The FCC announced yesterday that commercial mobile phone carriers are obligated to provide roaming connections, including mobile voice calls, text messaging, and push-to-talk services, for a “reasonable” cost. This matters most to customers of small and rural carriers, whose sometimes pay as high as $0.79 a minute to access large carriers’ networks. The political response was as expected: Democrats said the FCC should have included data transfer, and Republicans said the “light regulatory approach” was just right. Sprint said the average roaming cost per minute was four cents, and that no FCC intervention was necessary. And then Sprint ate a newborn and cackled maniacally.
mobile
Making Cheaper Phone Calls (Some Assembly Required)
By 8.3.07
If you have a landline telephone and a cable modem, then you’re in the perfect position to take advantage of cheap (sometimes free) phone calls–provided you’re willing to try one of the many oddball companies reviewed by tech columnist David Pogue in this week’s Circuits section of the New York Times.
UPDATE: Kitten-Filled YouTube Mocks T-Mobile's $629 Foot-Dragging
By 4.26.07
From what we can gather, T-mobile said he was responsible for all charges made before he reported the incident. Then they said they would wipe all the charges, after he faxed a police report. Then they kept saying they never got the fax.
Verizon: Watch Non-Recordable TV On A Tiny Screen For $15 A Month
By 4.3.07
I watched on the LG phone and was struck by the video’s sharpness and detail — it felt as if I were watching a miniature HDTV. Under an overcast sky, the screen wasn’t that viewable, and on sunny days, forget it. But in a car or on a bus or indoors, reception and clarity were great.
Watching TV in cars makes us revisit our last meal, so we’ll pass. —MEGHANN MARCO
Be Your Own Wireless Company
By 4.3.07
If just half of one percent of the group’s 5 million members sign up for NWF [National Wildlife Federation] Mobile, the program stands to generate more than $100,000 a year, says Greg Griffith, director of cause-related marketing at NWF. The organization’s other affinity programs and corporate outreach generate some $3.5 million a year today. Based on the response to NWF Mobile’s first ad, Griffith expects as many as 5% of NWF’s members to sign up&–more, in fact, than the number currently using the group’s affinity credit cards. “People will say, ‘I spend this much on a phone anyway, I might as well spend on the cause I care about,’ ” Griffith says.
Bad news for Virgin Mobile, good news for panda bears. —MEGHANN MARCO
FCC Won't Legalize Cellphones In-Flight After All
By 3.22.07
Wave goodbye to your nightmares of hearing people jabbering on cellphones in flight!
Warning: Vista May Drain Laptop Batteries
By 12.19.06
So, if you’re upgrading to Vista and you’re really excited about those Aero windows, understand that they may come with a price, at least while on the go. —MEGHANN MARCO
Cingular Plans Mobile Banking
By 11.15.06
Reuters is reporting that much-maligned-on-this-website cell phone carrier Cingular will be launching cell-phone based banking software in 2007.
UPDATE: We Talk To Cingular About Their One-Way Contract
By 9.22.06
Since Beckie’s story about Cingular unceremoniously canceling her account proved so popular amongst the Fark crowd, I decided to give Cingular a call this afternoon. I’m not Ben, so I didn’t bother recording it: I just wanted some answers as to how this all worked from an actual human being.
For That Ads: Kate Moss Back for Virgin Mobile
By 12.21.05
Lady Kate ‘Coco’ Moss is back on the spokesmodel tip, with this new spot for Virgin Mobile.
