carriers

Google, Sprint announce carrier billing for Android Market apps

Android users on Sprint's network won't have to pay for Angry Birds Rio and other Android Market purchases on their Visa cards much longer.

Today, Google announced a partnership with Sprint that lets you add your Android app buys to your monthly voice and data bill.

Carrier billing, as it's called, opens Android to one more payment method, in addition to the prevailing system of credit card billing.

Deferring app payments has its benefits. First, it lets phone owners decide how they want to settle a bill, and second, it allows customers without credit cards to purchase premium apps.

Owners of prepaid phones are one demographic that typically tends to pay bills with cash or other methods instead of with a credit card. The same goes for subscribers in emerging global markets. More basic Android phones are becoming increasingly prevalent in these sectors.

Google stated in a blog post that it will continue to partner with global carriers to bring the carrier billing option to more subscribers worldwide.

A Google spokesperson confirmed that for now, at least, Android Market carrier billing won't extend to Sprint's prepaid brands, like Virgin Mobile USA or Boost Mobile.

Update, 1:15 p.m. PT with information about Sprint's prepaid brands.… Read more

Sprint to fight AT&T's bid for T-Mobile

When AT&T announced its plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion last week, Sprint was quick to criticize the deal, saying that it would dramatically alter the structure of the communications industry and affect innovation--a sentiment that was echoed by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse during CTIA 2011.

In case its position wasn't clear, the carrier issued an official statement today to oppose the merger and announce its intentions to fight the deal.

Vonya McCann, Sprint's senior vice president of government affairs, said:

Sprint urges the United States government to block this anticompetitive acquisition. This transaction will … Read more

Simple Mobile: A GSM MVNO you might not have heard of

A couple of months ago I posted a query in my 411 column about prepaid GSM Android phones and the lack thereof. What I failed to mention was that you can of course use any GSM phone as a prepaid handset, as long as you're willing to pay full price for the phone up front. All you have to do is pop in a SIM card and you're good to go. After you do so, however, AT&T continues to charge you the usual high monthly rates, and even though T-Mobile does offer a cheaper Even More … Read more

Current AT&T and T-Mobile plans compared

In a year from now, the chart that you see below you might be out-of-date. After the news broke that AT&T would be acquiring T-Mobile USA, one of the first concerns was if T-Mobile customers would be able to keep their plans. Thankfully,T-Mobile has released an FAQ that answered just that; T-Mobile will keep things as they are for about 12 months, and any agreement you enter into in the meantime will be honored once the changeover goes through.

But we wanted to see just exactly what T-Mobile customers might be giving up in terms of monthly … Read more

T-Mobile: Business as usual for now

AT&T announced today it had entered into an agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. The news was unexpected and sent the technology world into a frenzy, and naturally, it has many AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers wondering what's next.

Of course, T-Mobile customers have more to gain or lose in this deal, and to ease some of the early anxiety, the carrier has posted a FAQ on its Web site, outlining how the acquisition will impact their service.

For now, you won't see much of a change. T-Mobile will continue to act as an independent company until the merger goes through, which the company expects will take about 12 months. Until then, your service, data plans, selection of phones (read: no iPhone just yet), and billing will remain the same. In addition, T-Mobile states that any contract plans entered into before the change of ownership will be honored.

The carrier goes on to explain how the acquisition is good news for customers, as it will improve voice and data service and ensure 4G LTE coverage for 95 percent of the population--something T-Mobile says that neither it or AT&T could have done on its own.

We have reached out to T-Mobile for additional information on how the acquisition might impact the product portfolio, data plans, and contracts and will update this story once we have more information, but the carrier says that customers will receive advance notice of any changes to service.

Despite this reassurance, the reaction from T-Mobile customers has been apprehensive to say the least. Let us know what you think in the comments section below. … Read more

Carriers try outflanking app stores with WAC

Nokia and Microsoft want to create a "third ecosystem" to rival the mobile phone realms built by Apple and Google--but carriers have an even broader alternative of their own.

Last year at the Mobile World Congress show, a group of them unveiled the Wholesale Applications Community. It's an effort to outflank native software and monolithic app stores with Web apps not tied as tightly to specific smartphones and available through a variety of conduits.

And this year at the show, they launched WAC.

"With the commercial launch of operator storefronts, handsets and applications, all based on … Read more

True cost of a smartphone: Price plan comparison

As anyone who has bought one can tell you, the cost of a smartphone is more than just the initial price of the device. You also have monthly payments to deal with, for voice minutes, text messages, and of course, data. You can choose to either be frugal if you can squeak on by with the bare minimum or you can go for the pricier package if you want unlimited everything.

In light of recent changes to smartphone data plans and in anticipation of potential new 4G plans, we've compiled and calculated the cheapest and most-expensive pricing plans below … Read more

Which carrier had the best data network at CES?

Anyone who's attended CES knows that getting a cell phone signal during the show's peak hours is never a sure bet. With 140,000 phone-wielding people crammed into a square half mile, you can go several hours without making a call, accessing your e-mail, or even sending a tweet.

Since it's rather ironic that you can't use your cell phone at a gadget show, we made a point this year of seeing just how bad the conditions were. So we brought along RootMetrics, a company that powers our cell phone coverage maps, to test the average … Read more

Who has better coverage in your area, AT&T or Verizon? This app shows you

Want to know how Verizon's network coverage compares with AT&T's for a particular location? Wondering if Sprint or T-Mobile might be better than either one? Maybe you just need to find out which direction to drive to get a decent signal for your broadband modem. Whatever your need, there's an app for you: Coverage?

That question-mark isn't a mistake; Coverage? is the app's official name, and its choice of punctuation reflects its capability to provide an answer.

All you do is run the app, let it hone in on your location, then tap one or more carriers to see coverage data overlaid on the map. You can, of course, scroll and zoom the map to see coverage for any areas, not just the one you're in.

Because different carriers offer different levels of coverage for different types of service, Coverage? lets you choose which data to display: 3G, 2G, or Roaming. That can come in very handy if, say, you're headed out of a town and want to know what to expect, service-wise, at your destination.… Read more