At&t, Wireless | featured news

AT&T is shutting down its second-generation, or 2G, wireless networks by 2017 as it continues to upgrade its systems to faster technology and better use its limited airwaves.

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and six other state attorneys general join the Justice Department's antitrust suit, say the deal would result in less competition in the wireless market.

Looking at AT&T and its planned acquisition, it’s fair to suggest that it could not attract the financing necessary to complete the purchase if its plan was to raise prices. Not only would such a move be unrealistic given the existence of Verizon and other smaller competitors, it would also be self-defeating for high prices signaling to those outside the mobile-phone space a potentially profitable competitive opportunity.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, speaking at the CTIA trade show, said he's concerned AT&T's plan to take over rival T-Mobile USA would stifle innovation and hurt consumers. The chief of Verizon Wireless said he isn't interested in buying Sprint.

AT&T announced on Sunday that it agreed to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, in a $39 billion deal that will reshape the cellular telephone industry. The merger — one of the largest since the onset of the financial crisis — would combine the second and fourth largest cellular carriers in the nation, bringing together AT&T’s 95.5 million wireless subscribers with T-Mobile’s 33.7 million customers.

AT&T is adding a postpaid billing option for tablet customers, though its pricing is largely unchanged: $15 or $25 a month based on data usage.

Verizon Wireless plans to sell Apple Inc's iPhone for as low as $200 starting next month, putting the smartphone at the center of its high-stakes battle with AT&T Inc for wireless customers.

To the average consumer, the intricacies of the wireless technologies used by cellphones and other mobile devices are confusing. Fortunately, cell phone carriers have made it easier on us by inventing the “G,” a nebulous standard that makes people think they understand what they’re getting when they sign up for that two-year contract. The bad news: The carriers themselves typically don’t care about what a 3G or 4G network should actually be. And now, as proof of concept, AT&T has re-branded their existing 3G network as a 4G network.

AT&T, facing a marketing challenge by competitors' 4G wireless service claims, accelerated its own network upgrade plans and said it would release devices for its own fourth-generation network.

AT&T Inc. is expanding Wi-Fi access for its subscribers in New York and introducing it in San Francisco, adding data capacity in two cities with heavy wireless network use from the iPhone and other devices....