After getting a glimpse at what the new co-branded RadioShack/Sprint stores will look like, the company is preparing to unveil the brand spanking new stores later this month. Meanwhile, RadioShack’s CEO is exiting the scene before the debut after failing to successfully steer the company away from bankruptcy over the last two years. [More]
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Here’s What Co-Branded Sprint-RadioShack Stores Will Probably Look Like
By 4.1.15
Yesterday, the sale of 1,740 remaining RadioShack stores to hedge fund Standard General was approved by a bankruptcy court. We’ve known since before the bankruptcy filing that their plan is to team up with Sprint to re-open stores that will be part phone store, part RadioShack merchandise. What would that look like? Sprint has already showed us. Well, they showed the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, which makes them public documents. [More]
Ad Watchdog Says Sprint Should Stop Calling Itself ‘New’ And ‘Improved’
By 3.3.15
Is Sprint really the U.S. carrier with an all-new network infrastructure and the most improved customer service in the industry? Their ads would have you think so, but competitor T-Mobile complained to the self-regulating watchdogs over at the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. Here’s what they found out after investigating the claims that Sprint makes in its ads. [More]
Google Confirms Plans For Wireless Service
By 3.2.15
A new major player could be coming to the world of wireless service providers. Google confirmed plans to launch its own wireless service in the next several months, albeit in a limited capacity. [More]
T-Mobile Claims It’s Bigger Than Sprint, Open To Working With Dish On Wireless Services
By 2.19.15
With AT&T and Verizon comfortably controlling the two lead spots in the U.S. wireless market, it’s left to Sprint and T-Mobile to duke it out over the third-place position. And if you believe the latest chest-thumping from T-Mo CEO John Legere, his company is now at least tied with Sprint if not ahead. [More]
Sprint Says Net Neutrality Won’t Stop Verizon, AT&T From Investing
By 2.12.15
Mouthpieces for the wireless industry would have you believe that the FCC’s pending net neutrality rules — which would reclassify both terrestrial and wireless broadband as a utility — will cripple investment and plunge us into an era where we carry around mammoth brick cellphones like Zack Morris. So why is Sprint telling everyone a completely different story? [More]
Everyone Except Sprint Customers, Rejoice: You Can Start Unlocking Your Mobile Phone This Week
By 2.9.15
It’s been in years of back-and-forth legal limbo, but late last year cell phone unlocking in the U.S. became well and truly legal. Likewise, the wireless industry’s voluntary plan for phone locking, adopted last February, finally goes into full effect this week. [More]
Report: Amazon Wants To Buy Some RadioShack Stores, Too
By 2.3.15
RadioShack built its brand by creating a vast nationwide network of stores across the country: they still have 4,300 of them, which has been a significant burden for the company as it has struggled to stay relevant and make money. As the Shack prepares to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, those stores are a tempting asset for other retailers looking to expand their retail footprints, like mobile carrier Sprint…and now Amazon. [More]
Sprint Offers $350 For T-Mobile Customers To Switch. But There’s A Catch
By 1.23.15
Today, Sprint got tired of trying to win over customers from bigger wireless players like AT&T and Verizon, and decided to take a swing at T-Mobile, offering up to $350 for T-Mo subscribers willing to switch and trade in their phones. But there’s something off about the math Sprint is using to compare its plans to T-Mobile’s. [More]
Google Reportedly Looking To Resell Sprint, T-Mobile Wireless Data
By 1.22.15
American consumers may soon be able to buy Google-branded wireless data service, but unlike its Google Fiber broadband business, it won’t be building out a new network for this product. Instead, according to one new report, Google has made deals with T-Mobile and Sprint to resell access to their wireless networks. [More]
T-Mobile’s Parent Company Still Wants To See It Married Off To Someone Else
By 1.19.15
It’s been a little more than three years since AT&T dumped T-Mobile at the altar when it became clear that the FCC and Justice Dept. wouldn’t sign off on the marriage. And while the little magenta wireless company has done okay for itself since — building out a decent LTE network, shaking up the subsidized device/contract model, and helping to preserve what little competition remains in the market — its parent company still wants to see T-Mobile USA married off to a wealthy American suitor. [More]
Surprise: Sprint Tells FCC That Title II Is Just Fine By Them
By 1.16.15
Ever since the (current) net neutrality fight got started a year ago, the battle lines have been pretty predictable: the companies that sell you access to data don’t really want stronger regulations, and groups that sell things that need you to have access to someone else’s data plan do. But in a surprise move this week, Sprint just broke ranks with the AT&Ts and Verizons of the mobile world to tell the FCC that actually, they’re cool with Title II regulation. [More]
Sprint Adds 1 Million Accounts, But Not Because Of Price-Slashing Or Free Data
By 1.8.15
In recent months, Sprint has been trying to lure customers away from AT&T and Verizon by offering to cut their bills in half (or really only about 20%), along with introducing smartphone data plans that give away tons of data that most people will never get around to using. And today, the company announced that it added nearly 1 million net accounts during the most recent quarter, but the fine print shows that these subscribers weren’t the ones targeted by Sprint’s marketing. [More]
Sprint’s “Framily,” NFL’s Family Of Disloyal Fans Lead List Of 2014’s Worst Ads
December 31, 2014
There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about what exactly constitutes a “family” in a time when people can have deeply felt connections with those they’ve never met while simultaneously having no meaningful relationships with their kin in the next room. But regardless of how they define familial relations, Consumerist readers have resoundingly let it be known that there were two advertising families that they wanted nothing to do with in 2014. [More]
T-Mobile, AT&T Customers Can Now Request Their $170M In Refunds From Cramming Settlements
By 12.30.14
Earlier this year, AT&T and T-Mobile both reached major settlements with federal regulators over the illegal practice of cramming: third-party charges snuck onto wireless customers’ bills without their authorization. Combined, the two settlements will put about $170 million back in consumers’ pockets. But in order to get money back, consumers first have to ask for it. [More]
CFPB Lawsuit: Sprint Made Millions Off Consumers Acting As A “Breeding Ground” For Bill-Cramming
By 12.17.14
Just a day after rumors surfaced that Sprint could be facing a $105 million from the Federal Communications Commission for allegedly overcharging customers using a practice known as “bill-cramming,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against the carrier for the bogus charges placed on customer’s phone bills. [More]
FCC Reportedly Planning To Fine Sprint $105M For Wireless Bill-Cramming
By 12.16.14
Just two months after the Federal Communications Commission imposed its largest fine on AT&T for overcharging consumers using a practice known as “bill-cramming,” the regulator is reportedly poised to saddle Sprint with the same $105 million fine for similar practices. [More]
AT&T Not Worried That Competition Is Causing More Customers To Go Elsewhere
By 12.9.14
This morning, AT&T’s Chief Financial Officer admitted that competition from smaller providers like Sprint and T-Mobile has resulted in a slight uptick in customer defections, but also said the company is not concerned because AT&T continues to pick up new users. [More]
