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AT&T drops plans to acquire T-Mobile

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Corporate News, Wireless / WiFi

AT&T T-Mobile dead

AT&T on Monday announced that it has ended its bid to acquire T-Mobile.

AT&T will incur a pre-tax "breakup fee" of $4 billion in the fourth quarter and will enter into a roaming agreement with T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom.

AT&T maintained that the deal would have benefited the U.S. wireless industry. But in recent months, it faced challenges from the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission, both of which found that the merger would not be in the public's interest. That opposition, however, does "not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry," AT&T said.

"AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution," Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest."

Click to continue reading AT&T drops plans to acquire T-Mobile


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Here’s how to get free cell phone service

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Editorial, Hot Deals

Yes, you can get a free cell phone with government assistance. If you make very little money, or you're part of other federal programs such as public housing, food stamps, SSI, or Medicaid, you can get a free mobile phone paid for by a fee on everyone else's phone bills.

This program has been around for years. According to the FCC, the government has been subsidizing landlines since 1984; the program, now called LifeLine, added mobile phones in 1997. LifeLine was enhanced in 2005 during the Bush administration, and TracFone's SafeLink, the first purely free LifeLine phone brand, started disbursing free phones in 2008.

"The telecoms haven't done a very good job promoting LifeLine, and the penetration rates have been dismal," said Jose Fuentes, Tracfone's director of government relations. TracFone operates SafeLink.

LifeLine is funded by the Universal Service Fund, which you see as a surcharge on your phone bill. Established by a 1996 law, the USF makes sure that people who live in rural and low-income areas, as well as schools and libraries can get phone service. It doesn't make a distinction between wired and wireless phones; you can get a subsidy for either, but you have to choose one.

Click to continue reading Here’s how to get free cell phone service


FCC filing shows Droid Bionic won’t be a global phone

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Handhelds, Rumors

Droid Bionic radios

A draft of the Motorola Droid Bionic's user manual surfaced on the Federal Communications Commission's website, confirming most of the specs that were pulled from Motorola's website last week.

On paper at least, the dual-core smartphone built for Verizon's super-fast LTE network looks like a beast. The filing confirms that it will sport a 4.3-inch qHD display, a GHz TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, a microSD card slot, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a VGA front-facing camera. It'll have an HDMI 1.4 output for mirroring the phone's display on a larger screen and support wireless charging. Furthermore, the Bionic will run Android 2.3.4 "Gingerbread."

Click to continue reading FCC filing shows Droid Bionic won’t be a global phone


My letter to the FCC about the AT&T-T-Mobile purchase

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Wireless / WiFi

FCC AT&T T-Mobile Letters

The FCC has opened public comment on the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, and now is the time to make your views known.

I have no idea whether any amount of public outrage will stop this merger, but we might as well try. Checking this morning, I saw that there are already almost 3,000 comments submitted, overwhelmingly opposing the merger.

AT&T set out its justifications for the merger in a 388-page filing with the FCC.

I'm sure that AT&T will soon rally some sort of Astroturf organization to write comments in support of the deal. It's interesting, really: the comments I could find in support of the merger come from groups and trade associations, while the comments against the merger generally come from individual Americans. It's clearly easier to get a lobbying organization in AT&T's corner than it is to get real people in support of this deal.

Click to continue reading My letter to the FCC about the AT&T-T-Mobile purchase


AT&T tells FCC that T-Mobile purchase will boost 4G coverage more than they thought

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Corporate News, Wireless / WiFi

ATT T-mobile filing

AT&T's bid for T-Mobile is now official. The carrier on Thursday filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission, kicking off what will likely be a in-depth review of the proposed merger.

In its filing, AT&T claimed that purchasing T-Mobile will allow it to deploy its 4G LTE network to 97 percent of the U.S. population, up from the 95 percent number it gave last month.

"After conducting a more refined analysis of the combined network, AT&T is increasing the scope of this commitment to 97.3 percent," the carrier said.

AT&T surprised the tech community recently when it announced plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion. AT&T argued that the purchase will help stop the spectrum crunch and spur the companies's deployment of 4G service.

