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Phone company Verizon Communications Inc. will challenge Netflix and start a video streaming service this year with Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks.

Less than 24 hours after it announced it would charge a $2 "convenience fee" for every one-time online or phone payment customers make, Verizon Wireless reversed course after consumer outrage spilled onto the Web.

Verizon Wireless has reversed its decision to charge a $2 fee for telephone and online bill payments, bowing to a storm of criticism from consumers and the U.S. communications regulator.

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest wireless phone and Internet provider, will begin charging millions of customers a $2 fee to pay their bills online. The fee, which will take effect on January 15, was greeted by a wave of customer outrage.

For the third time this month, Verizon Wireless is experiencing data service outages for some users of its 3G and 4G networks in various places around the country, according to customer reports.

The biggest draw in television is going mobile. The Super Bowl will be streamed online and to phones for the first time, the NFL said Tuesday. NBC's broadcasts of wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl will be available on the league's and network's websites and through Verizon's NFL Mobile app.

Verizon may not have had much bargaining power with its currently minimal streaming subscriber base, but a partnership will help Verizon leverage Redbox's established relationship with content providers to get more favorable deals. This could lead to less of an impact on gross margins than had it decided to go alone.

Verizon Wireless is blocking Google's new flagship phone from supporting Google's attempt to make the smartphone the credit card of the future. In blocking the Google Wallet software from running on the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that it was waiting to provide a wallet application until it can offer "the best security and user experience." Verizon and rivals AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA are part of a consortium called ISIS that is planning its own payment system.

Verizon's third-quarter profit more than doubled as the telecommunications giant reported improved margins and wireless-subscriber growth.

Addicted to Netflix on your mobile phone? Good news, then. Sprint will not only get Apple's next iPhone handset, it has a plan to use it to peel users away from larger rivals AT&T and Verizon: unlimited data for $99.99 a month, Bloomberg reported Friday. Sprint's rivals now charge extra for data service.