Wireless Carrier | featured news

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.

AT&T acknowledged that it could not overcome opposition from the Obama administration to creating the nation’s biggest cellphone service provider. The company said in a statement that it would continue to invest in wireless spectrum, but could not overcome resistance from both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. It added that American wireless customers “will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled” by the regulators’ decisions.

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.

AT&T and T-Mobile on Monday asked a federal judge to postpone an antitrust lawsuit as the companies were assessing “whether and how” to proceed with their $39 billion mega-merger. The announcement signals that the deal as originally conceived is all but dead. The two companies could still seek ways to retool the terms to address the concerns of regulators.

Carrier IQ threatens and then drops legal action against a developer who claimed that the company's code could be used to monitor smartphones.

Four people in the Philippines hacked into the accounts of AT&T business customers in the United States and diverted money to a group that financed terrorist attacks across Asia, according to police officials in the Philippines.

AT&T Inc is considering an offer to divest a significantly larger portion of assets than it had initially expected, in order to salvage its $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reported citing a person familiar with the plan.

AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in case its takeover of T-Mobile USA fails, a tacit recognition of the dwindling chances that the deal will get through U.S. regulators who say it would destroy jobs and curb competition.