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]
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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]
San Francisco Wants High-Rise Verizon And Visa Ads To Come Down Before Super Bowl
By 1.28.16
With visitors coming to town for a high-profile sporting event next week, two high-rise buildings in San Francisco sold exterior ad space to Verizon and to Visa. There’s a problem, though: the ads, which are 15 and seven stories high respectively, are illegal, and the city wants them to come down before the Super Bowl. [More]
Verizon FiOS May Be Shoving ESPN Back Into Its “Skinny” Bundles
By 1.22.16
Not even a year after Verizon FiOS began offering so-called “skinny” pay-TV bundles that don’t include the pricey ESPN in the required core package — and in the midst of a lawsuit filed by ESPN’s parent company Disney, alleging that Verizon is violating its contract by doing so — the telecom titan is now hinting that it’s the end times for this dream world where consumers weren’t forced to pay so much for a channel they care so little about. [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]
Would You Ditch ESPN To Shave $8/Month Off Your Cable Bill?
By 1.14.16
ESPN is, by far, the most expensive single channel on most cable customers’ basic cable bill, responsible for more than $5/month, with some industry analysts putting an approximately $8/month price tag on ESPN and ESPN 2 together. While it’s long been considered a basic cable must-have, millions of Americans have been dropping their pay-TV packages altogether, and recent surveys show that ESPN wouldn’t be a part of many folks’ ideal a la carte cable menu, meaning not everyone has a desperate need for ESPN. So, could cable companies hold on to their customers by lowering rates in exchange for saying goodbye to the 24-hour sports channel? [More]
Interesting Things Happen When Verizon Gives You Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Old Number
By 1.12.16
If you’ve ever gotten a new phone line with a number that previously belonged to someone else, you know how annoying it can be to repeatedly tell callers that “No, this isn’t Carl. Yes, I’m sure I’m not him. No, I can’t pass him a message.” But when you get the former number of a ’90s rap superstar, the calls and texts are slightly more interesting. [More]
At Least 16 NJ Towns Left With Failing Phone Service While Verizon Dithers On Repairing Copper Wires
By 1.7.16
Verizon has made it very clear that they have no interest in maintaining or upgrading their aging, legacy copper-wire networks. If they were replacing them all with fiber that would be one thing, but according to residents and officials in at least 16 New Jersey towns, that’s not what’s happening. Instead, municipalities are just seeing their entire communications infrastructure left to rot, to the point where you can’t even make a phone call on a rainy day. [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]
New Yorkers: Here’s How To Help Make Sure You Get The Internet Speed You Pay For
By 12.14.15
Back in October, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent letters to three of the state’s biggest broadband providers — Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, and Verizon — seeking information about the connection speeds they market to consumers and the speeds they actually deliver. Now, the state is asking for consumers’ help in seeing if these Internet service providers are being honest. [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]
T-Mobile To Verizon Customers: Switch And Get A Full Year Of Hulu For Free
By 12.10.15
A week after trying to lure away AT&T customers by offering them a $200 discount on a new iPhone, T-Mobile is going after Verizon customers. But instead of dangling cash back on a fancy phone, this time T-Mo is hoping that a year of free streaming video might do the trick. [More]
Verizon CFO: Sure, We’d Be Interested In Buying Yahoo’s Web Business
By 12.7.15
After reports swirled last week that Verizon might be in the mood to go shopping in the Internet company aisle, the company’s chief financial officer says it could possibly be interested in buying Yahoo’s web business — if Yahoo is selling and if a deal made sense. [More]
AT&T’s Remaining Unlimited Data Customers Getting $5/Month Rate Hike In 2016
By 11.30.15
It’s been years since AT&T stopped offering new unlimited data plans, but a number of customers have held onto their grandfathered plans for years — even as the company throttled their access for actually trying to use the “unlimited” data that was promised. Come February, AT&T will raise the price on unlimited plans for the first time in years. [More]
AT&T, Verizon Tell FCC That They Should Be Able To Block Texts When They Want To, For Your Own Good
By 11.25.15
Texting isn’t just the purview of teenagers. Bulk texting is a huge business. Sometimes they’re scam spam in about the same category of usefulness as emails from a wealthy Nigerian prince who doesn’t exist, granted, but sometimes they’re useful blasts from businesses or public entities that let a whole bunch of people get useful information quickly in a low-bandwidth way. But what they aren’t, quite yet, is clearly regulated. A case moving through the FCC right now, however, may change that. [More]
Verizon Adds Yet Another Activation Fee For New Wireless Customers Because They Can
By 11.12.15
You know what the best thing is about mobile phones? Countless fees! Wait, no, that’s the worst thing, sorry. My mistake. But Verizon seems to have the same confusion, because the nation’s largest-by-far wireless provider is now adding even more fees onto their customers’ bills, because they can. [More]
