If you live in one of the many parts of the country served by Comcast, you’ve likely seen the company’s nearly endless ads claiming that its Xfinity broadband “delivers the fastest internet in America,” and the “fastest, most reliable in-home WiFi.” However, an ad industry watchdog group has asked Comcast to rein in its bragging. [More]
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New Jersey Customers Complain To Utility Board For Hours About Crappy Verizon Service
By 8.5.16
In recent years, the relationship between Verizon and its legacy, copper-wire, landline-using customers in New Jersey has gotten… well, let’s politely call it “contentious.” Residents of the Garden State and the descendant of Ma Bell have found themselves at odds over everything from pricing to fiber rollout to disintegrating connections. So when the state gave those customers a chance to come out and have their say, well, they said a lot. [More]
Verizon Kind Of Wants To Be Your New Netflix, But With More Ads
By 8.2.16
If it feels like the media and technology worlds of late are constantly going through this weird, ebbing, flowing, overlapping process, well, you’re not wrong. Jumping into the fray most recently is Verizon, which not only has its own streaming service but also now wants to sell you on original content… that it can, of course, stuff with advertising for your eyeballs. [More]
Verizon Thinking About Maybe Expanding FiOS Again After All, Sort Of
By 7.27.16
Verizon has been very clear, repeatedly, that they are over this whole FiOS thing. They are happy with the service they provide and the footprint in which they provide it, and do not have expansion plans for the future. Oh, wait, though — except for that thing where now they actually totally do. [More]
Verizon Will Spend $4.8 Billion To Acquire Yahoo
By 7.24.16
Yahoo — home to all those email addresses you use for subscriptions you’d rather not have anyone else know about, and the Flickr account you probably haven’t updated since 2010 — will soon be under the same umbrella as former web 1.0 rival AOL, with Verizon agreeing to acquire the ancient online operation for $4.8 billion. [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]
Report: Verizon Close To Finalizing $5B Deal To Buy Yahoo
By 7.22.16
Following three rounds of bidding from suitors across the board, Yahoo is reportedly ready to crown a victor in the auction of its core internet business. And rumor has it the winner is Verizon. [More]
Verizon Getting Out Of The Phone Book Business… In New York
By 7.14.16
Between search engines, listings sites, and the fact that fewer and fewer people have traditional landline phones, the ol’ phone book is becoming increasingly irrelevant for many (but not all) people. So it makes sense that Verizon is largely doing away with the bulky tomes — at least in New York state.
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]
Report: Verizon Wireless To Increase Data Caps, Plan Prices
By 7.5.16
Verizon may not have unveiled anything big on July 1st, but according to the rumor mill and the ever-popular “source familiar with the situation,” they’re still planning big things in July. Those plans include increasing the data cap on all of their wireless plans… but at a cost. [More]
Rumor: Verizon To Announce Rollover Data, “Unlimited” No-Overage Option on July 1
By 6.29.16
Remember back when candy bar phones and flip phones were the hot new thing, and all the wireless providers jumped into the fray trying to offer you rollover minutes to come sign up with them? Well, if the rumor mill is to be believed, we might all be climbing on board the rollover train again… this time, in the data era. [More]
Following Comcast Complaints, Ad Watchdog Says Verizon Should Revise Its “#1 In Internet Speed” Claims
By 6.16.16
Which broadband company has the blah blah blah fastest blah blah? Virtually all of them claim to be the best and speediest, using various surveys and statistics to justify their numbers, and subtly couching their boasts in language that best suits their goal. However, a private ad industry watchdog says that Comcast has a justifiable gripe about the way Verizon has advertised FiOS internet speeds. [More]
Verizon, AT&T Poised To Battle It Out For Yahoo
By 6.13.16
Earlier this month, Verizon — fresh off its acquisition of AOL — tried to cement its reputation as a collector of ’90s web relics with a reported $3 billion bid for Yahoo’s core internet business. Now it looks like Big Red has competition from AT&T. [More]
Verizon Sets Stage To Purchase Second ’90s Internet Relic; Reportedly Bids $3B For Yahoo
By 6.7.16
A second round of bids for Yahoo’s core internet business — including search, mail, and news sites — is officially underway, and Verizon is reportedly coming in hot, offering $3 billion for the assets. [More]
Verizon’s “Can You Hear Me Now?” Guy Now Shilling For Sprint
By 6.6.16
For years, he was the face of Verizon Wireless, popping up in TV and print ads with his “Can you hear me now?” catchphrase. Then, like all commercial fads, this pitchman’s familiar face faded from public view… only to be dusted off and trotted out as a shill for Sprint.
[More]
Another Broadband CEO Admits: Data Caps Have Nothing To Do With Capacity
By 6.3.16
Supporters of internet data caps want to have things both ways: admitting that the monthly usage limits have nothing to do with congestion, while simultaneously arguing that those who use the most should pay more (but not that those who use the least should get any discount). Thus it’s refreshing that one broadband exec both acknowledged the congestion myth and said his company has no intention of instituting caps… at least for now. [More]
The Consumerist Guide To Understanding Your Verizon Wireless Bill
By 5.31.16 — Updated: 12.13.16
We’ve spent a few months looking at why cable and internet bills are so confusing, and where all the fees come from. But if there’s one bill in our virtual mailboxes that’s even more bloated and byzantine than pay-TV bills, it’s wireless bills. Hundreds of millions of us get them, but odds are that most of us don’t understand every fee, tax, or surcharge we pay. So now it’s the mobile industry’s turn under our microscope. Up first: Verizon Wireless. [More]
