carriers

In an effort to minimize "bill shock" for cell phone customers, or the surprise people experience when they are charged unexpected or ambiguous overages and fees, the Federal Communications Commission launched a new site that will keep track of carriers that alert their customers when they approach or exceed their plan limits.

During the fall of last year, several top phone carriers (all of which cover over 97 percent of U.S. wireless phone customers) agreed to begin sending out free overage alerts to their customers starting October 2012.

These warnings would notify their subscribers if they've … Read more

Almost everyone knows someone who has had their cell phone stolen. And most likely, there wasn't much that person could do about it. Some mobile carriers and the U.S. government are now trying to change that.

The Federal Communications Commission announced today that it is partnering with four major carriers to work toward curbing rampant cell phone theft, according to The New York Times. The plan is to jointly create a centralized database of lost or stolen cell phone information that will make it easy to track the devices and cutoff voice and data service.

"It's … Read more

CNET just received an e-mail from an AT&T press representative, informing us that starting April 8, iPhone customers on their network will be able to unlock their iPhones:

"Beginning Sunday, April 8, we will offer qualifying customers the ability to unlock their AT&T iPhones. The only requirements are that a customer's account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid … Read more

Being a T-Mobile customer just got a little bit harder.

A small, regional carrier, NTelos Wireless, today announced that it will start carrying the iPhone 4S on April 20. The company will offer Apple's smartphone for $50 less than what customers can find from big carriers, so the 16GB model will go for $149.99. The 32GB and 64GB models will retail for $249.99 and $349.99, respectively.

The announcement might make many T-Mobile customers scratch their heads. Their favored carrier is the only major cell service provider that doesn't carry Apple's iPhone. And now it'… Read more

Besides basic divisions in hardware and software, there are some major differences in the way iPhone and Android platform smartphone users ingest data, a new study says.

According to market research firm ComScore, iPhone owners in both the U.S. and the U.K. consumed more of their data over Wi-Fi and their carrier's wireless signal than smartphone users on Google's Android platform during the month of February.

As part of its Device Essentials study released today, ComScore said that 71 percent the U.S. users on iPhones use both cellular and Wi-Fi networks, versus 32 percent of … Read more

Sprint's financial chief today tiptoed around the prospect of a 4G LTE iPhone, the latest indication that the next version will come packed with a superfast wireless connection.

Speaking to investors at a conference earlier today, Sprint's chief financial officer, Joe Euteneuer, did not say such a device was coming, but he did say the company has an agreement with Apple similar to that of AT&T and Verizon Wireless, hinting that technology designed for those networks would come to Sprint's as well.

"If you make the assumption that they launch a device at a … Read more

Citing it as an "important step to achieve competitive cost structures," T-Mobile announced today in a press release that it will merge its call center operations, and cut its number of facilities by the end of June from 24 to 17.

The seven offices, which currently employ 3,300 people, are located in Allentown, Pa.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Frisco and Brownsville, Texas; Lenexa, Kan.; Thorton, Colo.; and Redmond, Ore.

As a result of the facilities being shut down, 1,900 net jobs will be lost.

"Obviously this is a decision that was not made easily," said … Read more

Will Google Wallet survive? That's a question that's been looming during the first six months of the the digital wallet program, which has been plagued with issues such as security concerns, minimal consumer use, and few carrier and retail partners willing to support the new technology.

Despite the setbacks, the Web giant isn't planning to close up shop quite yet. Rather, it's looking at different ways to improve its product, including possibly courting AT&T and Verizon mobile carriers and exploring revenue sharing with them, according to Bloomberg.

Google Wallet enthusiastically launched last September and … Read more

The very first aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy wasn't even an aircraft carrier at first. Instead, it was toting coal and cargo.

This week marks 90 years since the USS Langley was commissioned and helped set in motion a whole new class of naval vessels and a new era of naval warfare. The mission was experimentation -- how best to have aircraft take off from and land on a tiny airstrip that doesn't hold still.

In the 1920s, "Langley was the platform from which Naval Aviators, guided by Captain Joseph M. Reeves, undertook the development … Read more