Verizon doubles early-termination fee for smartphones
by Justin Horn on Nov 12th, 2009 @ 9:12 pmDavid Pogue ask, Verizon: How Much Do You Charge Now? In this article he discusses how Verizon is going to double their early termination fee:
Starting next week, Verizon will double the early-termination fee for smartphones. That is, if you get a BlackBerry, Android or similar phone from Verizon, and you decide to switch phones before your two-year contract is up, you’ll be socked with a $350 penalty (it used to be $175).
I guess Verizon is tired of losing customers to AT&T and the iPhone? I have a friend that switched early from Verizon to AT&T to get the iPhone. She wanted the iPhone bad enough that she just paid the fee. So it looks like Verizon’s logic is instead of trying to offer something better to their customer to compete with the iPhone, they are taking them hostage.
This new policy fits right in line with Verizon’s recent moves with negative ads against the iPhone and especially AT&T’s network. AT&T has several lawsuits filed against Verizon claiming false advertising and today publicly responded to Verizon’s ads. The response from AT&T let’s know the ads are serving their purpose, but with this new early-termination fee it’s clear that AT&T and the iPhone are really hurting Verizon’s bottom line.
(via @ApexMI_Bob)
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AT&T publicly responds to Verizon negative ad campaign
by Justin Horn on Nov 12th, 2009 @ 7:52 pm
AT&T just posted a press release entitled “AT&T Sets the Record Straight on Verizon Ads” where they rebut several aspects of Verizon ads. This press release isn’t that surprising as we’ve been hearing all about the behind the scenes lawsuit filings. AT&T has been getting a lot of bad press lately due to network issues and the fact that they limit everything having to do with the iPhone including MMS, tethering, VOIP apps, etc.
AT&T has been working hard though and have made some headway by finally by upgrading many areas to 850MHz and plan to launch HSPA 7.2mbps in 6 cities by the end of the year. They also finally got MMS running and more recently have given Apple permission to allow VOIP apps like Skypes to run on the 3G network (still no tethering though). Even with these improvements AT&T has a long way to go and Verizon is to taking advantage of that…rightly so.
Here are the “key facts” AT&T points out:
AT&T’s wireless data coverage reaches 303 million people – or 97% of the U.S. population, where they live and work. Our data coverage consists of 3 different types of technology:
- 3G. 233 million people or 75% of the population are covered by AT&T’s 3G network, the nation’s fastest.
- EDGE. 301 million people or more than 96% of the population are covered by EDGE.
- With both 3G and EDGE coverage, customers can access the Internet, send e-mail, surf the Web, stream music, download videos, send photos, text, talk and more. The only difference – with some data applications, 3G is faster than EDGE
- GPRS. Covers 303 million people, allowing you to talk, text, e-mail and access basic websites optimized for wireless.
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Could AT&T’s HSPA 7.2 be coming November 22?
by Justin Horn on Nov 9th, 2009 @ 3:07 pm
About 2 months ago AT&T announced that they would be turning on HSPA 7.2 mbps 3G before the end of the year for 6 select cities. Today AT&T announced (via DaringFireball) that a stand alone LaptopConnect card will be available nationally starting November 22:
The Lightning delivers enhanced mobile broadband performance on the nation’s fastest 3G network for quick and easy Internet access while on the go. It will be compatible with AT&T’s High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) 7.2 technology, which provides a considerable speed boost to the 3G mobile broadband network where deployed.
Even with this latest press release AT&T doesn’t give an exact date when the network will actually be able to handle 7.2 mbps in the 6 select cities (just like the MMS release), but with this new 7.2 LaptopConnect release it does seem like they will be able to deliver on the year end promise. Even without a hard date I’ll still be doing an iPhone speed test November 22nd just in case.
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New Droid commercial, I actually like this one
by Justin Horn on Nov 3rd, 2009 @ 9:32 pmTrying to build hype for the new Motorola Droid, a new commercial should start airing soon. It’s clear now Verizon and Motorola are going after the nerd crowd with their TV ads. Just like the iDon’t commercial, most people probably won’t know what’s being sold to them except for nerds, but this one is a lot more fun (looks like a play on superman’s arrival).
(via Boy Genius Report)
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Apple vs ?, at&t, iPhone
Updated: AT&T allows VOIP on 3G network, looks who’s trying to improve their image
by Justin Horn on Oct 6th, 2009 @ 5:46 pmAT&T gave us one less reason to hate them today:
AT&T today announced it has taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity.
So we should soon (if Apple plays ball) have VoIP 3G apps on the iPhone, plus we now have working MMS and improving network quality in the 850MHz range. Oh yeah, and hopefully by the end of the year we will 7.2Mbps in select cities!
With this latest news and the fact that I’m in one of those “select cities” I’m starting to think positively of AT&T again. How about you? Do you still have those negative feels towards AT&T?
UPDATE Looks like Apple is already moving to support this. The Loop is reporting:
“We are very happy that AT&T is now supporting VoIP applications,” Apple spokesperson, Natalie Kerris, Told The Loop. “We will be amending our developer agreements to get VoIP apps on the App Store and in customers’ hands as soon as possible.”
(via @TUAW)
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Miami and 5 other cities getting 7.2 mbps by the end of 2009
by Justin Horn on Sep 10th, 2009 @ 9:54 am
While everyone else has been complaining about MMS missing on the iPhone, I’ve been complaining about having a HSPA 7.2mbps stuck at about 1.0! Looks like living in Miami is finally going to pay off as my wait is finally coming to an end. AT&T has just posted that they will have 7.2 in Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Dallas, Houston by the end of the year:
AT&T plans to begin deployment of HSPA 7.2 in six major U.S. cities, including Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami, with initial service availability expected in these markets by the end of the year. All told, the company plans to deploy HSPA 7.2 in 25 of the nation’s 30 largest markets by the end of 2010, and to reach about 90 percent of its existing 3G network footprint with HSPA 7.2 by the end of 2011.
(via The iPhone blog)
HSPA
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