If you don’t like your wireless company’s service, or your current rate plan, you’re free to change providers. But if you think your wireless provider is breaking the law, you can’t sue the company; and it doesn’t matter which of the four major carriers you have, because they all strip their customers’ of their legal rights. [More]
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AT&T Is Holding Open Enrollment For Phone Insurance, If You’re Into That
By 3.2.16
Open enrollment for insurance is the very special time of year when at your job or on a health insurance exchange, you are able to add or drop insurance or change plans for any reason or for no reason. It also exists for other kinds of insurance, like insurance on your mobile phone. AT&T is running an open enrollment period now, if you want phone insurance but failed to sign up within 30 days of buying yours. [More]
No Satellite Needed: DirecTV To Offer Online-Only Pay-TV Service
By 3.1.16
More than a year after competitor Dish launched its Sling TV live streaming service, DirecTV is following suit with the announcement of a new product called DirecTV Now. [More]
AT&T Sues Louisville To Make City Less Attractive To Google Fiber
By 2.26.16
Google hasn’t even decided whether or not it will bring its high-speed Fiber broadband and TV service to Louisville. The Kentucky city is currently listed as merely a “potential” Fiber market. But that hasn’t stopped AT&T from suing Louisville administrators in an effort to make sure that Google will have a tougher time if it chooses to launch there. [More]
Hundreds Of Thousands Of Consumers Call On AT&T To Help End Robocalls
By 2.23.16
In spite of efforts to legislate and regulate them out of existence, unwanted prerecorded and/or auto-dialed robocalls are still dominate consumers’ complaints about their phone service. Today, our colleagues at Consumers Union delivered a petition — signed by hundreds of thousands of people who want the nation’s telecom providers to do something about robocalls — to the AT&T headquarters in Texas. [More]
The Consumerist Guide To Understanding Your DirecTV Bill
By 2.23.16
When you sign up for telecommunications services — some combination of TV, broadband, and/or phone — you’re told you’ll pay something like $49 or $99 a month… and yet the price you actually pay can be as much as 40% or more on top of that, thanks to a heap of sometimes confusing charges and fees. Which ones do you blame the government for, and which are made up by your cable company? One business at a time, we’re going to use real customers’ bills to break it down. We’ve already looked at Comcast and TWC. This time we’re switching it up a bit to have a look at satellite, and will be dissecting a bill from DirecTV. [More]
AT&T Offers Switchers [Up To] $650, Two-For-One Phone Deal
By 2.15.16
Now that mobile carriers have switched from subsidizing handsets to making us buy them our own darn selves, their inducement for customers to switch is now offering to pay off what you owe to our old carrier. That could be early termination fees, or your balance from buying a device on installments: doesn’t matter. T-Mobile started the trend, and now AT&T is increasing their incentive. [More]
AT&T Will Test 5G Service In Texas This Year; Could Be Up To 100 Times Faster Than LTE
By 2.12.16
For most people, the term “5G” is still some ineffable promise of lightning-fast wireless data that will — like the cable arrive sometime between two and five… years from now. AT&T is hoping to get a better idea of exactly what this next generation of wireless connectivity will be when it starts testing in Texas later this year. [More]
Did Net Neutrality Kill Broadband Investment Like Comcast, AT&T, Verizon Said It Would?
By 2.9.16
Last year, when the FCC was preparing to vote on the new Open Internet Order (aka “net neutrality”) and its reclassification of broadband Internet as a vital utility, virtually the entire telecom and cable industry claimed this change would ruin investment and slow innovation. But a look at the year-end financial figures for the biggest naysayers casts a lot of doubt on these dire predictions. [More]
T-Mobile Creates Drinking Game For AT&T Earnings Call, Hopes You Get Drunk Enough To Switch
By 1.26.16
Earning calls can be a drag, full of heavily massaged numbers and industry jargon meant to make anyone listening fall asleep. To spice things up, T-Mobile has created a drinking game, but not for their own magenta-hued earnings. Instead, T-Mo is intent on getting everyone drunk while listening to AT&T’s quarterly report.
[More]
Verizon Finally Catches Up To T-Mobile, AT&T; Launches Program To Free Up More Data For Mobile Subscribers
By 1.19.16
Last month, executives with Verizon said the company would one day test sponsored data. That day is apparently today, as the largest wireless provider in the U.S. launched FreeBee Data, its version of T-Mobile and AT&T’s programs that don’t ding users’ data plans when they access certain content. [More]
AT&T Brings Back Unlimited Plans. What’s The Catch?
By 1.11.16
Years after ditching the unlimited data plans that it used to convince so many consumers to switch from boring old feature phones to the iPhone (and other smartphones), AT&T has announced it is bringing back its “unlimited” offering starting at $100 a month. Oh, but it’s only for DirecTV and U-Verse customers. [More]
AT&T Ditching New 2-Year Contracts On January 8
By 12.30.15
It’s been in the offing for some time, but AT&T has officially declared that after Jan. 8, 2016, the company will no longer be offering 2-year contracts to most customers. [More]
Verizon Continues To Follow Others, Now Offers To Pay For Customers To Switch
By 12.28.15
Not even a year after Verizon CFO Fran Shammo declared that the company is a “leader, not a follower,” Verizon is making it very clear that it lives in a Bizzaro world where “leader” means “do things that other companies did first.” This time, Big V is demonstrating its “leadership” by following in the footsteps of other companies that have enticed customers to switch by paying off their contracts. [More]
Verizon, Sprint Customers Have Until Dec. 31 To Claim A Piece Of The $158M Cramming Settlement Pie
By 12.28.15
The holidays can be a tiring, stressful time, full of never-ending checklists. While you might have checked off plenty of your to-do items, if you’re a Verizon or Sprint customer, you’ll want to make sure you add “check to see if I’m eligible for a bill-cramming refund,” to the top of your list. [More]
Happy New Year: Dish, DirecTV/AT&T, Time Warner Cable All Raising Rates In January Because They Can
By 12.21.15
For a bunch of the big cable and satellite companies, it does indeed look like a very merry Christmas and a happy new year are on the horizon — but consumers can be forgiven for feeling a lot more grinchy about it. That’s because all the new nickels, dimes, and dollars that are going to line businesses’ big virtual pockets are coming directly from subscribers in the form of unasked-for price hikes. [More]
FCC Wants AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile To Explain Why Their Plans That Exempt Stuff From Data Caps Are OK
By 12.18.15
There are two big trends in data and streaming. The first is data caps, which limit how much bandwidth you can use in a month without paying extra. The other is zero-rating, where certain video services come to an arrangement with carriers to be exempt from those data caps. In theory, it’s a win for everyone: consumers, carriers, and streaming companies. But nobody, including the FCC, is quite sure if it’s actually, y’know, legal. [More]
Verizon To Follow Lead Of AT&T, T-Mobile; Try Some Sort Of Sponsored Data
By 12.10.15
The largest wireless provider in the U.S. has also been one of the least innovative in terms of its pricing. Its Chief Financial Officer even said earlier this year that “We’re a leader, not a follower.” And yet, Big V is just beginning to dip its toes into an idea that its competition has been swimming in for quite some time. [More]
