T employees aren’t aware of this issue, and owners of the phone won’t get a lifetime warranty for liquid damage. [More]
AT&T Penalized $7.75 Million For Allowing Scammers To Charge Bogus “Directory Assistance Service” Fees
By 8.8.16
Nearly two years after AT&T was hit with a $105 million settlement over bill-cramming — the practice of letting third parties place questionable or false charges on customers’ phone bills — the Federal Communications Commission says the company has agreed to pay another $7.5 million to close the book on additional cramming accusations involving a bogus directory assistance service. [More]
Former JCPenney CEO Now Hand-Delivering Phones For AT&T
By 8.8.16
The last thing you would expect the former CEO of a major department store to do is deliver mobile phones to customers’ homes, but that’s exactly what a new company from former JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson is doing for AT&T. [More]
Charter, Comcast, AT&T Really Want To Stall Chance Of Competition From Google Fiber
By 8.2.16
Consumers really like Google Fiber. Or, at the very least, they like the idea of Google Fiber: when the company says it’s considering bringing its super-speedy internet service to town, prospective subscribers happily sign up and towns do what they need to do to make themselves attractive to the business. And that sits very, very poorly with the companies that are already in town and don’t want to deal with a pesky thing like competition. [More]
AT&T Tweaks Uverse Data Caps (Again), Will Still Charge You $30 For Unlimited Data
By 7.29.16
If it seems like this is the season when every ISP out there is messing with its data caps, well, that’s because it is. Up today: AT&T, with its second shift in data cap policy in the last six months. [More]
FCC Wants AT&T To Pay $170,000 For Overcharging Florida Schools
By 7.28.16
Commercial-grade phone service is expensive, so there’s a program that helps schools afford it. There are rules about what phone companies, like AT&T, can and can’t charge the schools that apply through that program. And the FCC now says that not only did AT&T not follow those rules, but also it charged two school districts the highest rates in the entire state to keep their phone lines connected. [More]
AT&T CEO Says He Will Head Up Anti-Robocall “Strike Force”
By 7.25.16
In response to FCC Chair Tom Wheeler’s call for all major phone companies to finally put free robocall-blocking tools in the hands of their customers, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson — who recently incorrectly blamed the FCC for his company’s failure to address this issue — says he is going to lead an industry “Strike Force” to combat robocalls. [More]
FCC To Phone Companies: Offer Free Robocall Blockers To Customers
By 7.22.16
Even though the Federal Communications Commission has repeatedly said that wireless and landline phone providers are allowed to offer robocall-blocking services to their customers, some carriers have continued to incorrectly insist — and provide misinformation to consumers — that they simply don’t have the authority to deploy this technology. In an effort to make things clear once and for all, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler has sent letters to these companies that there are no regulatory roadblocks stopping them from helping their customers stop annoying — often illegal — automated and prerecorded robocalls. [More]
CenturyLink Joins AT&T, Comcast In Charging You For Going Over Your Data Cap
By 7.19.16
We know that home broadband carriers want to horn in on all that sweet wireless money, but we do wish they wouldn’t do it by creating more data caps and then charging you overage fees to exceed them. And yet that’s what one provider after another seems determined to do. [More]
What The Heck Is 5G Anyway, And Why Does It Matter?
By 7.13.16 — Updated: 2.22.17
Wireless companies like to throw around a lot of swanky-sounding terms to get you interested in their goods. The new hotness on everyone’s lips is 5G, which does not in fact exist yet. But it will, and the FCC today is going to vote on a proposal that will have a lot to do with getting it off the ground. So here’s everything you need to know about the future of your phone. [More]
AT&T Now Testing Drones As Flying LTE Antennae
By 7.13.16 — Updated: 10.6.16
When wireless companies prepare to handle huge events — like the upcoming political conventions and the recent papal visit to Philadelphia — they roll out mobile cell towers and sometimes make permanent infrastructure upgrades to deal with the increased data use. Now AT&T is testing out whether it can use aerial drones to bolster LTE service in these situations. [More]
AT&T Says It Hates Robocalls Too; Still Not Giving Most Customers A Way To Block Them
By 7.7.16
AT&T CEO Randall “Dandy Randy” Stephenson has inaccurately claimed that his company can’t proactively block robocalls because it first needs permission from the FCC, and AT&T employees have more than a dozen different — sometimes bizarre — explanations for why the telecom giant has done nothing to rein in these unwanted, pre-recorded and auto-dialed calls. Now AT&T is claiming it is “working hard” to solve the problem, but that hard work does not involve providing a method for most customers to actually block these unwanted calls. [More]
14 Excuses AT&T Gave Customers For Not Blocking Robocalls
By 6.27.16
A few weeks back, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson inaccurately claimed that his company can’t offer free robocall-blocking technology because it needs permission from the FCC first. With that explanation debunked, a number of AT&T customers tried to give Darth Randy their permission to install these call-blocking services. As you might expect, the responses from AT&T were a mixed bag of fictions and excuses. [More]
Net Neutrality Survives For Today, But The Legal Battle Is Far From Over
By 6.14.16
The metaphorical ink on today’s mammoth 184-page ruling upholding net neutrality was barely even dry before everyone with a stake in the matter came out swinging with statements. And while the decision earned praise from consumer advocates and some lawmakers, the telecom industry has vowed to continue the fight. [More]
Google Fiber Might Take Broadband Battle To AT&T’s Home Turf
By 6.14.16
While Google Fiber is going up against AT&T in a number of markets — including Kansas City, Austin, and Atlanta — it has yet to venture into the Death Star’s home turf of Dallas. However, this morning Google announced that Dallas has been added to the list of possible Fiber markets. [More]
