Tag Archive: AT&T
Back to the drawing board for AT&T and T-Mobile
Aug. 31, ‘11: Bloomberg’s Tom Schoenberg: The U.S. government sued to block AT&T’s proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market. My guess is that AT&T won’t be giving up this easily. … Continue reading →
Why the carriers will probably lose the mobile payments race
Aug. 29, ‘11: Bloomberg’s Olga Kharif reports how AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile plan to take on Google and other rivals in the nascent and messy (but lucrative) mobile payments industry: By investing more than $100 million in Isis, their joint venture. The good … Continue reading →
AT&T adjusts for new reality: People are either going to send a million SMS messages, or almost none
Aug. 18, ‘11: AT&T is going to make its new customers choose between unlimited SMS messages for $20 per month or metered SMS messages for $0.20 each, Engadget reports. In other words, it’s getting rid of any plans in between, such as $10 … Continue reading →
Mobile payments are a mess
Aug. 1, ‘11: The idea that we might someday use our mobile phones to pay for some things offline — in stores, taxis, or from vending machines, for example — makes sense. That’s been happening in places like Japan for years. And merging … Continue reading →
Verizon and AT&T have grown like crazy over the past 5 years, while Sprint is flat
Jul. 28, ‘11: With 52 million subscribers, Sprint is now back around its 2006 size. Meanwhile, AT&T and Verizon have both grown by more than 50% since then, with around 100 million subs each. That’s the difference between good M&A (AT&T-BellSouth, Verizon-Alltel) and … Continue reading →
Verizon isn’t driving the iPhone’s growth — the rest of the world is
Jul. 27, ‘11: Another great analysis (and more cool charts) from Asymco’s Horace Dediu. The iPhone is Apple’s most important business, and its real growth is coming from abroad. Related: The iPhone 4 gets better with age
Goodbye, iPad 3G data plan
Jul. 25, ‘11: Over the weekend, I canceled my iPad 3G data plan. I would have probably done it sooner, but I had been grandfathered into AT&T’s $30/month unlimited plan, so I kept it locked in. Why’d I finally get rid of it? … Continue reading →
AT&T customers spending more than ever on data, despite cheaper plans and free texting apps
Jul. 21, ‘11: Last summer, AT&T was the first major U.S. carrier to drop its unlimited data plan for new subscribers. In its place, AT&T has offered two metered data plans, each less expensive than the previous unlimited plan, which cost $30 per … Continue reading →
AT&T and Verizon 4G LTE phones may not work on each others’ networks
Jul. 15, ‘11: It looks like the switch to 4G LTE networks may not fix one of the big quirks of the U.S. mobile market: That phones designed for one network rarely work on other networks. Sascha Segan reports for PC Magazine: Verizon … Continue reading →
Kindle 3G with ads now another $25 cheaper thanks to AT&T “sponsorship”
Jul. 13, ‘11: Amazon’s Kindle 3G with special offers now costs $139. That’s $50 cheaper than the ad-free version, and $25 less than it cost yesterday. The new subsidy is courtesy a sponsorship by AT&T, which provides the 3G connection. Why might AT&T want … Continue reading →