Verizon
HD Voice Coming to AT&T Later This Year
April 2, 2013 10:09 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAT&T will be switching over to HD Voice later this year as it begins to migrate is voice calling over to its LTE network. The Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital blog reports that AT&T senior vice president Kris Rinne, speaking at Venture Beat’s Mobile Summit, said that HD Voice is part of the company’s LTE strategy.
Galaxy S 4 Available for Pre-order April 16 from AT&T, U.S. Cellular
March 29, 2013 1:02 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsBoth AT&T and U.S. Cellular have confirmed April 16 as the date when they’ll start accepting pre-orders for Samsung’s new flagship smartphone. AT&T has set the price at $249 with a two-year contract while U.S. Cellular has yet to reveal pricing details. Neither carrier has set a release date.
T-Mobile USA's New Plans Compared to Competition
March 27, 2013 8:56 am | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsNEW YORK (AP) — T-Mobile USA has revamped its pricing plans, the latest move in an industry that's still experimenting feverishly with various ways of luring customers and getting current ones to pay as much as possible. Here's how T-Mobile's gambit compares.
PlayPhone, Verizon Partner on Social Gaming Storefront
March 26, 2013 8:24 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsSocial gaming provider PlayPhone today announced that it's partnering with Verizon Wireless on a social-optimized game-centric storefront that will come preloaded on Verizon's Android phones. Scott Prather, senior director of business development at PlayPhone...
The "Un-Carrier" Cometh
March 19, 2013 3:32 pm | by Andrew Berg | Blogs | CommentsI have to admit that I'm excited to hear what T-Mobile has on its mind tomorrow. I want to know more about what's behind John Legere's devious, trouble-making smile. Basically, I want the specifics on what it means to be the "un-carrier"?
AT&T Announces New 30, 40 and 50GB Shared Data Plans
March 19, 2013 10:12 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsAT&T is beefing up its shared data plan offerings for the enterprise, introducing huge 30, 40 and 50GB iterations of the service. The plans start at $300 per month—plus a $10-$30 per device fee, depending on the type of device—and go up to $500. Current mobile share plans offer buckets of 1 to 20GB.
First News Briefs for March 15, 2013
March 15, 2013 10:40 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsAT&T is introducing pdvConnect, a set of cloud-based mobile apps that gives businesses and organizations of all sizes a way to document events in near real-time by simply speaking, taking photos and sharing location information at the point of service.
All Major U.S. Operators Will Carry Galaxy S4
March 15, 2013 10:17 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAll four major U.S. carriers have put their support behind Samsung's new Galaxy S4, which was unveiled yesterday at an evening event in New York City. Immediately following the announcement, all four major U.S. carriers, as well as Leap Wireless and U.S. Cellular...
Report: AT&T Closing Gap in LTE War with VZW
March 12, 2013 10:56 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless and AT&T are battling it out in the LTE wars, with both carriers receiving impressive scores in RootMetrics' latest 77-market study. According to the study, which is offered in a consumer-friendly format, AT&T’s LTE network...
VZW: International LTE Roaming Partnerships Coming Soon
February 26, 2013 10:44 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless customers could be in luck when it comes to overseas roaming. According to a report from Reuters out of Mobile World Congress, Verizon expects to sign its first international LTE roaming agreement later this year. Verizon Wireless Chief Technology Officer...
Verizon CFO Talks Vodafone Buyout, Growth in 2013
February 25, 2013 4:56 pm | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon CFO Fran Shammo reiterated comments previously made by CEO Lowell McAdam that the carrier is open to buying out the 45 percent of the Verizon Wireless joint venture that is currently owned by Vodafone. "I think we've been very open saying we'd love to own the other 45...
AT&T Snags GM Contract from VZW
February 25, 2013 9:48 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsAT&T has managed to snag a contract to provide connectivity for General Motors' OnStar service beginning in 2014. Competitor Verizon Wireless is the current provider for OnStar. While financial details of the deal were not announced, AT&T said in a statement that...
Vodafone CEO Open-Minded About VZW Options
February 22, 2013 9:51 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVodafone CEO Vittorio Colao says he's unsure about the future ownership of Verizon Wireless, according to an interview published in the Wall Street Journal Friday. Colao said he has an "open mind" when it comes to the joint venture that is Verizon Wireless. Verizon Communications currently...