Click to continue reading AT&T tells FCC that T-Mobile purchase will boost 4G coverage more than they thought


FCC approves net neutrality rules, not good enough

Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Corporate News, Internet

fcc net neutrality

Yesterday, a major decision passed through the FCC as it voted on new rules that will govern the sticky issue of net neutrality in the US. Net neutrality has been a wildly debated subject for years, with everyone from content web sites, Internet providers, wired and wireless networks, and organizations representing end users being all over the map on this subject. Some wanted the government to pass new regulations that would prevent Internet providers from say, slowing down your access to Netflix just because they have their own video site that they want you to use instead. Others argued that if the government does get involved, it could bring much more trouble for the Internet as a whole than the benefit it would add. Others still argued that the free market will handle itself, and that no rules should be added.

So far there had been no real decision either way, with the FCC, the body mandated to govern those things, not having made any clear decision. This changed today as the institution passed a set of rules that help define this. The rules are quite complicated, but suffice it to say pretty much everyone who isn't a big business is unhappy with them. On one side, the new rules do prevent Internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to competing web sites, but it does allow content providers to pay networks to have access to a fast line, bringing their data in priority. Many say the rules are too broad and vague, and fail to address some points. It also leaves a lot of freedoms to wireless providers to, for example, block access to specific apps on your cellphone.

While the debate rages on however, it's important to recognize that these rules simply give formal authority to the federal government to regulate these issues, it doesn't directly change the rules of the game for companies. The new rules will go into effect next year, and could still be blocked by Congress. They are also likely to be challenged in court by any of the parties involved in the discussions.

You can help show your support in the fight for net neutrality at Save the Internet.

Read More | WSJ

Verizon Wireless opts to end handset exclusivity agreements (with a catch)

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Wireless / WiFi

Verizon Wireless Wireless announced this morning that their President and CEO, Lowell McAdam, has sent a letter to lawmakers on Capitol Hill announcing that “Effective immediately for small wireless carriers…any new exclusivity arrangement we enter with handset makers will last no longer than six months - for all manufacturers and all devices.” At first glance, that’s kind of a big deal. After all, handset exclusivity is something that can be very financially beneficial to a carrier (see AT&T and as one such example.) So here’s the thing, when you re-read that statement, you discover that this exclusivity thing will still be in effect as it pertains to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. It’s only the small wireless carriers, those with 500,000 customers or less, that will be able to pick up handsets that are exclusive to Verizon Wireless after a six-month period. Still, it’s better than nothing, but the cast majority of non-Verizon Wireless mobile customers won’t benefit from this news.

In other words, this is a blatant attempt by Verizon Wireless to look like the nice guy while the FCC and congressional inquiries into exclusive handset deals proceed. This isn’t much progress at all. It’s just a political play that we can guarantee wouldn’t have happened if lawmakers weren’t taking a peek behind the curtain. What’s more, Verizon is hoping that other carriers will follow their lead with this move, specifically AT&T with the iPhone.

You can see the entire letter after the break.

Click to continue reading Verizon Wireless opts to end handset exclusivity agreements (with a catch)

Read More | Verizon Policy Blog

Digital Transition This Friday

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Misc. Tech

DTV logoYou know this is your final week before your TV turns into snow, right? If not, it is time to stop procrastinating with the excuse, “The dog ate my coupons.” DTV.gov says that about 42% of stations have already made the digital transition and that means that as of Friday, 58% of the channels you take for granted on your old analog set will cease to exist. Check out their site if you need physical or emotional support.

Read More | DTV.gov

More TV Stations to Crossover to Digital Before June

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories:

Digital Crossover artThe FCC has announced that 158 more stations will switch from analog to digital before the June 12 deadline, with about a third of them being PBS affiliates. This leaves 927 stations, 51.6%, to make the change later. One of our local stations that made the early transition almost harasses you if you tune them in without a converter. Twenty four hours a day of telling us to get a box is not exactly friendly PR. You can check the list of those that are crossing over early on an FCC PDF.

Read More | Home Theater Mag

TV Stations To Crossover To Digital Early

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV

TV With SnowNow that the crossover to digital TV has been postponed, don’t think that you still have 4 months to buy a new TV or converter box. Some of the 1,796 full-power stations will still go with the option of dropping analog transmission this month. The FCC has asked those stations to notify them today and can prohibit the change if they feel that it is not in the public’s interest. So if you still aren’t ready and you live in an urban area, you might see that snow after all February 17.

Read More | ABC

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