wireless industry

AT&T to Double Upgrade Fee to $36, Says It's Covering Costs

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:16:35 -0500

Full article: Hot Hardware
Paul Lilly
Effective Feb. 12, AT&T will double its upgrade from $18 to $36, a move the company says is necessary to cover overall costs associated with selecting and activating new equipment.

AT&T Says Throttling Policy Isn't as Bad as You Think

Lindsy Embree — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:23:07 -0500

Full article: New York Times
Brian X. Chen
Last year, AT&T warned smartphone customers with unlimited data plans that it may temporarily reduce their Internet connection speeds if they were in the "top 5 percent" of heaviest data users. Only recently have some customers begun receiving notifications about their data connections being slowed down, and AT&T claims that it isn't as bad as it seems.

If 2 GB Is Excessive, Why Is AT&T Selling 3-GB Mobile Data Plans?

Lindsy Embree — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:50:19 -0500

Full article: GigaOM
Kevin Fitchard
When AT&T first implemented its throttling policies on unlimited mobile data plans last fall, it justified the move by claiming it had to limit the "extraordinary" consumption of a few greedy smartphone customers. We're starting now to get a glimpse of what AT&T means by extraordinary. It's only 2 GB -- a full gigabyte less than it sells its newest customers under its most-common data plan.

Prepaid iPhone Set to Disrupt Industry

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:02:46 -0500

Full article: Wireless Week
Andrew Berg
BTIG expects Walmart's exclusive prepaid brand Straight Talk, which is owned by America Movil, to launch a new SIM card that will work in any AT&T or T-Mobile GSM phone, excluding BlackBerry, creating a place for the iPhone in the prepaid market. The new SIM card would offer unlimited prepaid, voice and data for just $45 per month.

AT&T Gives Heavy Data Users a Not-So-Subtle hint to ditch the unlimited plan

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:42:57 -0500

Full article: CNet
Marguerite Reardon
What could be worse than a surprise overage fee? For some people it's having their wireless carrier put the brakes on their data service.

How Siri Is Ruining Your Cellphone Service

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:20:52 -0500

Full article: Washington Post
Paul Farhi
Siri's dirty little secret is that she's a bandwidth guzzler, the digital equivalent of a 10-miles-per-gallon Hummer H1. To make your wish her command, Siri floods your cell network with a stream of data; her responses require a similarly large flow in return.

With T-Mobile Deal Dead, AT&T Is Scaling Back on Lobbying Force

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:04:11 -0500

Full article: The Hill
KEvin Bogardus
Telecom behemoth AT&T has begun shedding lobbyists in the wake of its failed merger with T-Mobile. At least four lobby firms that lobbied on the merger have filed termination reports this month indicating they no longer work for the phone company, according to lobbying disclosure records.

Unlimited Data Is Dead, So Let's Fight a Smarter Fight

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:46:49 -0500

Full article: The Verge
Chris Ziegler
For the smartphone-heavy United States, the notion of unlimited wireless data is dead, kaput, finis. And screaming for the return of unlimited data is a non-starter, and simply complaining that data is too expensive isn't sufficient. Carriers, and the government, need specific and actionable items in order to evolve this market in a way that's beneficial and fair to everyone. Here's what we should be asking for.

Femtocells Is Chosen Technology of Operators for Indoor Wireless Coverage

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:54:09 -0500

Full article: TMCNet
Narayan Bhat
Femtocells top the list of technologies operators are using to deliver wireless coverage indoors, according to a recent survey.

If Comcast Can't Make It in the Wireless Biz, Who Can?

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:35:08 -0500

Full article: GigaOM
Kevin Fitchard
Comcast tried hard to become a mobile operator, but it failed to find a way to make the business work. That admission is a surprising one to say the least, and if Comcast is being forthright it also raises some troubling questions about the state of the U.S. wireless industry.