Hesse: Sprint Looking for More Spectrum
February 20, 2013 10:39 am | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsSprint CEO Dan Hesse said his company is seeking to acquire more wireless spectrum in order to stay competitive with AT&T and Verizon. In an interview with Bloomberg, Hesse said Sprint hopes to scoop up more of the precious commodity by either buying it from other companies or from the government.
Verizon Finalizes Three Spectrum Deals to Rural Telecoms
February 15, 2013 2:14 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless completed three sales of its 700 MHz A and B Block spectrum licenses to rural telecoms based in Texas and Oklahoma; Nortex Communications, based in Muenster, Texas; Panhandle Telecommunication Systems, Inc., based in Guymon, Okla.; and Colorado Valley Communications, based in La Grange, Texas.
Phone Companies Prepare for Storm Power Outages
February 8, 2013 3:19 pm | by Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsCell-towers are dependent on electric power from the grid, but many of them have backup batteries, and in some cases generators that can power the antennas independently for longer. Prolonged power outages, such as those after Superstorm Sandy, can bring down cell service in an area.
First News Briefs for February 5, 2013
February 5, 2013 10:18 am | by Wireless Week Staff | News | CommentsTelit Wireless Solutions, a global provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) modules and services, today announced two of its M2M modules have received certification to work with the Verizon Wireless network. Now Telit customers can employ the DE910-DUAL and the CE910-DUAL modules to deploy a range of M2M applications.
Verizon Launches New 3G Prepaid Plans
February 1, 2013 9:55 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless today launched prepaid plans that provide unlimited talk, unlimited texts and 500 MB of data for $60 a month, or for $70 a month, a prepaid customer receives 2 GB of data in addition to unlimited talk and texts. According to a press release, the plans are...
Largent Slams NYT Op-Ed Piece
January 31, 2013 11:02 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsCTIA President and CEO Steve Largent slammed an opinion piece, "How to Get America Online", which was published by New York Times. In the piece, Times contributor Susan Crawford argues that access to Internet services...
Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile Announce Availability of BlackBerry Z10, Q10
January 30, 2013 12:15 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsIn the wake of today's official unveiling of the new BlackBerry 10 platform and the first two devices to operate it, the full touch screen Z10 and the QWERTY keyboard and touch screen Q10, U.S. carriers are beginning to announce their plans for the new gadgets.
Verizon Wants FCC's Spectrum Screen Applied to Sprint, Clearwire Deal
January 29, 2013 2:40 pm | by Ben Munson | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless has filed with the FCC comments on Sprint's potential acquisition of Clearwire, stating that the Commission should apply its spectrum screen to the swath of 2.5 GHz airwaves in question to determine if the potential deal poses spectrum aggregation concerns.
Verizon, AT&T Agree to Spectrum Deal
January 25, 2013 10:56 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon Wireless said Friday that it will sell 39 lower 700 MHz B Block licenses to AT&T in exchange for a payment of $1.9 billion and the transfer by AT&T to Verizon Wireless of AWS (10 MHz) licenses in certain western markets, including...
VZW Hits Record $30B in 4Q Revenue, Losses Double on Charges
January 22, 2013 10:41 am | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsVerizon Tuesday reported record fourth-quarter revenues of over $30 billion, up 5.7 percent annually, but still managed to swing to a quarterly loss that was double what it was in the same quarter last year. Losses that were largely due to charges related to the annuitization of $7.5 billion...
Lowell McAdam Addresses CES 2013
January 14, 2013 1:45 pm | Videos | CommentsVerizon CEO Lowell McAdam addresses an audience at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show. McAdam talked on a range of topics, including his company's tie up with the National Football League, as well as advancements in the connected car, among other topics.
Carriers Spat Over Spectrum Weighting
January 10, 2013 2:59 pm | by Andrew Berg | News | CommentsIt seems everyone agrees that the FCC needs to simplify its spectrum screen, but there's a big division on exactly how that should be done. Such was the case in a spate of comments filed with the FCC this past week. AT&T and Verizon Wireless come down on the "light touch" side of things...
