verizon

It's long been an open secret that many major telecommunications companies, including Internet service providers (ISPs) and cellular data providers, impose specific limits on the volume and type of bandwidth consumed by their customers.

"Open" in the sense that these companies almost universally reserve the right to impose such limits, and occasionally make public statements defending their right to do so. "Secret" because the companies rarely reveal their specific limits, and because it seems like these limits are constantly being rediscovered by people who ought to know better.

It reminds me of people who claim … Read more

Verizon Wireless' court fight against new federal rules that require "open access" on some forthcoming wireless networks appears to be no more.

The No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier on Tuesday filed for "voluntary dismissal" of its September petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, according to the court docket. The filing for dismissal was reported earlier Wednesday by Dow Jones/Associated Press.

At issue are Federal Communications Commission rules for an upcoming auction of 700MHz wireless spectrum, also known as the analog television band. That band is scheduled to … Read more

CTIA Fall 2007 isn't really the place for most cell phone manufacturers to announce new devices; in fact, many companies come here to reannounce devices that have already been, well, announced. That's how it is for the UTStarcom Coupe from Verizon Wireless, that back-to-basics emergency phone that we reviewed a month or so ago. UTStarcom has released a press release announcing that they're launching the phone today, even though it was out a while ago. As we said back then, the UTStarcom 8630 is a phone made for the elderly or older adults; it has a clear … Read more

Though Verizon Wireless isn't announcing the LG Venus and Voyager at CTIA, the cell phones are making guest appearances. I got a few minutes to play with both handsets, the first time I've seen them in the flesh, and I all I can say is, "wow." Both the Venus and Voyager sport throughly lovely designs that will do a lot to bring more style to the formerly stodgy Verizon. Yes, they're a bit on the hefty side, but they back up their bulk with sleek and shiny profiles.

As an update the the LG enV, … Read more

The Samsung Juke has one of the most unique designs we've seen on a cell phone. With its skinny dimensions and swivel design, the Juke swings open almost like a switchblade. Though we like its spun-metal mechanical scroll wheel, we're not too thrilled by the slick keypad and the Juke's poor feature set. Yes, the Juke does come with a built-in music player and a simple VGA camera, but unlike a lot of other Verizon music phones, the Juke does not come with EV-DO or, most importantly, access to V Cast Music. Sure, you can just upload … Read more

Yes, you read that right. After what seemed like ages (heck, this video shown here was taken way back at CES 2007), Verizon Wireless today officially announced the availability of the Samsung SCH-i760 smartphone.

A bigger, badder version of the Samsung BlackJack, this Windows Mobile 6 (Professional Edition) device adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard with an external dial pad, a touch screen, and integrated Wi-Fi. If that weren't enough, it also serves up EV-DO, Verizon's V Cast services, Bluetooth with A2DP support, and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

Of course, all this goodness comes with a cost. The i760, … Read more

After coming across this quick snippet over at Techdirt, I felt compelled to write about it and inform all Verizon Wireless customers that you may be duped by a company that obviously doesn't care about making its customers happy.

According to reports, Verizon Wireless is sending out letters in envelopes to its customers that, if not responded to in thirty days, will create a contract between both parties. What does the contract create, you ask? A change in the Terms of Service that will allow Verizon Wireless to take your calling records (unbeknownst to you, of course) and hand … Read more

Go figure.

All those smart and savvy managers and nobody at Verizon Wireless was able to prevent the brass from stepping into a very avoidable public relations mess.

The source of the kerfuffle: a letter informing customers that Verizon planned to "begin sharing information from their calling records with its affiliates, agents and parent companies."

The official explanation offered up is that the company only seeks to share the information between corporate divisions, the idea being to better sell new products to the install base.

No doubt Verizon is keen on upselling its existing customers. The telco types … Read more